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)
Somehow, I didn’t think that was it, but the memory of being that close to Julian’s strong, lean body wasn’t exactly an unpleasant one. Far from it.
The trio had been practically strangers to me a week ago. Now I’d almost kissed one and another wanted me to come over to his apartment.
If anyone told me this would happen, I would have laughed in their faces. I didn’t date my customers. Period. It was not only good business sense, but stating my rule firmly and clearly usually got the man in question to back down. Usually. But again, Rock, Julian, and Slater weren’t the ones who’d pressed the issue. Hell, they’d never even brought it up.
And did those three even count as customers anymore? Rock had beaten the crap out of two assholes who’d tried to rob me. I’d helped dress Julian’s wounds. And Slater… well, I hadn’t had much direct contact with him, but he’d been there on that crazy night out in North Haven.
I sat down on my loveseat and pulled my knees up to my chest. The small couch reminded me of how ridiculously large Rock had looked on the sofa at Zoey’s place.
It had scared the hell out of me when I saw that shard of glass in his neck. Partly because I was a bit squeamish, but also because I didn’t want him to be hurt. He’s seemed unstoppable when he beat up those two bastards who pulled guns on me. It was sobering to see a powerful man like him hurt.
If a guy like that could be injured, then so could I. When I’d pulled out a shotgun at the bar, it was because I thought I had to. My whole life, I’ve had to take care of myself. Sure, my mom tried her best, but as a single parent, she’d worked very long hours. Mostly, I fended for myself.
What would’ve happened if Rock hadn’t been there? Or if he’d chosen to do nothing like the people at the other table?
It was a scary thought, and I hugged my knees to my chest. I’d always taken pride in being able to take care of myself, but the truth was, I was a small woman and there were some very bad people in the world.
If Rock hadn’t stepped in, I could’ve been seriously hurt—or worse.
This shouldn’t have been news to me, but somehow it was. Probably I’d pushed that knowledge away during the aftermath. And then the very next night the three guys had appeared on my friend’s doorstep, all bloody and injured. That had wiped the thought right out of my head.
Maybe.
Over the years, I’d become adept and brushing aside troubling ideas. There simply hadn’t been time to deal with them. I’d worked a job since I was fifteen, and during my few semesters of college, I’d studied my ass off while working then, too. So there hadn’t been time to focus on unpleasant things.
Plus sometimes I flat out didn’t want to. Like the night my mom had told me about her cancer.
A tear rolled down my face as I thought about how those guys could’ve killed me. I owed Rocco. Even though Piper had stitched him up the other night, that didn’t make up for what I owed him.
I stood up, already moving toward the bathroom. I didn’t know why Rocco wanted to see me, but I knew I wasn’t going to show up at his place in sweats and with messy hair, which was sort of my uniform for my days off.
Before I hopped in the shower, I sent Rocco a one-word text.
Sure.
Rock’s apartment building was not what I’d call fancy, though it was a lot nicer than mine. The brick exterior only had a few spots where the red blocks had crumbled. The entryway smelled musty, and there was an “out of order” sign on the elevator. But my building didn’t even have an elevator.
I paused outside of his door feeling nervous. I straightened my skirt in case it had gotten crumbled up while I was climbing the stairs. Then I checked the buttons on my silk blouse. Three were undone, which seemed like a good compromise to me between “nun-like” and “slutty.”
Taking a deep breath, I rapped my knuckles on his door. He opened the door, and I swallowed hard as I looked up at him. He practically filled the entire doorway. I was used to looking at him from behind the bar. Up close, he seemed even bigger. His biceps bulged and stretched the sleeves of his dark gray t-shirt. It was easy to see how he'd been able to wipe the floor with those guys who’d tried to hold up the bar without breaking a sweat.
Though pretty much every part of him was large, his stomach was flat under his t-shirt. And his black jeans were tight enough to make my thighs clench.