Total pages in book: 30
Estimated words: 29003 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 145(@200wpm)___ 116(@250wpm)___ 97(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 29003 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 145(@200wpm)___ 116(@250wpm)___ 97(@300wpm)
My face drops as I stare at him in horror. “Are you crazy? They’ll come right to your doorstep!”
“Exactly.”
I shake my head as I stare at him in disbelief. “No! Why?”
“They’re coming to the town anyway, right?”
“Yeah.”
“I can’t have them around you, baby girl. I can’t put you in an unsafe position like that. I’ll put you up in the beautiful lodge in town and meanwhile, we’ll draw them here.”
My face must look horrified as I stare at him because he chuckles.
“I’m sorry,” he says, taking my hand. “I didn’t mean to laugh.”
“How can you be so calm about this?!” I screech. “These men will come to your house!”
“I want them to come,” he says calmly.
He wants them to come? He is crazy.
“This is what I do, baby girl,” he says in a soft, calm voice. “This is what I was made for. What I trained all those years for—to keep you safe.”
I shake my head in disbelief as I stare at the computer screen. “I can’t do it.”
“Then, let me.” He takes the laptop and posts the picture, tagging his mountain in the description.
I drop my head, feeling like I’m going to faint. This is the opposite of what I wanted.
He gently touches my chin and raises my head until I’m looking into his eyes. “I can’t have any threats around you, Ruby. It’s my job to eliminate them all. You’re my girl now, and I’m going to keep you safe.”
I want to believe him, but this is just terrifying. After a lifetime of yearning, I finally have Jack and I don’t want to lose him.
“It’s going to be okay,” he whispers as he leans down and softly kisses my lips. “Don’t worry about a thing. I’ll keep you safe.”
I’m not even worried about me anymore.
I just want him to be okay.
“Are you sure about this?” I ask Jack as we walk into the gorgeous Greene Mountain Lodge. This place is stunning with a huge majestic fireplace in the middle of the lobby and luxurious everything. I’ve never been in a place this nice before, but I’m too nervous to enjoy it. All I can think about is Crenshaw and his goons arriving at Jack’s house.
“Please trust me on this,” he says, cupping my cheeks and looking into my eyes. “Everything will be okay. I’ve faced off against much worse men than this Crenshaw punk. I’m a Navy SEAL remember.”
I swallow hard as he kisses my forehead and then walks to the counter. A pair of identical twins are behind it, both with black bobs and black-rimmed glasses.
“Hello,” Jack says to them.
They both take their time to look up, but their mouths drop in shock when they see Jack. They’re both staring at him with wide unblinking eyes.
“I’d like to book a room. The nicest one you have.”
Neither of them says a word. They just stare up at him in awe.
Jack waits for them to answer, but there’s just more staring. I think these girls have a thing for older men.
I roll my eyes as I look at their name tags—Tina and Tiffany.
“Do you want company?” Tina eagerly says. “I get off in an hour.”
“What?” Jack says, jerking his head back in shock. “No.”
“How about me?” Tiffany says as she takes off her glasses and fluffs her hair. “I’ll rock your world, old man. You’ll have to use a walker after I’m done with you.”
“Wha—?” Jack looks so confused.
“He already has company,” I say as I wrap my arms around his and hold it while glaring at them. “Just a room would be fine, please and thank you.”
They both narrow their eyes at me. I narrow mine back at them. It’s a stare-off until the manager named Lauren sees and comes rushing over.
“Girls, why don’t you take a break?” Lauren says as she hurries around the desk.
“We’re good,” Tina says, still glaring at me.
“Yeah, we’re really good,” Tiffany says as she gives Jack a salacious look.
“Girls,” Lauren snaps. “Take a break. Now.”
They slowly get up while shamelessly drinking Jack in with hungry eyes. I stare them down until they disappear into the back.
“Sorry about them,” Lauren says, laughing nervously. “They get a little weird around older men. Now, what can I do for you?”
She gives us a nice room and even gives us a discount so we’ll hopefully forget all about the creeps at the front desk.
The enormity of the situation hits me once again when we’re riding the elevator up to our floor.
I look up at Jack, wanting to cry.
“It’s okay,” he whispers as he tucks a strand of hair behind my ear. “They’ll never bother you again after tonight.”
I want to believe him, it’s just… my luck is so horrible.
My stomach is in knots as we walk to the room. I open the door and gasp when I see the stunning view from the window.