Total pages in book: 76
Estimated words: 72325 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 362(@200wpm)___ 289(@250wpm)___ 241(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 72325 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 362(@200wpm)___ 289(@250wpm)___ 241(@300wpm)
A man was crossing the street, and my head swung round before I consciously recognized him. For a moment, I thought it was Rocco. Though, I hadn’t heard from him since the night I went over to his place, I would’ve liked nothing more than to fall into his embrace. It had been one hell of a night.
But it wasn’t Rocco, it was Slater.
“Hey,” I said, pausing and raising my hand. Somehow, I knew better than to call his name out loud.
He was startled for a moment and then jogged over. “Maggie,” he said, stepping onto the sidewalk. “You all right?” He had brown hair that was in need of a cut. His short beard was neatly trimmed, however. He looked as if he needed sleep.
“Yeah. I was inside when it happened.”
“Good.”
“The cops said that nobody got hurt, apart from the driver of that car. He’s dead.”
“That’s too bad,” Slater said evenly. Then he flashed me a sexy smile. “Before I saw that the bar was closed, I was going to drop by and have a word with you.”
“Really?” That surprised me.
“Yeah. I heard you went over to Rock’s place the other night. How did it go?”
I stared up at him, my mind going blank. What the hell was I supposed to say to that? That his friend sure knew how to finger a woman? And in the back of my mind, I was pissed off at Rock for being so indiscreet.
“He can be a real handful,” Slater said, when I didn’t respond. “Did he give you a hard time about going to bed?”
“No, he didn’t even suggest that,” I said, half a second before I scrunched up my face in confusion. “What?”
“He’s a good kid, but he can be a handful at bedtime.”
Oh my god. He was talking about babysitting Tommy, not what Rocco and I had done. I regrouped as quickly as I could. “He wasn’t so bad. I know a lot more about dinosaurs now.”
Slater grinned. “Me, too.” He down and frowned. There was something dark on the ground of the weedy lot next to us. Slater kicked at it, sending packed dirt flying.
A car came by, and in the illumination from its headlights, I could see Slater flinch. His voice was steady, though. “How about I walk you home? You must be shaky after what happened.”
My mouth opened to tell him that it was okay. That I didn’t need him to do that. That I could take care of myself. But instead, I said, “Yeah, that would be great.”
Where the hell had that come from?
“Lead the way.”
Slater walked next to me on the sidewalk, his lanky body between me and the road. A memory surfaced. My mom once told me that my father did that, in order to protect her. Was that what Slater was doing? He didn’t seem the type. Then again, neither had my father. He walked out when I was barely four.
We reached my building, and I paused under the weak overhead light. Slater’s eyes were warm when I looked up. Strangely, I felt hesitant to go inside and leave him. Which was stupid. I lived alone. I took care of myself. Or at least, I usually did.
“You sure you’re okay?” he asked, gazing at me with concern.
“Of course,” I said automatically.
“Then you’re nuts.” His voice was so casual that it took me a moment to process what he’d said.
“What?”
He grinned. “Well, it seems like you’d have to be crazy to not be affected by two assholes pulling guns on you. Then three assholes showing up bloody and bleeding at your friend’s house. And then the bomb tonight.”
Oh. When he put it that way, yeah, that was all a pretty good reason to feel a bit disoriented. Plus, I could add my encounter with Rocco to the list. Julian, too.
Bad stuff seemed to happen when these three were around, but there was no doubt they had an effect on me. I just couldn’t quite decide if it was a good effect or a bad one.
Almost reluctantly, I fished my keys out of my purse. I didn’t really want to be alone, but I couldn’t just stand out here in front of my building all night.
Slater looked around. “Do you know of any place I can get a drink around here? I’m pretty thirsty, and my favorite bar has police tape over it.”
Automatically, I glanced down the street. “Sure. There’s a place around the corner that—” I stopped when I looked back at his face. It dawned on me that he wasn’t asking for a recommendation for another bar.
“I’ve got something upstairs,” I said quietly, and grinned.
As I opened the front door, I wondered if I was crazy. Of the three of them, Slater was the one I knew the least.
But Rocco knew him. Julian did, too. Hell, even Tommy did, if Slater was being truthful about the boy teaching him dinosaur facts, too.