Total pages in book: 96
Estimated words: 91786 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 459(@200wpm)___ 367(@250wpm)___ 306(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 91786 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 459(@200wpm)___ 367(@250wpm)___ 306(@300wpm)
“Can’t bloody well be happy for the rest of our lives, holed up in a fuckin’ cabin in the mountains, Leith. Not all of us are content chopping wood and reading books for fucking sport.”
He doesn’t answer at first, as he works his jaw and looks ahead of him. I decide this conversation isn’t for me.
Sometimes I’d rather be deaf than mute.
I pull my book out of my bag, and pick up where I left off. The girls weren’t kidding when they said this book sounds familiar. I mean, even the location itself sounds as if it were lifted straight out of the mountains we just left.
The hero’s large and muscular… just like these guys.
They’re inked… just like these men.
Only there are four of them, not three.
There once was four of them, though…
Coincidence, I suppose?
The heroine is witty and bright, a former “Miss Edinburgh” in a modeling competition. She’s got her doctorate in marine biology and was supposed to be booking a holiday by the Sea, but fortune or fate had a hand in things, and now she finds herself booked in a mountain lodge that’s supposed to be unoccupied. Only… it isn’t.
She’s mistaken for a woman who’s supposed to be betrothed to the Captain’s son, and if she doesn’t go with him, her younger sister’s life is forfeit. Phew, talk about high stakes.
He walks along the rugged edge like he’s come straight here for me, heavy boots clomping along the walkway with the finality of a judge’s gavel.
“I couldn’t find you anywhere,” he says, shaking his head from side to side. “Don’t you know it isn’t safe here?”
I shake my head and continue my walk, ignoring his insistence that I come with him.
“You’re to be wed today. You know this. What are you doing, woman?”
He reaches for me and pulls me to him. My foot slips on a rock, and as I slip, the emptiness below me looms like a black hole, ready to suck me in.
I slink down lower in my seat as he pulls her away from the edge, shoves her into a cave. Next thing I know he’s tearing her clothes off, as he tells her he’ll make her wed him by law or by custom, and tradition says if he takes her virginity…
Oh… oh my. I flip the pages like a teen sneaking a porno magazine, completely entranced and sucked into the story, when I realize Leith is talking to me.
I drop the book into my lap like it’s scorching hot and turn to look at him. Mac chuckles behind me.
“She’s reading about you again, Leith,” he says with a hoot of laughter. Leith ignores him and gives me a teasing look.
“Good book, lass?”
I nod, grateful I’m not expected to speak.
“So you didn’t hear a word I said.” His tone is reproachful but amused.
I shake my head.
“I said we’re coming to the border of town. My sources tell me your brother works at the petrol station where he bullied Mac the other day?”
I nod.
“Very good,” Leith says. “We’ll go there first. His shift’s up soon.”
I wonder if his errand is really what he says it is. He’s here so that he can spy on my brother? Or is it something else?
When we near the city, I roll down the window. It’s suddenly hot in here, though I feel like I’m wearing hardly any clothes at all. Why am I so lightheaded all of a sudden? There’s ringing in my ears, and my throat’s all weird and tight, the closer we get to the city.
“I’ll park on the other side,” Leith says with a frown, flicking on his directional. “To be sure no one takes us by surprise, eh?”
I nod, wiping my sweaty palms on my skirt.
What if my brother recognizes me? What if he tries to hurt one of them? What if he tries to get me back home?
“I hope we’re not making a fucking mistake,” Mac mutters. “Honestly, boys, if the fucking Aitkens are around…”
“Her brother is not one of their friends or associates. Promise. I’ve checked thoroughly into everything.”
I look quickly at Leith. He’s checked… into everything?
Including me?
What did he find?
I send him a text, but he doesn’t get it at first, because he’s driving. He parks, and lifts his mobile. He registers no surprise when he reads what I’ve sent him.
Reaching over, he squeezes my knee. “Aye, lass. We can discuss that later when I get you home.”
There it is again, that hint at protection and belonging that makes my heart melt into a puddle. When I get you home.
“There you are!” My brother’s loud, booming voice sounds so close, I open my mouth in a silent scream, then immediately freeze. My head feels fuzzy and I’m way too hot, like I’m going to faint.
How has he found me? How has he recognized me? Will he drag me out of here? Will they leave me to him?