Total pages in book: 63
Estimated words: 58542 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 293(@200wpm)___ 234(@250wpm)___ 195(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 58542 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 293(@200wpm)___ 234(@250wpm)___ 195(@300wpm)
I closed my eyes and sank back against the sofa with a sigh, letting the heaviness in my body blend into the cushions. As my breathing evened out and my limbs grew heavy, an image flashed in my mind.
Thick black hair.
Dancing hazel eyes that looked like liquid gold when he was aroused.
Deep smile lines etched into deep, honey brown skin.
Irresistibly broad shoulders.
Muscles everywhere.
As I drifted off to sleep, a strange smile quirked the corners of my mouth. I promised myself that I wouldn’t think about Liam Reyes again and now here I was, almost certainly pregnant with his baby.
Or dying. At this point I wasn’t sure which was the better option.
Liam
“I now pronounce you man and wife. You may kiss the bride.” The Justice of the Peace beamed a smile at Mr. and Mrs. Diego Reyes, who were wrapped in a disturbingly intimate embrace in the middle of courtroom 2A, at least as the son and sole witness to the nuptials.
“All right kids, lets keep it clean in front of the Justice.” I gave a sharp clap that separated the happy couple who were all smiles. “Are we having a wedding lunch or are you two having an early honeymoon?”
Trish blushed furiously and dad laughed. “Lunch first, son. We’ve got the rest of our lives to honeymoon, don’t we sweetie pie?”
Her smile beamed genuinely up at Diego, who wore the same look of love in hazel eyes identical to my own. “We sure do. Besides it’s not everyday a girl gets to enjoy a meal with two handsome men.”
“One more handsome than the other, I hope.” Dad threw back his head and laughed as he squeezed Trish close and smacked a kiss against her neck.
It took another ten minutes to get the newlyweds out of the courthouse and into the car I rented at the Denver airport. “Where would the bride like to eat?”
Trish flashed a smile at me in the rearview mirror and leaned forward. “There’s a place downtown that has the best risotto Milanese you’ve ever tasted.”
“Then that’s where we’ll go.” I couldn’t get over how different Trish was from Dad’s usual woman. She was pretty but in the way you expect a woman of a certain age to be, well groomed hair and age appropriate clothing. She wasn’t over the top or brash, hadn’t had more than a few glasses of wine in the two days I’d been in town and she doted on Diego like she really loved him.
It was bizarre but I was willing to go with it until I had reason to doubt her. Maybe the meds were making me soft.
At the restaurant I gave Dad and Trish a few moments alone while I checked my messages. I checked in with Xander when I landed stateside so I didn’t expect anything new, especially since the bullet wound in my arm would take a few more weeks to fully heal.
“Four messages?” I figured it was Palmer or one of the other guys checking up on me again even though we didn’t keep in touch until it was time for another job, or if one of us happened to be in the area.
I was wrong.
“Hey, um Liam. It’s Olive again and I need to talk to you so if you could call me back, that would be…ideal.” She rattled off her phone number and ended the call.
It was strange even for Olive but I didn’t think anything of it. At first.
“Liam, it’s Olive. Again. Call me back.” Terse and straight to the point. The third message was a bit more emotional. “Liam I really need to talk to you so if you could please call me back, that would be great.” Her sarcasm was thick, so was her anger. “It’s Olive, by the way.”
It wasn’t unheard of for women to sometimes get the wrong idea about sex, they were more gentle and far more romantic than men and Olive was a walking talking Hallmark Movie. I should have known she wouldn’t be able to handle casual sex. Hell, I did know but when she was standing there in that black and pink lingerie, I was powerless to do anything but let my dick do the talking.
Lesson learned. Again.
“Liam this is Olive and I really need to talk to you. Really. Call me back.” The words came out on a rushed, angry sigh. “Look, I’m not trying to recreate our night together I just…really need to talk to you, okay? Bye.”
I wasn’t touching that shit with a ten foot pole, so I deleted all the messages and shoved my phone in my back pocket. I never would’ve pegged Olive Jensen for a bunny boiler as Palmer called the clingy women he came across, but there was no denying the truth.
When I got back to Pilgrim, I would keep my distance from the pretty matchmaker. That was a plan for another day, today I was celebrating another marriage with my dad.