Total pages in book: 110
Estimated words: 111278 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 556(@200wpm)___ 445(@250wpm)___ 371(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 111278 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 556(@200wpm)___ 445(@250wpm)___ 371(@300wpm)
Growling, she turned to glare up at Dominic. “What was that?”
“You know, you’re like a cute little poodle when you growl.”
“I . . . I don’t even know what to say to that! I am definitely not a poodle, Dominic Brand. If anything, I’m a pit bull.”
“Ooh, I love pit bulls,” someone said from behind her.
Turning, she saw a gorgeous woman with dark hair pulled back into two braids. She was wearing a bright purple tunic with purple and black striped long socks. Was she wearing a monster watch? Cute.
“Are you a pit bull because you’re tenacious, loyal, stubborn, and you like belly rubs?” the woman asked.
“Yes! Exactly!” She didn’t know who this woman was, but she understood her. They were kindred spirits.
“Good to know about the belly rubs,” Dominic murmured.
“What? No!” She swung back to him. “You are not rubbing my belly!”
She was aware of everyone going silent around her. Oh Lord, she was losing it. Groaning, she put her hands in her face. “I swear, I’m losing my mind.”
“You’re all right, Shortcake,” Dominic told her. “I’m sorry for my teasing. Hey, take it easy.”
“Are you sure you don’t want the belly rubs?” the woman asked. “I’m sure Dominic gives great ones. He’s got nice big, strong hands. Aye, Dom?”
“And what would you know about Dominic’s hands, Little Monster?” another man asked.
“I’ve got eyes. And his hands are nice. Not as nice as yours are, though.”
“Just as well,” the other man said gruffly.
Gwen raised her head, looking at her drink forlornly. “I never even got to take a sip.”
She tried to climb off her stool, but Dominic reached out to stop her.
“Whoa, Gwen, where are you going?”
“Clearly, I need to leave and never return after severely humiliating myself.”
“That was severe humiliation?” the woman asked. “I didn’t think that even touched on embarrassing. Clearly, you need to spend a day in my shoes.”
“Well, they’re really cute shoes,” Gwen told her, glancing down at the bright green shoes with purple laces.
“Aren’t they? And Harry ordered me some monster charms that attach to the laces. They’ll be here soon. So, you here for the quiz, Pit Bull?” the other woman asked her.
Oh, dear Lord.
“Ah, Kiesha, I don’t think she’ll want to be known as Pit Bull,” the man with her chided.
“Better than Poodle.”
It was. No way she could argue that.
She looked up at them both. The man gave her a small smile.
“Gwen, this is Kiesha and her fiancé, Harry,” Dominic introduced them. “This is Gwen. She’s staying here for a while. I think.”
“Um, yeah, I’m visiting for a week or so,” she said. “Nice to meet you.”
“Why would you visit Wishingbone? Do you know someone here? Is that someone, Dominic?” Kiesha winked at her.
“What? No!” Gwen said quickly. “We just met yesterday.”
“Yes, but we have already been on our first date, and this is our second.”
“What? This isn’t a date!” She turned back to gape at him.
“Isn’t it? Don’t you owe me that much?” he said.
She bit her lip. Drat. She kind of did.
“Why do you owe him? What happened?” Kiesha asked.
“Kiesha, that’s their business,” Harry said firmly.
Kiesha looked back at the older man and sighed. “But Harry, I’m the gossip center of Wishingbone. It’s up to me to know what’s going on. It’s practically in my job description.”
“Your job description?” Gwen asked, desperate to pull their attention away from what was happening between her and Dominic. Because she certainly had no idea.
“I work at the police station,” Kiesha told her.
Oh. Crap.
“You work at the police station? With Deputy Stick-In-The-Mud?”
“What? Who? Which deputy?” Kiesha asked.
“Urgh, I can’t remember his name,” she said. “He might be considered okay looking if you’re into tall, muscular guys.”
“But you don’t consider him handsome, do you, Shortcake?” Dominic asked in a low voice. There was a warning in there that she barely paid attention to.
“Of course I don’t! He’s mean!”
“Mean?” Kiesha asked. “He was mean to you?”
“Jace was just doing his job, Shortcake,” Dominic told her.
“That’s his name! He’s given me two tickets in two days!”
“Seriously? What did you do?” Kiesha asked.
“Nothing!”
“Wow, that’s really not cool.” Kiesha frowned.
“Nothing? Really, Shortcake?” Dominic said warningly.
“What? I wasn’t really doing anything. So I might have been going ten miles over the speed limit. That’s nothing.”
“Totally nothing. Everyone does that!” Kiesha agreed.
“Right!” Gwen was grateful she found someone who understood. “And today, he pulled me over because I didn’t have my trunk closed properly, and he thought it was dangerous that my bike was sticking out the back. But I had a bungee cord attached to the lid of my trunk.”
“Of course you did!” Kiesha said with a sharp nod. “And everyone knows that bungee cords can do anything. I mean, they literally tie people to a bridge with them.”
“That’s so true! So my bike was perfectly safe. It wasn’t going to fall out and cause an accident.”