Total pages in book: 134
Estimated words: 127527 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 638(@200wpm)___ 510(@250wpm)___ 425(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 127527 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 638(@200wpm)___ 510(@250wpm)___ 425(@300wpm)
“That was a challenge if ever I’ve heard one.”
“No, it wasn’t. Now focus. We have a show to put on. I need you to concentrate on that.”
He saluted her. “I’m focused, I swear.”
Hearing the easy rumble of an engine behind them, she glanced back to see a familiar car. “That’s Keenan and Khloë pulling up.” She slid her gaze back to Teague. “You ready for this? Because both he and Knox are gonna watch us like a hawk.”
“And what they’ll see is how hard you’re falling for me and my cock.”
She crossed her eyes. “I don’t know how to talk to you sometimes.”
“I hear that a lot. Now stay here.” Then he was gone from the truck.
Wait, what? She opened the door and slid out.
Skirting the hood, he shot her a look. “I asked you to wait.”
Conscious of Keenan watching them, she sighed at Teague and responded exactly how she’d have responded if they truly were dating. “Didn’t I tell you that I don’t need you to be all chivalrous?”
He hummed, closing in on her. “You did mention it. Several times. But all I ever hear is ‘Blah, blah, blah, I’m a tough independent badass who doesn’t know how to handle courteousness. Blah’.”
She rolled her eyes, ignoring how her body perked up at having him so close. “I don’t want a Prince Charming. They’re all dull and one-dimensional.” Her demon would likely skin such a person alive for being so boring—it really hated to be bored.
Teague took her hand in his and began pulling her toward the house. “I am many things, but I am never dull.”
No truer statement had ever been spoken.
He smiled at a beaming Khloë. “Hey, gorgeous.”
Jealousy nipped at Larkin, even as she knew that he had nothing but platonic feelings for the imp. Her inner entity drummed its fingers on its thigh, no less irritated.
Keenan glared at him. “Should you be calling another woman ‘gorgeous’ now that you have a girlfriend?”
Khloë frowned at her mate. “Why wouldn’t he? His relationship status doesn’t change that I’m gorgeous. You come out with the weirdest stuff.”
The incubus’s eyes widened. “Pot, kettle, black.” He glanced at the truck and then at Teague. “You didn’t give Larkin a ride on the back of your bike,” he noted, a trace of suspicion in his voice.
Teague shrugged. “She doesn’t like being so close behind me unless she’s wearing a jockstrap.”
Larkin closed her eyes. “This is where you stop talking.”
“I don’t know if I can,” said Teague.
Opening her eyes, Larkin caught Khloë’s subtle, conspiratorial wink just before the imp and her mate strode up Jolene’s gravelly path. Their hands still joined, Larkin and Teague followed, careful not to brush against the Mustang parked in the driveway.
Stepping onto the porch, Khloë pressed the doorbell. Five times. Not out of impatience, but simply because she felt like it.
The door soon opened, and there stood Khloë’s younger sister. Heidi was ten, maybe eleven—Larkin wasn’t sure. The little girl dived at Khloë with a beaming smile, who then hugged her tight while the kid nattered a mile a minute.
The sisters didn’t share much of a resemblance, though they had similar mannerisms and the same petite build. Heidi had the look of an angel—vivid aquamarine eyes, adorable dimples, rosy cheeks, and long ringlets that were a stunning white-blonde. She’d also rob you blind if you didn’t watch those sticky fingers of hers. In that sense, she was an imp through and through, not to mention a manipulative plotter like Jolene.
Finally, Heidi stepped back and waved them all inside, still chatting away to Khloë.
So many smells washed over Larkin as she entered the house. The overpowering and delicious scents of grilled meat and hot spices overlaid the softer smells of lavender, cookies, and coffee.
Shutting the door, she gave Heidi a smile. “Hey, kiddo.”
Teague ruffled the imp’s hair and said, “Well, if it isn’t my favorite thief.”
Heidi giggled. “My favorite thief is Leo. Want to see what he taught me last week?”
“Sure,” he replied.
She crooked a finger at Larkin. “You’re tall, so I’m gonna need you to bend over.”
Sighing, Larkin obliged her. “All right, but I’ll want back whatever you steal.”
Heidi fingered the necklace that dangled from Larkin’s neck. “I can undo the clasp on the chain without you even feeling it.”
Teague folded his arms. “Hmm, prove it.”
The kid tiptoed two of her fingers along the side of Larkin’s neck and around to her nape.
Larkin felt a whisper of a touch on the clasp, but the necklace stayed on. Heidi’s face scrunched up in concentration, and there was another slight ‘flick’ to the clasp. Again, though, the necklace didn’t fall off.
Her shoulders slumping, Heidi scowled and lowered her arm to her side. “I need to practice more.”
Larkin straightened. “I’m sure you’ll get it eventually, and I don’t know how I should feel about that.”