Total pages in book: 37
Estimated words: 35159 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 176(@200wpm)___ 141(@250wpm)___ 117(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 35159 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 176(@200wpm)___ 141(@250wpm)___ 117(@300wpm)
She wiped her hands on the towel as she made her way to the front door. Checking through the peephole, she was a little taken aback to see Rose, one of Beau’s pack, the very woman who asked her to do this for her months ago, on her doorstep. Eloise opened the door.
“Hi, Rose,” she said. “Is everything okay?”
The other woman stood with her hands thrust into her pockets, looking a little out of place.
“Yeah, everything is fine. Great, even.”
She was relieved for a split-second as she was worried about Beau.
Rose didn’t say anything and if Eloise was honest, she looked like she wanted to run as far away from here as she could possibly go.
“Is there anything I can get for you?” Eloise asked.
“Actually, I … uh, I came to help you out,” Rose said.
This made Eloise frown. “Help me out?”
“Yeah, you know, with the weekly cooking and that shit. I thought you might need some help.”
Eloise didn’t want to appear rude. This was unexpected. She was being paid to provide meals to Beau and his pack, and the arrangement had been going great so far.
“I don’t understand what is going on.”
Rose ran fingers through her hair, and then tried to attempt what might or might not have looked like a smile. “I know about you and Beau.”
“What about me and Beau?” Eloise asked.
“I know you two are having sex every chance you get.”
Eloise opened her mouth and closed it.
Rose threw her arms up in the air. “I’m not here to judge or anything. I happen to think you’re a good person. You’re not like a lot of the women you see around here, including your sister. No offense.”
“None taken.”
She looked past the other woman’s shoulder and then stepped out of the way, allowing her to pass.
“Do you want a drink? Coffee? Tea? Hot Chocolate? A beer?”
“I don’t drink, but hot chocolate sounds great.”
Rose closed the front door and Eloise made her way toward the kitchen, going straight to the milk in the fridge.
She wanted to ask how she knew about her and Beau, but at the same time, she didn’t want to run the risk of ruining what she and Beau had. No one was supposed to know. That was their agreement. Now, she was more confused than ever.
“You don’t have to worry,” Rose said.
Eloise didn’t need to look at her jerky movements to see that she was giving off the whole freaked-out vibe.
“I’m not worried.”
“Let me guess, you and Beau don’t want anyone to know you’re fucking like rabbits?” Rose asked.
Eloise whirled around to look at the other woman. “How exactly did you find out?”
“I’d left my keys on one of the days when Beau sent us all out to the fields to work or deal with the fences. Wolves have great hearing. I heard the two of you.”
She knew her face was getting hotter by the second. “No one was supposed to hear that.” She couldn’t help but nibble her lip.
“Don’t worry about it.”
“This doesn’t mean anything,” Eloise said.
Rose pulled out the chair at the small table they used in the kitchen. “It doesn’t?”
“No.”
“Or are you trying to tell me this doesn’t mean anything to Beau?” Rose asked.
She didn’t know how to answer that. Thankfully the kettle began to make its high-pitched squeal to let her know it was done.
With the hot chocolate made, she placed it in front of Rose, and then got to work on preparing the next meal according to her list. She tried to keep it a balance of meat and vegetables. Rose had already told her not to bother with fish, but shellfish was okay. None of the pack liked other fish.
She rarely cooked fish herself, so most of the dishes were meat and poultry. Now, she couldn’t believe why she was thinking about the list of food groups. It helped to distract her from the fact a pack woman was in the kitchen.
“You know, in all of the years I’ve known Beau, he’s never spent this much time with a woman.”
Eloise looked up at the other woman. She didn’t want to have hope when it came to Beau.
“You don’t have to try and set anything up. Trust me, I already know what I’ve gotten myself into with Beau,” Eloise said.
“And what is that?”
“I know this is going to be fun, and when he’s done and finished, he’ll move on to whoever he wants next.” She shrugged. It wasn’t exactly a fun thought, and she hated the jealousy that seemed to spiral up inside her at the thought of him with any other woman.
“Is this why you’re sneaking around?” Rose asked.
“No, I don’t think so. We’re sneaking around because … we don’t want anyone to know our business. You’re going to have to tell Beau that you know.”
“Don’t tell him.”
Eloise threw her hands up in the air and shook her head. “Don’t do that to me. Don’t put me in the middle of whatever pack rules or laws are going on right now. I don’t know them. I’m not here to cause trouble.”