Total pages in book: 144
Estimated words: 133531 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 668(@200wpm)___ 534(@250wpm)___ 445(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 133531 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 668(@200wpm)___ 534(@250wpm)___ 445(@300wpm)
“Me?” Her eyebrow shot up, and she turned fully to him. The moon caught her hair, and it blazed into a glorious dark red shine that was beyond beautiful. “How would you even know about me?”
He laughed. “A little bird told me about you.”
She studied his face. “Your friend. The one who came into the bar with you. He’d come in several times before. You call him Javier. He’s come in with a couple of other men. One called Ethan. And another man named Brian. They sat at the same table. Javier likes that particular table or the one up against the wall in the darkest corner of the room. He sits there sometimes when he comes in alone. He told you about me, didn’t he?”
“We’ve had a few discussions where you came up,” Gideon said.
“Why would he think you’d be interested in me?”
“He knew. I talked about you enough times. I told you, I dreamt about you before I ever met you. He knew all about you.”
Rory tilted her head back to look up at the stars. The clouds drifted across the darkened sky, threatening to obscure their perfect view. Gideon could see her delicate features. As far as he was concerned, he still had the perfect view. In profile, the woman was just as beautiful as when she was looking him straight in the eye. Those long lashes of hers had a little curl at the ends. Her eyes had gone liquid again.
“Red.” He whispered the endearment. “I didn’t mean to upset you. What did I say? You have to tell me so I don’t fuck up again.”
Her lashes swept down and then back up again. Her mouth curved up in a slight smile as she gave a little shake of her head. “You didn’t eff up, Gideon. I’m beginning to think you’re too good to be true. You do realize I don’t have anyone at all. I can’t look back and see my family. Yours may be a street family, but you have one. You chose to be part of them, and you stick with them. They stand by you. Do you know how lucky you are?”
She didn’t wait for him to acknowledge that he knew. He counted on his family. They might not be blood, but with all the blood they’d shared together, maybe they were even closer.
“I know what a miracle it is to have a man like you tell me you dreamt about me so much that your friend saw me in a bar and went back to you and told you about me. You can’t imagine how that makes me feel. To have one person in this world care enough to look for me. To have his friends looking for me. I know that sounds pathetic, but it’s the truth.”
Rory didn’t look at him when she gave him her revelation. She kept her face averted, tilted toward the sky. Her face was an oval shape. Right now, he swore he saw liquid diamonds glittering on her skin beneath her eyes.
“You know you’re killing me, Rory. I’m trying to be a gentleman and not scare you, but if you’re crying, I’m going to have to pick you up and put you in my lap. I have no idea what will happen after that.”
A ghost of a smile tipped the corners of her mouth up. “You don’t? Are you trying to absolve yourself of all responsibility?”
He sighed and swept his hand through his hair to push it back. The wind was picking up even more, managing to sneak through the shrubs. “Unfortunately, I wish I could be like that. I’ve always wanted to be. I tend to be the stick-in-the-mud sober driver who watches over the others when they want to cut loose. I can’t help myself. In other words, I’m not the fun guy. You may as well know that right now.”
Strips of hair fell across her cheek, and she shoved at that silken mass, tucking it behind one ear. That didn’t do her any good, so with a little sigh of surrender, she dragged a scrunchie out of her skirt pocket and twisted her hair into a high ponytail. Once her hair was secure and out of her way, she turned her head to fully look at him again.
“No, Gideon, you’re the steady man. The rock. The one everyone counts on in a bad situation.” Her delicate brows drew together. “I’d bet any amount of money that you weren’t captured and tortured because you were careless in some way but because you were protecting someone. You waited too long in order for them to get away. I have no idea what you were doing, but that would be my guess.”
She saw too much. Her insights weren’t guesses. She saw into him—into his mind—and caught glimpses of his past. He didn’t see into her the way he did others. He should have. He could still discern the truth from lies, but he should have been able to see into her mind.