Total pages in book: 115
Estimated words: 106948 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 535(@200wpm)___ 428(@250wpm)___ 356(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 106948 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 535(@200wpm)___ 428(@250wpm)___ 356(@300wpm)
“Leo,” Ramón growled.
Realizing I was making her uncomfortable, and that the smile was fading from her lips, I gave her the grin women always fell for. “Coffee, black.”
She blinked and I had the strangest sense of déjà vu as our eyes met. “You got it. I’ll be right back with your coffee.”
As she quickly strode off, stopping to check with her other tables on the way, I watched her.
“What’s your deal?” Ramón asked in a low voice. “You know her?”
I squinted, trying to place her. I was usually very good at remembering people, and I swore she was familiar, I just didn’t know how. It wasn’t her looks—I’d have remembered those—but her voice and eyes that struck me. “I think I do, but I’m not sure.”
“Well, if you happen to remember she has a bounty on her head, don’t kill her until after I’ve eaten.” He grimaced as he scanned the room. “What did my mom want to talk to you about?”
I didn’t bother lying to him or trying to hide it. “Your mom needed a moment to deal with everything.”
Ramón’s long dark hair fell over his forehead and into his eyes as he looked down at the table top. “Thank you for being there for her. You know she thinks of you like a son.”
Something deep inside of me eased the slightest bit. “She’s a good woman.”
He laughed and rubbed his face, his hands rasping over the dark bristles of his unshaved face. “Fuck…she’s batshit crazy, but I love her to death. What else did she talk about? Something’s on her mind. I don’t know what but I recognize the conniving look on her face. She has a new resolve around her that scares me. Bad things can happen when my mother decides to do something.”
“She’s trying to figure out a way to make sure whatever woman you chose for your wife is loyal to you.”
A flash of pain went through Ramón’s hazel-brown eyes before he smiled. “Lemme know how that works out for her.”
“That’s what I said, but she’s got me thinking.”
“You wanna know what I’m thinking?” he growled in a low voice. “I’m thinking that normally I’d be fucking away my pain with one of the cute pieces of ass smiling at us from across the room. But as soon as I even consider having one of them suck my dick, I get this sick feeling inside of me like someone’s kicked me in the gut, so you don’t have to worry about me looking for a wife anytime soon. Fuck, I’ll be lucky if I can even jerk off anymore. Maybe you can brainwash me into forgetting that any woman I fall in love with could stab me in the back at any second.”
A burst of laughter came from across the room, and I followed the slim line of our waitress’s back as she practically danced through the growing crowd, her infectious smile and good nature making even the most surly patron grin back.
Tapping my finger on the cool tabletop, I pursed my lips as I thought. “Or maybe I could brainwash them into being loyal.”
“Yeah, right.”
“I’m serious.”
Ramón leaned forward, the creases around his mouth deepening with his frown. “Even if you did, where am I going to find a good girl who’s into my particular brand of kink? Not every woman is into the kind of dominance and submission we enjoy.”
“This is true.”
“I mean, how many women giggled the first time you told them to call you ‘Daddy’.”
For a moment, everything felt normal between us, our usual banter putting me at ease. “Not a single fucking one. Hard to laugh with a cock down your throat.”
“I’ll take your word for it.”
I gave him a dry look, which he ignored while taking his phone out of his pocket. A second later he cursed, then stood and moved out of the booth. I went to do the same, but he waved me back. “Sit, eat my pancakes. I have to go deal with some family shit.”
“What happened?”
Looking incredibly weary, he rubbed his face. “Nothing to concern yourself over. Dad’s worried about me and wants me back home.”
“If you need anything—”
He clasped my shoulder, his voice hoarse as he said, “You were there for me, for mi familia today, in every way we needed, and I’ll never forget it.”
After he left, I found my mind drifting again, the combination of exhaustion, too much caffeine, and lack of food dulling my wits.
Our waitress spoke from nearby, and I realized she was talking to the people in the booth behind me. I didn’t mean to eavesdrop, but the soft cadence of her honeyed tone lulled me, soothed me, and melted through my bones like caramel. She was comforting whoever was in the booth, and as they talked with the waitress about their loved one in the hospital across the street, something clicked—and I remembered where I knew her from.