Total pages in book: 103
Estimated words: 103356 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 517(@200wpm)___ 413(@250wpm)___ 345(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 103356 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 517(@200wpm)___ 413(@250wpm)___ 345(@300wpm)
Pulling herself up, she slipped past him. She half-expected him to reach for her, to try and touch her. And she wasn’t entirely sure how she’d react.
But he didn’t.
And she wasn’t sure whether that upset her more.
Lord. She was losing her mind. But she just couldn’t deal with anything more.
She rushed past Devon, who didn’t stop her either, and headed out to the bar. And nearly bowled someone over.
The person grabbed her, steadying her, and she looked up to see the woman that Tanner had been sitting with.
God. Of all the people, why did she have to crash into her?
“Hey, are you all right?” the other woman asked.
And nice too.
“I’m fine. I’m sorry. Are you all right? I didn’t hurt you, did I?”
“Hardly. You’re tiny.” The other woman eyed her curiously. “I’m Carlie.”
“Lilac,” she said. “Sorry, I have to get back to work before I’m fired.”
“Sure. I hope you’re all right, Lilac.”
“Of course. Why wouldn’t I be?” What did she know? Had Tanner told her something about her?
“I meant your hand.”
“Oh yes, it’s fine. Thank you. Nice to meet you. See you soon.” As she walked off, she winced.
Seriously!
Nice to meet you? See you soon? Could she have embarrassed herself anymore?
She decided the only thing she could do was throw herself back into work and try to forget about this entire disaster of a night.
Easier said than done.
“What did you do to her?”
Tanner turned to look at Devon, who was glowering at him. “Nothing.”
Yeah, nothing except act like a total asshole and scare her to death. He didn’t care what she’d tried to say after. She’d been scared of him . . . she’d thought he would hit her.
Fuck. He shouldn’t have said what he had. He’d been hurt over her leaving like that . . . he could admit that to himself even if he couldn’t say it to her.
“That didn’t look like nothing,” Devon said in a low voice. “That looked like you terrified a woman who is already in a fragile state of mind.”
Fragile? Lilac?
Was she close to breaking? She’d certainly looked that way just now . . . yeah, he thought she might be.
“She’s lost so much weight.” It was worrisome. Why would she have gotten so skinny? Was it on purpose? Had she been ill?
“I need to talk to her again.”
“No.” Devon blocked his path. “You’re not. You’re going to go collect your stuff and your fucking date and leave.”
“You have no idea what you’re talking about. I know Lilac. She’s mine.”
“She’s not yours. If she was yours, then she wouldn’t have been on the floor, staring up at you in utter fear.”
“That . . . I didn’t mean to scare her. I’m not sure what happened.”
Devon sighed. “I know you’re a good man, Tanner. But if you go after her right now all you’re going to do is make her more skittish. I don’t want her running.”
Fuck. Neither did he.
Now he was going to worry about her running off again.
“Why do you care?” Tanner asked.
“Because it’s obvious that Lilac hasn’t had an easy life. I hired her on because she needed this. A job. Someone to give a shit about her. That’s what I’m going to give her.”
Tanner clenched his hands into fists, battling back his jealousy. “You want her?”
Devon sighed. “I can’t do something nice for a woman without wanting her? I have to have an ulterior motive? You don’t think much of me, do you?”
Great. He was being a complete ass all the way around.
“Fuck, sorry, man.” Tanner ran his hand over his face. “It was just a shock seeing her. We didn’t part ways under the best circumstances. She just left. Didn’t message me, didn’t answer her phone, and all this time I had no fucking idea whether she was dead or alive.”
“I get that must have been awful. Not excusing what she did, but did you ever think she might have had a good reason?”
Had he?
Or had he figured that no reason would have been good enough?
“And did she actually promise you anything? Did you tell her how you felt about her?” Devon asked.
No. But it was unsaid. Or at least on his side, it was. He knew he’d just told her it’d been nothing more than a fling. But he’d been lying, since that certainly hadn’t been true for him. Had it been for her, though?
“I worried about her . . . she ghosted me. I deserve an explanation.”
“Maybe. But you don’t need to terrify her to get it.”
He’d done that, hadn’t he?
Scared her.
Fuck. What was wrong with him?
“I’ll go apologize.”
“Like I told you, not now. Just . . . go get some air and sleep on it. She’s had enough tonight. I don’t know what she was like when you first met her, but she seems like she’s close to the edge. And you don’t want to be the one who pushes her.”