Total pages in book: 55
Estimated words: 51281 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 256(@200wpm)___ 205(@250wpm)___ 171(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 51281 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 256(@200wpm)___ 205(@250wpm)___ 171(@300wpm)
He was well constructed, almost too handsome, but in a blockbuster movie villain kind of way. The kind the girl might not mind being taken prisoner by . . . and not even bother trying to escape from.
He smiled slowly as I came into the room. His eyes flicked down my body quickly but didn't linger long enough to be rude. I tried to act cool, leaning against the counter and nodding at him. There was no way in hell I was going to shake hands with him, I decided.
"Claire, this is Hunter. Hunter, this is my brilliant granddaughter I've been telling you so much about."
He crossed the room and took my hand, enfolding it in his big, hard, callused one. Well, there went that plan, I thought, ignoring the chills that went through my body. He practically swallowed my tiny hand up in his big, hot mitt. I could feel the heat coming off him from a foot away.
He must be nice to snuggle up next to on a cool night, I thought out of nowhere. Like a tame bear. Or an oven.
But there was nothing tame about the man standing in front of me.
I shook myself mentally and tried to pay attention to what the behemoth was saying.
"I'm sorry?"
"Ellie here is so proud of you. It'll be great to have a nurse in the neighborhood."
He was grinning at me as if he were saying something else with his innocuous words. Something along the lines of ‘I’d like to bone your brains out.’
I gasped, belatedly pulling my hand back. His grin only got wider as if he knew I'd received his message. Had I ever. Loud and clear.
I stiffened up and looked down my nose at him. Well, I had to settle for looking up my nose at him since he towered over my five-foot-four frame.
"Yeah, well, I'm not sure whether I'm staying here or not. A nurse sort of has to go where the work is. If I have to leave, I’m hoping Gran might come with me.”
“You’ll find something nearby,” Gran reassured me with a smile.
“I hope so,” I responded. I knew she loved her house. I loved it here, too. It wasn’t a fancy neighborhood, but people took pride in their homes and gardens. They were good people. “But maybe not.”
He was watching me intently, really listening in a way that caught me off guard. He was considering all my words and their hidden meanings. It was hard to believe there was a brain under all that muscle, but apparently, there was.
"You don't say."
I kept talking, wishing I would shut the hell up. The man made me about as nervous as a cat on a hot tin roof.
"I mean, I hope it's nearby. I want to keep an eye on Gran and make sure no one is bothering her."
That shit eating grin was back in a flash. He knew I was implying that he might be bothering Gran. He knew it, and he was letting me know he knew it. Oh, yeah, there was a lot of unspoken communication going on between us at the moment.
"Are you sure she's the one who needs looking after?" he whispered, leaning close enough that his breath tickled my ear. I gasped and took a step back, not at all happy about the tingles spreading through my body. I was reacting to him, and not in a way I was used to.
I felt unsettled, hot and bothered even, and I didn’t like it.
Gran bustled over and whisked Hunter away, seating him at the kitchen table by the window. He looked absurd. This huge leather-clad biker squeezed into one of Gran's tiny vintage 1950s chairs. And yet, he somehow managed to look completely comfortable.
As if he hadn't just whispered something outrageous in my ear. Now he was leisurely looking me over. I realized he was only doing it because Gran wasn't looking. Now he was taking his time, letting me see him check me out. Thoroughly.
Way too thoroughly.
He started at my feet and slowly slid his eyes up my legs. His face looked serious, intent, almost like he was in pain. When he got to the top of my thighs, he licked his lips.
The man actually licked his lips.
I was so annoyed that my face felt like it might burst into flames. Annoyed and something else. Something hot and unfamiliar. Something I'd rather not think about.
And his eyes were still roaming, I realized with righteous indignation. His gaze moved up my body to my tits. And there they stayed. He shook his head ruefully and made a satisfied grunting sound.
Like he'd just tasted something good.
Well, that was that.
"It was nice to meet you, Mr. . . .” I trailed off, expecting him to give me his last name. He did not. “Um, Hunter, but I need to go and unpack."