Total pages in book: 158
Estimated words: 160684 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 803(@200wpm)___ 643(@250wpm)___ 536(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 160684 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 803(@200wpm)___ 643(@250wpm)___ 536(@300wpm)
“I had a shower.”
“That was the longest shower ever. And you’ve been taking some long ones,” Grady said to him.
“Asshole,” Steele muttered back. “I wasn’t in the shower that long. Didn’t have to . . . I’m completely spent.”
“I’ve never known you to be spent,” Grady replied.
“Me neither. Could be worrying. Could be just Effie.” Steele stared at her with a hot gaze.
“I don’t know what you two are talking about.”
Grady grinned. “I like that, Twinkletoes.”
“Um, good, then?” She was so confused.
“I had to take a call. Then I saw Effie wasn’t in bed, where I left her,” he sent her a hard look, “heard you guys in here so I figured I’d have a shower.”
“Uh-oh, someone is in trouble for moving without permission,” Grady murmured.
“But you left to take a call! And I needed coffee.”
“I was coming back.” Steele frowned at her. “I would have gotten you coffee. Don’t like you leaving my bed without me knowing.”
“There are a lot of rules to keep track of,” she said on a sigh.
“Poor sweetheart,” Grady told her. “Don’t worry, I’m going to write them up on a big board for you so you don’t forget.”
She gaped at Grady in horror. “You aren’t.”
He just smiled.
Darn it. She had a feeling he was being serious.
“You two talk?” Steele walked toward them, his gaze caught on something on the floor.
“Yeah, we did,” Grady said.
“You tell Effie that you want to play with her while she’s asleep?”
What?
She turned back to Grady who was glaring at Steele. “I hadn’t told her that part yet.”
“Oops.” Steele stared at them both calmly. “My bad.”
“You fucker. You did that on purpose.”
Had he? Steele’s face didn’t change expression. But yeah, she had a feeling that he’d done it deliberately.
“It was an accident.”
“You know things that you’ll go to your grave not telling anyone. It was not an accident.”
Steele didn’t say anything.
“Umm,” she said, trying to disperse the tension. “So if you’re allowed to lie, why can’t I?”
Steele shot his gaze to hers. “Different rules when you have a dick, baby.”
“No, there’s not.”
“Totally is. Also, I’m The Boss.”
“And that means you don’t have to follow the rules?” she asked.
“Yep. Also, I’m your Daddy.”
Lord, she got a thrill when he said that.
“And that means I make the rules. I don’t always follow them. Not when I have your best interests at heart. Did someone drop a mug?”
That was a strange change of topic. And she hadn’t even let herself think about the titbit of information he’d just dropped.
You tell Effie that you want to play with her while she’s asleep?
Holy. Shit.
Holy. Fucking. Shit.
That made her so freaking hot.
She squirmed on the counter.
“I threw it,” Grady explained.
The mood in the kitchen, which hadn’t been all that good, grew more tense.
“You what?” Steele whispered.
Uh oh.
These guys loved each other and she wasn’t sure how deep that ran. She was pretty sure they both wanted more, but that neither of them wanted to risk losing the other. She got that.
But right then, they weren’t happy with each other.
“Guys,” she whispered.
“She better not have been anywhere close when you threw that,” Steele said.
Oh. He was worried about her?
“Grady wouldn’t hurt me,” she said with full confidence.
They both turned to look at her.
“He wouldn’t. And you shouldn’t get angry at him. That’s not nice.” She wiggled a finger at Steele.
“Not nice?”
“Neither is sharing seecits.” Oops. She hadn’t meant to say it like that. “I mean, secrets.”
Steele’s face warmed. Really. His moods definitely changed on a dime.
“Seecits?” he queried.
“I didn’t mean to say it like that.”
“I think my baby needs some time in Little headspace today,” Steele mused.
Oh boy. She wanted that. Badly. But she didn’t want Grady to feel left out. This was a strange balancing act in some ways. She glanced at Grady. He looked contemplative.
“That would be nice,” she said.
“It would be nice.” Steele’s lips twitched, then his gaze went over the floor again. “Is that blood?”
“What?” Grady’s gaze shot to the floor, then up to her. He grabbed one of her feet, turning it over. “You’ve got cuts on your feet because you stepped on the shards of that mug. Why didn’t you say anything? Why didn’t I notice?”
“I’m fine. Really.”
His face was filled with self-loathing.
“Why didn’t you tell Grady that you’d injured your feet?” Steele said, moving to the cupboard under the sink and drawing out a First-Aid kit.
Then he lifted her and carried her over to the sink to wash her feet.
Grady was tidying up the mess on the floor.
“Because it was fine. They don’t even hurt.”
Steele shot her a look. Right. No lying.
“Fine, they hurt a bit. But no more than my butt.”
“You got your butt spanked?” Steele asked, raising an eyebrow as he doctored her feet.
“Yeah, he spanks as hard as you do.” She pouted.
“Nan was in her head again,” Grady said. “Effie wouldn’t tell me what she was saying.”