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)
Being inside her, claiming her virginity, he felt … everything with her. She’d seen his scars, knew his story, and she hadn’t run away.
“Can we not talk about this right now? I don’t want you dropping by and making a big deal of this when there doesn’t need to be.”
“Okay, but if I ask Hope and Faith, they’d both say loving a woman was a big deal.”
“Which is why you’re never going to tell them, or Caleb. He can’t keep a secret for anyone,” he said, looking back at the files. “What if this is completely unrelated?”
“Charity moving in?”
“We’re assuming that this guy knew me, but he couldn’t have known me. These are all fresh bodies. This has nothing to do with me, so why bring me into this?” Dwayne asked.
“Dwayne, if he keeps dumping bodies near where you put yours, that can come back to you. There’s only so much we can do to keep you safe. This guy has to be stopped. Do you have any leads yet on who it could be?” Beast asked.
Dwayne shook his head. “I don’t know. Your informant was the one to tell us about them. He’s kept a lot of details to himself.” He glanced down at his watch. “I need to stop for coffee.”
“Dwayne, be careful,” Beast said. “Whoever this guy is, he could be dangerous.”
He couldn’t help but laugh. “You know what they call me, right?”
“I know what they call you. I also know what they call me, and it doesn’t make us invincible. We can still take a bullet, a knife, we can still die. Don’t let your reputation go to your head. Always remember, someone will happily take your place and throw you off that throne that you’ve built for yourself.”
Dwayne took the warning. Over the years he’d been many things, but stupid wasn’t one of them. His reputation had been something other people had made around him, not something that he’d willingly done himself.
“Dwayne,” Hope said, surprising him that she was on the stairs in the hallway. He’d always liked her, not sexually either. She’d been a weirdo, but a nice one, when they were at school.
“What’s up, Hope?”
She glanced toward the office, and he nodded. “You heard.”
“You weren’t exactly being quiet.”
“I’ll remember to keep my voice down next time.”
“I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have been listening.”
“It’s completely fine. Just don’t tell anyone, okay? I like to keep my secrets a little while longer.”
“I won’t say anything. She’s nice though, sweet. You’re good for her.”
“Thank you.”
He didn’t linger. He walked out to his car, climbed inside, and took off toward his apartment. He made a pit stop at a coffee shop that he loved, grabbing some cinnamon buns and coffee before heading back home.
Entering their apartment, he heard Charity in the kitchen.
Putting the baked goods and coffee onto the counter, he moved up behind her, pulling her against him for a hug.
“You’re awake,” he said.
She chuckled. “Well, yeah, I’m not sleepwalking, silly. I was wondering where you were.”
“Sorry, I had a couple of errands to run, but I stopped off, got us a few things.” He pointed at the coffee and buns. “It’s to make up for not being here this morning.”
She cupped his face and kissed him hard. “You’re an angel.”
Sitting opposite her at the kitchen counter, he admired her curves in his long shirt. It looked good on her.
He liked seeing her in clothes he owned. Her blonde hair tumbled around her, and her blue eyes seemed to sparkle as she licked the frosting off her fingers.
“This is so good.”
“How are you settling in?” he asked.
“I put my clothes away in your closet. I hope that’s okay.” She was nibbling her lip, looking a little nervous.
Her parents hadn’t wanted her to move in with him. He’d sat while they tried to encourage their daughter to stay with them. Her father asked him if he was going to argue, and he shook his head, telling them that as far as he was concerned it was Charity’s decision. When they saw that he wasn’t forcing their daughter to do anything she didn’t want, it seemed to help them relax with her moving out. Of course, they hated that she’d moved in with a man so much older than she was, but parents couldn’t have everything they wanted. Not on his watch.
Taking a bite of his cinnamon bun, he noticed a couple of buttons of her shirt had slipped open, showing a tempting curve of her breast. He didn’t look away. Every time she moved, the shirt would either open or close, offering him more temptation or shutting him out. Since he’d taken her virginity, he’d not made love to her again. He’d not wanted her to ache when they were together again. Also, work and moving her into his apartment had gotten in the way.