Total pages in book: 46
Estimated words: 43367 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 217(@200wpm)___ 173(@250wpm)___ 145(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 43367 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 217(@200wpm)___ 173(@250wpm)___ 145(@300wpm)
But still, I challenge him, “Then you do hate him?”
Those black eyes of his shift back to blue fire, filled with enough heat to make my knees weak as he says, “I’m not asking him to dinner. And if I could just grab you and take you with me right now and erase all your doubt, I would.”
“But you won’t?”
His eyes narrow, and now his lips curve. “There you go, proving how not involved in your father’s world you are.”
“I do work here now. That contradicts that statement.”
“You just started. And you know far too little about GTECHs for your own good right now. That would not be the case if you’d been involved in this program before now.”
“What does that mean?”
“I can windwalk with humans, but it can be fatal so I’d say, let’s not do that.” He motions toward a black Mustang a few parking spots away. “Gives me an excuse to keep Carrie.”
“You named your car Carrie?” I ask, surprised yet again by this man. He is far more human than people make him out to be.
“She’s the friend who has never failed me,” he says, clicking the locks and walking to the passenger door before holding it open. “Come on. I’ll show you.”
My feet have apparently already decided I’m going with him, based on the fact that I’m now standing by the door. “You do know Carrie’s a psycho demon character from a Stephen King novel? Not sure that’s a friend I want to have.”
“You won’t say that after you ride in her,” he promises.
All too aware of his warm stare, I slide into the car, sinking into the soft leather surrounding me a moment before he shuts me inside. The friend who has never failed me. Someone has not only failed Creed Monroe in the past, they hurt him doing it. And that hurt is now a part of how he defines who and what he is. Maybe it even made him as lethal as everyone seems to believe him to be. Maybe I should be afraid of him. I probably should. So why am I not opening the car door and getting out?
Chapter Four
Creed joins me in the Mustang and there is a presence about him, an energy I couldn’t begin to fully explain to someone who’d never experienced it.
Power, I think.
Lethal power.
Something so beyond human it’s terrifying and yet when he glances over at me with those ice-blue eyes, all I see is the most amazing man I have ever met. “You do know that I invited you to dinner and there are no restaurants in Groom Lake.”
“Oh, right,” I say, twisting around to study him. “This whole secluded thing is new to me. Both my mom and I lived and worked in Vegas, though my dad spent years trying to get us both out here in the middle of nowhere.” I tilt my head to study him. “But I bet you just windwalk to get decent food and come back, don’t you?”
“Exactly. And since we just determined I can’t take you with me, we have four options.”
I laugh. “That’s a lot of options. More than I expect in Groom Lake.”
“Most of them are not good.”
“One of them has to be good. Give me the top two.”
“We can drive at least forty-five minutes, both directions, or I take you home, pick up whatever you want, and then bring it back.”
He’ll just windwalk right over and get us food. It’s unreal, in so many ways. “Just out of curiosity, what are options three and four?”
“Military food, which I don’t recommend, or I can take you home and say goodnight.”
A stab of unexpected disappointment follows that suggestion. I’m the General’s daughter, and he’s the man he may well blame for what he’s become. “Is that option your way of backing out?”
“I invited you, Addie. I don’t want to back out.”
The way he says my name a bit roughened up does funny things to my belly. “I don’t want military food. And driving is nuts. You don’t mind the whole windwalking and get us food option?”
“Not at all.”
“Are you even allowed to do that? Aren’t you supposed to stay on base?”
“I can go get us food,” he repeats, which translates to, no he’s not supposed to leave base, but he will, and he does.
“A proper general’s daughter should not corrupt the soldiers, and that means you.”
“I’m long ago corrupted, sweetheart, so if that’s a problem, I should take you home and say goodnight.”
“Are you?”
“Ask around. Then you’ll get your answer.”
“I’ve already heard stories,” I admit, “but I prefer to hear about you from you.”
He studies me for a moment that feels as if it stretches eternally and says, “What do you want to eat?”
“How do you feel about hamburgers? There’s this famous place in Vegas called—”
“Henry’s?”
“Yes,” I say, and I can feel my eyes light. “Do you like it?”