Total pages in book: 50
Estimated words: 47521 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 238(@200wpm)___ 190(@250wpm)___ 158(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 47521 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 238(@200wpm)___ 190(@250wpm)___ 158(@300wpm)
Chloe gives me a look. “Uh yeah, sure. I can get some ice.”
“Stay. I’ll get it,” the man says. He takes two steps and turns back toward Chloe. “Don’t move.” He gestures to his buddies, and if I read the look right, he’s telling them to watch her.
There’s still a little chaos around us. The two guys that started the fight have been dragged out the door, so now I’m just dealing with everyone looking at me. Yep, my boss is definitely going to hear about this.
When the man comes back, he hands the bag of ice to Chloe. She tries to hold it to my head, but I take it from her and push it gently on my bruise. “What happened anyway?”
The man gruffly explains, “The one asshole pushed the other asshole, and he grabbed on to you and took you down with him.”
“Uh, the police are here,” Chloe says.
Darn it. Of course the cops would come. I mean, why not? Can this night get any worse?
I follow her gaze, and sure enough, there’s a man in blue coming my way. I do a double-take as I look at the man walking straight toward me. His eyes are glued to me, and I’m sure he’s just here to check on things, but I’m feeling all kinds of personal about it. He’s tall and handsome. I know I shouldn’t, but I let my gaze travel down his body. He’s muscular, and he looks good in his uniform. When my eyes go back to his face, he’s openly smirking at me. It’s almost as if he knows exactly what I’m thinking.
My whole body gets at least ten degrees hotter when he stops in front of me, and all I can do is stare up at him, hoping I don’t make an even bigger fool of myself.
CHAPTER 2
BAKER
She is the most beautiful woman I’ve ever seen.
As soon as I walked into the building, I saw her, and I couldn’t look away. I know she’s the one I’m looking for, it’s a given with the ice she’s holding to her head, but it wouldn’t matter anyway because I’m not letting her out of my sight.
As I get closer, I see Chloe and Elias, one of Walker’s mercenaries, standing next to my girl. And yes, I haven’t even talked to her, I don’t know her name, heck, I don’t know anything about her, but I know she’s mine. Or she will be, anyway.
I stop next to Elias and position myself right in front of the injured woman. She’s looking up at me with her mouth hanging open. She’s affected by me, that much is obvious.
I lean down because I need to be closer to her. Bent over, I search her face. Without saying a word, I reach for the bag of ice in her hand and lift it from her head. She blinks up at me, speechless. I wince when I see the knot that’s already formed on her forehead. “Oh baby,” I grunt.
Her eyes widen, and I realize I called her baby out loud. She looks down, and that’s not going to do. I like having her eyes on me. I put my hand at her chin and raise it gently until her eyes meet mine again. “Talk to me. Are you okay?”
I try to make sure I’m holding her gently even though anger is pumping through my veins. “Can you tell me if you’re okay?’
She nods, but I shake my head. “Words. I need to hear you say it.”
Chloe leans in. “Cassie, what’s up, girl? Tell him you’re okay. Oh God, is she in shock or something?”
Cassie… her name is Cassie. Something clicks, and I deflate for just a second. Surely not… this can’t be THE Cassie.
She shakes her head and looks at her friend. “No, I’m not in shock. I’m fine.”
Her hair falls across her face, and I clench my hands at my sides to stop from reaching for her and brushing it away. I want to be able to look at her face.
She smiles softly and finally looks at me again. “I’m okay. It was my fault.”
Elias grunts next to me, and it’s obvious he disagrees with her. I would be jealous, but everyone in town knows that Elias likes Chloe. “It wasn’t her fault.”
I don’t have to look at the other man. I already knew it wasn’t Cassie’s fault. Anyone could look at her and know it would never be her fault. She’s too sweet and too innocent looking. “Do you want to press charges?”
Her gasp tells me her answer before she mutters a word. She starts to ramble. “No. Definitely not. It was my—”
I growl at her, and it surprises us both. But I’m even more surprised when she reaches for me, touching my hand as if she wants to reassure me. “No, really. I mean, those men were not nice, and they were starting to fight. I hate fighting, and I thought I could stop them, but I know, I know. I should have minded my own business. But they were fighting over Chloe, and she was uncomfortable—”