Total pages in book: 47
Estimated words: 46344 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 232(@200wpm)___ 185(@250wpm)___ 154(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 46344 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 232(@200wpm)___ 185(@250wpm)___ 154(@300wpm)
“You’re with me. That’s all they need to know.” He took hold of her hand, and she felt giddy from that touch alone. Everything seemed to be hyper-sensitive at the moment. She followed his lead, and they entered the busy bar. There were several men playing pool. Some of them had leather cuts on that claimed them to be part of some club. Dwayne didn’t seem to mind, and as they sat at a table, a waitress was already there to take their order.
It wasn’t long before they both had a beer and a couple of shots lined up on the table. Music filtered throughout the whole of the bar. Dwayne didn’t even seem to care that people were glancing at him with the odd few whispers.
“Dwayne, are you sure this is a safe place?”
“Yeah, nowhere safer. A lot of people here have their own problems, and don’t worry, if a fight starts, I’m here to protect you.”
“That doesn’t make me feel any better.” She glanced left and right, and people were watching him as if he was going to explode or something. It made a change to be sitting with someone who was the one getting pointed or laughed at. Pushing some hair back off her shoulder, she decided to ignore all the stares and focus on Dwayne.
He was, after all, the only reason she was here.
“What are we going to do?” she asked.
“We are going to play a game.”
“Oh, yeah, like what?”
“Answer a question and if you’ve not done it, drink; if you have, don’t drink,” he said.
“Wait, isn’t that wrong how you play it?” she asked.
“Don’t care. It’s how we’re going to play it. Ready?”
“I have no idea.”
“Okay, here goes. Have you ever pranked your parents?” he asked.
She rolled her eyes. “Which kid hasn’t?” She was shocked when he downed a shot, but then she recalled him talking about his dad. “My turn?”
“Yes.”
“Have you ever kissed a girl you’ve not met?” She picked up a shot watching as his brow rose up.
“You’re a virgin, Charity. You’re going to get very drunk very quickly, so let’s see if we can make this game more interesting. I’ll drink a shot if I’ve done something that I love doing, and you drink if you’d like for it to happen to you.”
Her cheeks heated. He sounded so sexy, so sensual.
“All right, go ahead.”
“I love getting head.”
“Wow, this is just—”
“You ever thought about it?” he asked, cutting her off.
She rolled her eyes and tipped back her shot. “Fine, sex in a public place, have you ever done it?”
He knocked back a shot. “What about you? Thought about it?”
She shook her head. “Nope, not thought about it once.”
“Not even in a park or beneath the stars?”
“I’m not that romantic, Dwayne Carson.”
“Huh,” he said, watching her.
“What?”
“I don’t know. I guess I did have you as the romantic sort.”
“Not even close, buddy, not even close.” She didn’t have romantic ideas. Her parents were always talking about marriage and kids, and a family. She thought about it, but it wasn’t something that filled her with excitement or made her ache or want it.
No, she wanted something more.
Passion.
Excitement.
Something that was completely unpredictable but so exciting as well.
This was what she loved about being with Dwayne. He made life fun, and she loved being around him.
“Have you ever thought about having sex?”
She took a deep breath and knocked back a shot. “I’m going to have to slow down, and, yes, I’ve thought about it. Why are you suddenly so interested in sex?”
“It has been a long day.”
“It’s not that late.”
“I’ve not gone to bed yet.” He knocked back two more shots and then took a long swig of beer. “Let’s dance.”
She didn’t argue, stepping into his arms as they made their way onto the dance floor.
“What were you doing?” she asked, wanting to know why he seemed so strange.
“I had a bad night. That’s all you need to know.”
“Talk to me, Dwayne.”
He held her a little tighter, and she closed her eyes, loving his scent even if he hadn’t showered or changed.
“There’s a lot of bad people in the world. Fucking animals.”
She held him, too, not caring anymore about anything else but being there for him.
Chapter Eight
Dwayne inhaled the sweet scent of Charity in his arms. Last night Beast had gotten in touch asking for his help, so he’d met Caleb and Beast at the office downtown. It was a tape that had been sent to them that showed something that made him want to vomit. The abuse of children, sexual and physical. Dwayne didn’t even need to be told what to do. He asked for the contact details and proceeded to hunt those bastards down.
Both of his uncles had joined him as he went after them. The children had been so scared, but with Beast and Caleb’s help, along with their contacts in law enforcement, they were going to live happy lives soon.