Total pages in book: 111
Estimated words: 105665 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 528(@200wpm)___ 423(@250wpm)___ 352(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 105665 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 528(@200wpm)___ 423(@250wpm)___ 352(@300wpm)
“Jersey …” Chris’s strained voice held so much pain.
She opened one eye. “Don’t do this. I’ve had the best day. I’m in New York with a full belly and a real bed. Don’t ruin this tonight. We’ll talk in the morning and sort through what you think you know about him. Maybe after you sleep on it, things will be a little more clear for you. Okay? Can we just go to sleep?”
Chris pressed the heels of his hands to his temples and squeezed his eyes shut, releasing an indecipherable grumble. Then he flipped off the lights and crawled into the other bed. After a few minutes, Jersey realized how much she’d grown used to a warm body beside her.
“What are you doing?” Chris asked.
Jersey climbed in bed next to him. He rolled toward her. She didn’t say anything. She didn’t have to answer him. He pulled her back flush to his chest and rested his chin on top of her head. Always being defensive, alert, and guarded took its toll on her. Jersey never realized, until she met Chris, just how badly she needed to rest from her own demons and surrender to a safe haven.
The following morning, just after five a.m., Jersey slipped out of bed and went for a jog, making a mental note of the room number. A cold blast of frigid air stifled her lungs as she emerged from the revolving door onto the sidewalk. She imagined Manhattan being busier, but then again, it was quite early.
“Good morning.” A uniformed man smiled at Jersey.
“Where’s the nearest park?” she asked.
He chuckled, pointing to his right. “First time here?”
She nodded.
“Well, there’s a great park straight that way. Central Park. You can’t miss it.”
“Thanks.” Jersey jogged in the direction of Central Park. The sidewalks weren’t bustling yet, but she wasn’t the only fitness buff fighting the onset of winter in the park. She sprinted, skipped with high knees, boxed the air, breezed through fifty pushups with her feet elevated on a park bench, and found the Holy Grail of her workout—pull-up bars.
Blowing on her hands and rubbing them together a few times, she jumped up and muscled a quick thirty pull-ups.
“Damn … and I mean d-a-mn!”
Jersey released to the ground, shaking out her hands before blowing warm air on them again while glancing at the broad-chested man with dark skin, black running pants, and a white hoodie.
“I never seen that kind of shit before from someone so small.” He hopped up, clenching the bar next to Jersey. “Now just move along before you make me look bad.”
“If you can’t keep up with me…” she jumped back up and gripped the bar with her hands in the opposite direction to reach a different group of muscles “…then maybe you should move along before I make you look bad. Which … I will.” Jersey shot him a sideways smirk.
After she kicked his ass, showing off on the bar long after the dead weight of his body thunked to the ground, Jersey let go.
The stranger shook his head and grinned, massaging his forearms and hands. “I’m not worthy.” He held out his hand and she shook it. “Enjoy your day, young lady.” The stranger walked off, picking up his pace to a jog.
Behind her, a slow clap sounded like the rhythmic slaps of a horse’s shoes against the pavement. Jersey turned.
Ian.
“Impressive.” He continued a slow clap.
Weird, fluttery things happened in Jersey’s belly when Ian grinned. “I impressed one person. You sent thousands of women into a frenzy by just stepping into the spotlight.” The wind gusted, attacking Jersey’s face. She winced.
But his face … it was chiseled to perfection, shadowed with a light outgrowth of stubble, slightly softening each sharp angle. Ian wore a kind smile with a hint of mischief like he kept the best secret ever. Jersey couldn’t believe that secret involved killing two innocent people.
“What’s it like to have that effect on people?”
He shrugged, tugging his blue beanie down over his ears. “I don’t care about their reaction. I’m just so fucking happy that they show up. It’s that simple for me. I want to sing—to one person or twenty thousand people. It never stops blowing my mind that they just … show up.”
“That’s it, Coop?” She erased the space between them with several calculated strides. “Just showing up does it for you?”
He curled his lower lip into his mouth, scraping his top teeth over it. “I think I could listen to you say my name like that all day.”
“Yeah? Well, Coop, I slept like the dead last night in that bed you paid for, so I’ll chirp on repeat whatever you want if it leads to a warm bed and a hot meal.”
Ian gave her a full grin that reached his eyes. “That’s it, Jersey? A warm bed and a hot meal does it for you?” He rocked back and forth on his heels, shoving his hands into the pockets of his jogging pants, shoulders lifted toward his ears.