Total pages in book: 144
Estimated words: 135382 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 677(@200wpm)___ 542(@250wpm)___ 451(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 135382 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 677(@200wpm)___ 542(@250wpm)___ 451(@300wpm)
Was it a trap? “You shouldn’t be expected to do that simply because you’re a woman.”
She laughed, putting her hand over her mouth to stifle the sound. “Well, you’re a well-trained one, Mr. Carter. Perhaps you can spend some time with my new husband and train him.” She sobered. “It would be my pleasure. I would find it peaceful. I happen to adore children. Whether or not that has anything to do with my gender, I don’t care. I’ve found a woman can be many things as long she accepts herself.”
If only his woman could do that. “Yes, I’m sure that solves a lot of problems.”
“Well, it solves the ones I can handle myself. Getting acceptance from others, that can be the hard part.” She settled into the rocking chair. “Go on. The quicker you deal with the charmer in the kitchen, the faster my life goes back to normal. The last thing I need is my new husband trying to deal with a serial flirter. Not that he isn’t one himself, but I’ve found we’re less tolerant when we find our own foibles in others.”
“Opposites attract, huh?” Brody asked quietly. She seemed easy to talk to for a royal. Not that he’d ever met one.
“I think it’s important that we find our natural mirrors,” she said with a sigh. “Someone who can show us who we are when we forget. Of course, if that person can’t also see or accept who he or she is, well, that’s when the trouble occurs.”
“And if they can never accept themselves?”
“We must always have hope.” But there was the saddest smile on her face. It made Brody wonder if there was more trouble than an assassination attempt in her marriage. “And we must know when the time has come to move on. Not everyone can be saved from themselves. And you have a greater duty now. You have a son. Everything changes when you have to raise a child. Children learn how to live from us. They learn our good points, but they also come to accept as normal things they shouldn’t.”
“I won’t have my son growing up believing he ain’t good enough,” Brody swore. “But that means I have to feel like I’m good enough. That could take a bit of work.”
She smiled and this time it was a brilliant expression. “But you’re ready to take it on, aren’t you, Mr. Carter?”
“Don’t have a choice, the way I see it.” Boys needed their dads. No. Children needed their dads and their mums, or however that love showed up. They needed someone who could put them first always.
Could Steph do it? Or would her penance always come first?
“I won’t be long and I’ll be sure to explain to Alfi that you’re off limits,” he said, her words playing through his brain.
“Oh, I can handle him, but like I said, my husband is itching for a fight. I would not give it to him.” She turned back to her book.
Brody walked down the hall. He knew after last night that he could be enough for Steph, but did she know it? Did she understand what they could have together?
He had to come to terms with the fact that he might have to give up the one thing he loved. His job. He might have to sacrifice his job to make sure she didn’t kill herself while trying to make up for something that had happened when she’d been a kid, something that had been a bloody accident.
He let the thought drift away because Alfi was holding court.
“So I’m walking along the beach when I hear this terrible scream. Naturally I stop everything and start running toward the sound. That’s what we do, right? This saltwater croc is coming up on a gorgeous blonde. Well, she was far too pretty to become some nasty croc’s dinner, you know. So I jumped right on its back.”
Such bullshit. “He sure as hell did not. Those fuckers are twenty feet long and they’d swallow him in a heartbeat. He did save a pretty blonde when she got stung by a jellyfish. He peed on her. That’s about the extent of his beach heroics.”
Alfi puffed up a bit. “Hey, the lady was in pain. I did what I had to do.”
Tucker frowned. “You should have found a bottle of vinegar. Peeing on a wound like that won’t actually help and the pH balance of the urine changes from human to human, depending on diet. You need a heavy acidic pH to neutralize the alkaline nature of the jellyfish venom.” He sat up, a surprised look on his face. “How do I know that?”
“You read a lot,” Brody pointed out. “Now, can I have a moment alone with Alfred?”
Wade stood up. “Are we keeping him here?”
Not after what he’d found out from the queen. “No, he can come back to the guesthouse with me, but he’s staying around until I figure out exactly what part he’s playing in all this. However, if the bullets start to fly, you can duck behind him. After all, he’s bulletproof, as I’m sure he’ll tell you.”