Total pages in book: 133
Estimated words: 126589 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 633(@200wpm)___ 506(@250wpm)___ 422(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 126589 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 633(@200wpm)___ 506(@250wpm)___ 422(@300wpm)
“Was there?” His voice was maddeningly neutral.
“You know there was,” she said, her voice wobbling. “Did you take a bullet for me, Gideon?”
“You’re making it sound way too dramatic.”
“You did, didn’t you?” she asked gleefully. “Oh my God. And in the middle of the back. It was a kill shot. You sacrificed yourself for me, Gideon.”
He lifted a palm to cover his face.
“Jesus, get a grip woman. It was hardly a kill shot. It was after I called the time out.” The words were irate, but—even though she couldn’t see his expression behind that massive, veiny hand—his voice was filled with humor.
“The great Gideon Hawthorne, taken out by friendly fire.”
“Nope,” he maintained, lowering his hand to glare at her, while his eyes danced with laughter. “It was game over.”
“For you, yes. I’m sure Cam would agree with me on this.”
“Don’t you dare tell Cam,” he groused, still with that gleam in his eyes.
“I’m sure they all saw your self-sacrificing move. They’ll wonder why you did that.”
Just like Beth wondered why he’d done that.
“It was the right thing to do, he was aiming at your chest. At that range he could have hurt you.”
Beth winced at the thought. God knew, the pellet she had taken to her abdomen had hurt badly enough. There was still a dull throb in the area and she had no doubt a livid bruise was forming in that spot.
“And you people do this shit for fun?” she asked under her breath, shaking her head in disgust.
“It can be fun when we don’t have borderline psychopaths playing,” he muttered defensively.
“Five bucks says Kylie dumped Kyle before they even left the farm,” Beth said.
“No way I’m taking that bet. I’d lose. I’d be glad to see the back of him, though. He’s a tedious little prick. One of those obnoxious arseholes who needs to have the loudest voice in the room. Know what I mean?”
Beth hummed in agreement. She knew exactly what he meant, and his assessment of Kyle’s character was pretty much on par with hers.
“He has an opinion on everything. And it’s usually wrong,” she added. Then eyed him askance. “I know you think I have an opinion on everything too. But that’s very different because, as you know, I’m always right. So it’s not the same thing. Nothing worse than an opinionated blowhard who doesn’t know what the hell he’s talking about.”
She saw the laughter spark in his eyes before it escaped from his lips. The sound that burst from him was loud enough to draw more than a few disapproving glares and Beth frantically shushed him—lifting her fingers to his lips in the hopes that it would quieten him.
His breath caught in his chest at the contact. Beth watched it happen, that quick snag of air into his lungs—where it remained. She knew it hadn’t escaped because she would have felt it wash against her fingers.
His eyes were on hers, lingering traces of laughter disappearing to be replaced by something more intent.
Darker, hotter, heavier.
Beth swallowed, still conscious of the breath that he held trapped in his lungs. Her own breathing had stuttered to a halt as well. And she wondered what would happen if she moved forward, replaced her hand with her mouth, would he give her that air? She needed it. She needed it to live. Since she seemed to have forgotten the fundamental act of breathing.
She leaned in and—
“Miss Finch?” She jumped in shock, her breath escaping in a whoosh as whatever spell had held her entranced broke at the sound of her name in that unfamiliar male voice.
Gideon looked dazed as well, and his eyes drifted to the front of the crowded waiting room.
“Doc’s here,” he murmured, snapping out of the weird, dreamy daze that had descended over both of them a whole helluva lot faster than Beth. “Let’s get you fixed up, Lizzy-bit.”
Chapter Eleven
Beth glowered balefully down at her injured left wrist, now snugly encased in a black neoprene brace—one of those short ones that wrapped around the thumb and ended halfway up her forearm. The doctor had diagnosed a grade two wrist sprain. Her elbow had taken some strain as well, but it just needed regular icing to get the swelling down. This wrist thing was an utter annoyance. The doctor had forbidden her from working for at least five days, which was definitely inconvenient. She had deadlines.
Showing more intuition than she’d ever given him credit for before, Gideon remained silent on the drive home, giving Beth the space to brood in peace. He broke that silence only when he finally brought the car to stop in her carport. After switching off the engine, he hunched forward and draped his arms over the steering wheel, the tank top gaping beneath his arms to reveal his sculpted torso.
Beth wasn’t so wrapped up in her bad mood that she wasn’t immediately distracted by that, and her gaze flew up to his face, which was turned toward her. The line of his jaw was tense and his lips were pressed into a straight line.