Total pages in book: 56
Estimated words: 54148 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 271(@200wpm)___ 217(@250wpm)___ 180(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 54148 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 271(@200wpm)___ 217(@250wpm)___ 180(@300wpm)
“Lo, I swear I’m just here to have a beer and listen to bad bluegrass, like everyone else.”
“Uh-huh, sure.” She doesn’t believe me, but I’ve officially run out of fucks to give.
This time, Lola doesn’t try to stop me when I go around her, barreling through the crowd toward the gaming area. But when I reach the pool tables, Kenzie and the assholes she’s here with are nowhere to be found.
My heartbeat kicks like a mule. I take a lap around the bar, scanning for familiar faces and pastel-colored button downs. No dice. I try calling but she doesn’t pick up.
“Where the fuck are you, Kenzie,” I mutter under my breath. If the four of them just stepped out, I could probably catch up. Even if I don’t spot them, I can run across the street and look up Jeremy’s address in our payroll records.
Out on the sidewalk, my luck changes. I spot the four of them beneath an overhang, passing around a vape. Kenzie stands somewhat apart from the group with her head tilted back and her eyes shut. She’s definitely feeling that tequila shot. I wouldn’t be surprised if these assholes managed to sneak her a couple more in the time that I was held up.
Jeremy rests a hand on her lower back and offers her the vape.
I fly across the concrete.
Without saying a word, I grasp McKenzie’s arm and then bend to capture her legs. She yelps as I lift her onto my shoulders.
“Austin, put me down!” Her small fists beat against my back as I make for the crosswalk.
“What the hell, man?” Jeremy shouts, running to catch up. “You’re acting like a fucking psycho.”
“And you’re forgetting that your drunk, underaged co-worker lives with a cop,” I grit out.
That shuts him up for a second.
“I didn’t buy her the shots—”
“I don’t give a shit.” I stand chest-to-chest with Jeremy, or as close as I can with Kenzie slung over my shoulder. “I’m taking McKenzie home, and you’re going back to your apartment to jerk off.”
Jeremy glowers. I brush past him before he can run his mouth, continuing toward the crosswalk. Kenzie kicks her feet.
“You can put me down n-now,” she slurs.
“Not happening.” I don’t trust her not to stumble into traffic in her condition. Kenzie wriggles, raining weak punches down on my back as I step into the crosswalk.
Halfway through the intersection, she starts to slip from my hold.
“Knock it off, little girl.” Without thinking, I bring my hand up firmly against her ass.
She goes still.
Mine is the only vehicle in the Pope and Parkes parking lot. Carefully, I set McKenzie down on the pavement, keeping a grip on her elbow as she sways in place. I expect to be met with wild, drunken fury, but she appears almost chastened, wringing her hands and refusing to meet my gaze.
“How much did you have to drink?” I ask.
She shrugs. Adrenaline makes my hands twitch as I take in her current state. I shouldn’t have spanked her, I know that. I just don’t understand how she can be so Goddamned reckless with the thing I hold most precious in this world.
I take a deep breath to calm myself, then open the passenger door of my truck.
“Get in,” I tell her.
She shakes her head like a child refusing to leave the playground.
I exhale a groan. This girl’s fucking lucky she’s not my kid, ‘cos if she was, she’d be in a world of trouble.
But maybe that’s the problem.
It’s like she said right before she started drinking: I’d rather go where I’m wanted than accept one more person’s charity.
She thinks I’m trying to parent her, and why wouldn’t she? All this time, I’ve been giving Kenzie the space I thought she needed to heal. But by keeping my distance, I've given the impression that I don't want to be close to her, when that's exactly where I’m dying to be. Close enough to lick the sweat from the hollow of her throat. Tight enough to taste her moans as I spread her wide. I want to bury myself so deep inside her that I feel her heartbeat when I tell her she’s the only girl I’ve ever loved, and there’ll never be another girl for me.
Though, I wouldn’t mind if she called me Daddy...
“You think that little prick’s the only one who wants you, Kenzie?” I stalk toward her, casting a shadow over her face. If telling her the truth gets her into my truck and back to my house where I can take care of her, well, maybe it’s time I showed her that I’m not trying to be her father.
She gasps as I cup her ass with both hands and lift her, pinning her between my body and the side of my truck.
“Just to be clear, little girl, I’m not inviting you to my bed out of some sense of duty. I’m dragging you there because that’s how badly I want to get inside you.”