Total pages in book: 22
Estimated words: 21429 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 107(@200wpm)___ 86(@250wpm)___ 71(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 21429 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 107(@200wpm)___ 86(@250wpm)___ 71(@300wpm)
Jesus, right now?
Sure enough, there’s a knock at the door.
“One second—”
But Roman, who thinks he owns the world, comes right in just as I’m taking a seat and propping up a foot on my desk to hide my half-erection. Could there be a worse time to have a chat with your step-sister’s father?
“Hey, pal,” he says casually, striding right in.
“Hey, I thought you guys went for dessert.”
“We did.” He nods. “But I made it quick. Had something I needed to talk with you about.”
He stands in front of me, hands in his pockets, and gives me that look I’ve seen so many times before. It’s that look he only gives when he’s got something serious to talk about.
I have to admit, I was pretty ecstatic when my mom first started dating Roman. Having been a law student, and him owning his own law firm, who wouldn’t be? He took me in, gave me a job, and then a year later, sent me off to Los Angeles to work at his offices there. But I’ve only just been brought back home—whatever he’s got to say to me couldn’t possibly have anything to do with work…which means there’s only one thing that could put that look on his face.
Skylar.
He knows…
But that’s impossible. I haven’t flirted with her around him, I haven’t made any stupid comments, and I made it back to my room before he was even upstairs. Is it possible he heard my footsteps when I was running out of her room? Or maybe he’s a super-possessive crazy father and has her bedroom wired with cameras?
Oh God…
That would mean he saw us…and that’s why he came back early from dessert with my mom.
A wave of heat rushes through me, starting at my toes and ending at my eyes. Luckily, my water bottle is sitting on my desk, and I turn away from him to grab it and take a drink.
“What, uh…what do you need to talk to me about?” I ask.
Roman takes a deep breath, looks away, and then looks back at me.
Jesus, he’s going to kill me.
“Well, Walker, this is hard to say, but…” I take another sip from my water bottle and swallow hard. “I know you just got back, but it looks like I’m going to have to ask you to go back to Los Angeles for me.”
I look up, feeling relief wash over me.
“Wait…what?”
7
Walker
“You’re really not going to tell me where we’re going?” Skylar asks.
I glance over at her sitting beside me in the passenger seat, gorgeously backlit by the midday sun.
“What, you don’t trust me?” I tease. “Think I might be bringing you to a pre-paid, soundproofed storage container to chain you up and only bring you food once a week?”
Skylar grimaces. “Oddly specific. Should I be worried?”
I chuckle and squeeze her knee. “Only about how much I plan on spoiling you in the near future.”
Sky blushes and shifts in her seat so she’s closer to me. It’s not close enough, so she unbuckles and leans across the center console so she can lean her head against my shoulder.
“Drive safe, okay?” she says. “I don’t want to be rocketed out of the windshield if you crash into a tree or something.”
“You think I’d do that to you?” I reply, wrapping an arm around her. “If I crash into something, I’m crashing fast enough that we both die together.”
Sky laughs and looks up at me. “Aw, so romantic. So now will you tell me where we’re going?”
I shake my head. “Nope. You’ll see when we get there.”
“Ooooo-kaaaaay,” she replies, pressing a finger into my ribs. “I actually like surprises anyway.”
“Well, you’ll like this one.”
Ever since I first got home, I’ve had this destination planned. A perfect place to bring Sky, only now the circumstances have changed. Now it’s not just a romantic trip meant to rekindle the feelings of when we first met; now there’s much more on the line.
Things could go one of two ways, and although my heart is telling me what her answer will be, my mind knows things could very well go the other way…and then what will I do?
I could just close my eyes right now and fall asleep if I wasn’t driving—that’s how relaxing it is just to have Skylar pressed up against me. I don’t even know how I managed to survive the last year without her. Even the thought of going back to a life without her is enough to cause a sense of anxiety to begin to boil inside of me, and I’ve never had issues with anxiety before.
I slow the car and pull over to the side of the road, drawing an odd look from Sky.
“No storage container…” she says, glancing around at the grass and trees. “But not a bad place to disappear a girl.”
Chuckling, I unbuckle and turn off the car. “Come on, follow me.”