Total pages in book: 151
Estimated words: 138334 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 692(@200wpm)___ 553(@250wpm)___ 461(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 138334 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 692(@200wpm)___ 553(@250wpm)___ 461(@300wpm)
“We don’t want to cause you any trouble,” Gedeon said. “We can grab the keys to the rental and head for the house. Meiling wanted to visit with Evangeline, but we’ll be back soon.”
Kyanite glanced at his watch. “Rush should be over soon. She’d be so disappointed if you didn’t stay.” He pulled open the door to the bakery.
The lines were long at the counter. Two women worked fast, moving as if they were a machine, never getting in the other’s way. The one Meiling didn’t know made drinks, while Evangeline served the customers the pastries and rang up the orders. Evangeline seemed to know most of the customers by name. She never failed to smile at them warmly as she greeted them.
Your choice, Lotus. You look tired. I can put you to bed, or we can stay for a short visit. Gedeon stroked a caress down her back.
I’d like to visit even for a few minutes, Gedeon. I like this place. It seems warm and welcoming, and I know that’s really her gift.
Meiling wasn’t certain why it was so important to her to try to establish her own connection with Evangeline, but the compulsion was there. She didn’t have friends and had never thought she would need them. Or want them. She thought about Evangeline often. She didn’t seem to fit with a man like Fyodor Amurov, and yet evidence pointed to them being a very happy couple. How?
They were escorted to the table held for them. It was close to an emergency exit. Gedeon took the chair with his back to the wall where he could see every door, the front, the hall and the kitchen. Kyanite took their orders and hurried up to the counter. He slid behind it and had a brief consultation with Evangeline and then the other woman. She had thick blond hair. Her eyes were light brown, almost an amber color, but ringed with very dark feathery lashes. She had a beautiful figure that Meiling envied immediately.
“Is that Timur’s wife, Ashe?” Meiling asked.
“Yes,” Gedeon said.
“They work together so well. Look how fast they are.”
“They’re shifters,” Gedeon’s voice held amusement. “You’re fast at anything you do.”
“I suppose.” She leaned her chin onto the heel of her hand. “I like her, Gedeon. Evangeline. I’ve met so many people in our business, but she’s the first person I’ve ever met that I felt comfortable around. The kind of comfortable that I’d be willing to kick off my shoes and put my feet up and just talk and laugh with for an evening.”
“She is rather special,” Gedeon agreed.
“And she’s with Fyodor Amurov.”
“Because he’s a smart man and he recognized right off that she was someone extraordinary. Just as I’m a smart man and I recognized that you are. Men like Fyodor and Timur, they search everywhere, all over the world, looking for that one woman, but honestly, Lotus, they don’t expect to find her. It isn’t just that the world is a big place and there aren’t very many females left, it’s that they know they aren’t good men, and they don’t deserve a mate, let alone someone extraordinary.”
Meiling’s gaze jumped to Gedeon’s face. She knew he was talking about himself. He identified with Fyodor and Timur Amurov. “I love looking at you, Gedeon,” she whispered. “Just looking at you. When I do, I feel safe.” She studied the angles and planes of his face, feature by feature. “And happy. Looking at you makes me happy.”
He cupped the side of her face with his palm, his thumb tracing her lips. “Men like Fyodor and Timur . . . men like me. When we find that one woman who rocks our world, we hold on tight to her and do everything in our power to make her happy. I know you want to be friends with Evangeline, and I think the feeling is mutual considering she asked the bodyguards to make certain you waited until rush hour was over.”
“She did, didn’t she?”
“She’s coming this way now,” Gedeon said. “And she’s beaming.”
Meiling looked up. Evangeline was beaming, but then, she always was when Meiling saw her.
17
GEDEON spread drawing paper on the small table he shared with Meiling in the early morning hours at the Café Du Monde. There were very few customers, but that wouldn’t last long. Within the next half hour, the tables would fill, and the line would be long. They had grabbed a table close to the side exit on the open platform. Near them was a smaller table, and a single male sat there reading while he enjoyed his coffee. Three tables over were three women dressed in suits. A table over from them held four people, who all obviously worked together opening a restaurant.
Meiling pushed back hair that had escaped from the single ponytail she’d quickly pulled her hair into that morning when she’d crawled out of bed and into the shower. Gedeon looked up from the paper to examine her in the early morning light. She had dark circles under her eyes. Her lips looked bruised. There were smudges on her shoulders where skin was exposed. He could see bruising on her neck as well as teeth marks. He hated to think what her body would reveal if he had her strip right there. He should have checked her over before they started out this morning. It was only day three of Whisper’s heat. He had no idea if other heats were as violent as Whisper’s. Hell. He should have asked. Anyone looking at her would think she was a victim of domestic abuse.