Total pages in book: 68
Estimated words: 63970 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 320(@200wpm)___ 256(@250wpm)___ 213(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 63970 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 320(@200wpm)___ 256(@250wpm)___ 213(@300wpm)
“You should see the guys from Bliss. Think threesomes but with aliens and sasquatches. Not that I’ve seen that. Just heard a rumor. And beets. What’s up with the beets?”
His brows rose. “What do beets have to do with three-ways?”
God he was so gorgeous. “I have no idea. I’ve never been there.”
A super uncomfortable silence descended. All around her the party was revving up. The men from The Club were wearing matching T-shirts in red and black. The ones who were playing, that is. They were across the soccer field that was being used for football today. Julian Lodge was as casual as he got, wearing a button-down shirt, slacks and what were probably thousand-dollar loafers that would almost certainly not see a football field today or any other day. He was wearing sunglasses and looking super-billionaire cool as he held his daughter in his arms, smiling with the glow of a proud father. He watched as his “team” began warming up.
The Sanctum crew was not as organized.
Should she say something else? She wanted to ask him how he’d been doing. The last time they’d talked he’d just gotten the word that he wasn’t going to get the part he’d wanted in a major franchise. Was he struggling? Did he have another show? He should be in every movie, but she’d heard Kai talk about the fact that there were still rumors he was a killer.
Stupid assholes. He was as far from a killer as possible. The only thing that man could slay was hearts.
“I heard you were going on a vacation.”
She plastered a sunny smile on her face. “Next week. I’ll be gone for three whole weeks.”
Three weeks alone, but that was how it had to be. She didn’t have anyone, and she wasn’t about to make Kori worry.
“Are you seeing friends?”
“I’m taking a sabbatical. I’ll make friends.” She didn’t want to think about this now. She got to her knees and opened the picnic basket. It was a universal truth that if a woman wanted a man to stop talking, she should put something in his mouth. “Do you want a sandwich? I have ham and swiss, turkey and American, and pimento cheese.” She hadn’t planned on him being here. “Sorry. I could get rid of the bread. I have some napkins.”
He shook his head. “Oh, I’m good with carbs. I’m not training for anything right now so I’m happily eating like a real human. I had a donut this morning. It was chocolate. I’d love the ham and swiss.”
She reached in and grabbed one of the ham and swiss sandwiches she’d made. The basket was full of treats, including her famous snickerdoodles. She’d spent the morning putting it together, wondering if the mysterious Sir would show up and need some food.
She couldn’t quite remember what his voice sounded like now.
“Thanks. Getting to eat is a definite plus of being unemployed.” He ate half the sandwich in a single bite.
She sat back and hoped she had enough food. “I’m sure you’ll get another show soon.”
He shrugged. “I’m okay, Sarah. I’m enjoying the time off. It’s given me space to think about a lot of things.”
“I thought you were working on the documentary.” It was supposed to be the whole reason he was here.
“I am, but that doesn’t feel like work. It’s more than that. Are you still okay with talking about it?”
“Yes.” She’d thought about it a lot. “I think you might be able to do something good. None of us saw anything wrong with Squirrel. I know I didn’t spend much time with him, but I wouldn’t have thought anything was wrong. He seemed normal, with the exception of his name.”
“I spent most of my life with him. I knew he could be an asshole about women. I always thought he would chill when the right one came along.”
“You know he was a sociopath, right?” The idea that he’d been blaming himself made her ache. She’d known he did in the beginning, but shouldn’t time and distance have shown him he was innocent? “He would have been excellent at hiding his true nature.”
“He wasn’t that smart,” Jared insisted.
“Or he was and he was excellent at hiding it,” she pointed out.
“The funny thing was one of the reasons I stayed around him was I got to be the smart one.” Jared put down the sandwich. “Kai was always so much smarter than I was. I didn’t hate him for it. I loved my brother, but I will admit that hanging out with Squirrel made me feel like I got to be in charge. I got to be the one someone looked up to.”
She didn’t want him to devolve. “I think this isn’t the time or place to talk about this. If you keep going, I’ll cry and then my mascara will go everywhere. Do you want to be responsible for that? I’ll frighten the children with my raccoon eyes.”