Total pages in book: 101
Estimated words: 98255 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 491(@200wpm)___ 393(@250wpm)___ 328(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 98255 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 491(@200wpm)___ 393(@250wpm)___ 328(@300wpm)
“Oh,” Aria said. She had no idea what to say to that. “I’m so sorry.”
“Don’t be. I don’t care.”
It seemed so strange to hear that. She found it rather refreshing.
“Would you like to come with me?” Aria asked.
Grant paused in stirring and turned to look at her. “You’re inviting me to a family Thanksgiving?”
“Yes, but you should also know…” Aria paused, wincing. She tried to think of a delicate way to say that her parents hated him and everything he stood for. There were no words.
“What?”
“Er, it doesn’t matter.”
“Come on, Aria, out with it.” He stopped cooking to come and stand in front of her.
“My parents are not exactly big fans of the club, you know.”
She avoided looking into his eyes for the longest time and then, once she delivered the bad news, she did. She was a little taken aback to see he was smiling.
“You’re smiling,” Aria said, pointing out the obvious.
“Yeah, you’re so cute when you’re nervous. Don’t be, babe. Trust me, you haven’t upset me. Not in the least.” He reached out to stroke her cheek. “Do you think this will be the first woman to be pissed that I’m the guy her daughter brought home to meet her parents?”
Aria’s brows rose. “So you’ve met a lot of parents…”
He shook his head. “Scrap that. Shit, that’s not what I meant. Trust me, I’ve not met a lot of parents.”
“Don’t worry about it.”
Grant cupped her face and tilted her head back. “I look forward to this.”
She wrinkled her nose. “I don’t.”
“Why?”
“Trust me. I know my mom, okay? I know what she’s like. It’s not going to be fun.”
He snorted. “I can imagine.”
Aria thought about Sean. “Thank you, for, you know, the gym.”
Grant paused and she heard him breathe and visibly count to ten. She couldn’t help but giggle.
“He did make you angry, didn’t he?”
“He’s an asshole. You can’t listen to guys like him. Or women.”
Aria ran her hands down her thighs.
Grant poured some tomatoes into his onion and garlic. The pot with the water was also boiling. He added the pasta, and had just placed the steaks onto the grill pan.
Rather than watch the food, he came toward her. “Why are you doing this?”
“Why am I doing what?”
“The gym. The exercise?”
“I told you before. I want to.” She didn’t need to tell him that she was just tired of everyone treating her like crap for the longest time. Just because she wasn’t thin. Her mother hated her because of the size of her clothes. She’d never been good enough for them, and it was exhausting.
She wasn’t going to tell Grant that while she was on the phone, her mother had already insisted on her picking low-calorie or fat-free items. To avoid meats. If they’d been having Thanksgiving at home, then her plate would have been served by her mother, with the minimal amount of food. That was her mother’s way.
Thanksgiving and Christmas sucked.
When she could, Isabella had been able to sneak away some more food. Whenever she was around with Lidia, her mother had always been super nice to her, never once complained about her weight. There had always been treats and love there.
Aria pushed those thoughts out of her mind. There was no point in thinking about them.
Her mother had always been difficult. She always talked about how difficult it was having a large child, how other mothers would laugh at her. Isabella was the perfect child—the firstborn. Aria would forever be the disappointment.
“You want to?” Grant asked.
“Yeah, I do. I think it’s time I got fit.” She had a desire to poke at her stomach, but not in front of Grant. No, when it came to Grant, she wanted to appear sexy, and talking about her weight was the furthest thing from sexy.
Grant cupped her face again. “You don’t need to do this for me,” he said. “I like you exactly the way you are. Your big tits, those juicy thighs, that ass. I want to touch every single part of you. The past few months, you’re the reason I kept coming to the vet. The dogs needed it, but you … you were what drew me in.”
Before she could say anything, he slammed his lips down and kissed her.
Chapter Ten
“You’re frowning,” Maddie said.
Bull looked up from his computer screen. It was nearly two in the morning. He’d just gotten the update from Rip that Grant was okay and was in Maddie’s old apartment around the back of the diner. He’d also been told about Aria Taylor was there as well. He didn’t know much about Aria, but she wasn’t his brother’s type. All the years he’d known Grant, he’d gone for super-slender women, not the ones with curves, similar to Maddie. Strange.
“Just waiting.”
He was hoping Pat would have some answers by now. He’d already been on a call with Dylan. The fire had spread to two other trailers. The first one did have a body. The residents were not in the other two. There had been no security footage in the surrounding area. Nothing to help clue Bull in.