Total pages in book: 127
Estimated words: 121460 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 607(@200wpm)___ 486(@250wpm)___ 405(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 121460 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 607(@200wpm)___ 486(@250wpm)___ 405(@300wpm)
Lewis nodded, solemn.
“But all you need to know is that my behavior has been wrong.” I’d had two days brooding alone in my room at the estate, Walker’s threat ringing in my ears, to really step outside myself. To see myself for the prick I was. Guilt and fear had warped me. And I vowed to stop letting them control me. “I’ve been rude to Ms. Sinclair, and it’s going to stop. I don’t want you thinking she’s wronged me somehow and acting accordingly, as much as I appreciate your loyalty. Ms. Sinclair is a good teacher, and I know you like her. She deserves to be treated with respect.”
He relaxed, the tension seeming to drain out of him. It made me feel like an even bigger selfish bastard.
“Okay, Uncle Brodan.”
“You’re a good kid,” I repeated.
“Am I a good actor?” He grinned.
Chuckling to see the Adair charm I’d used in my career shining back at me, I nodded. “Aye, you’re that too. But if I have my way, you’ll follow in your dad’s footsteps. You know he’s way more lit than me, right?”
“You think so?” Lewis seemed chuffed about that.
“Oh, aye. Your dad is the very best of men. I can only hope to be half the man your dad is, Lew.”
My nephew puffed up his chest with pride and nodded. I might be an uncle that Lewis admired, but Thane was the dad he hero-worshipped. The man he loved and most wanted to be like.
An ache splintered in my chest as I stared down at my nephew, filled with more love for the boy than I’d ever anticipated. That ache, I realized, was longing. Perhaps even something like envy toward Thane. It shocked the shit out of me. But I couldn’t deny I felt it.
That pull a man might feel when he wanted children of his own.
Fuck.
Off-balance, I shrugged off my confused feelings with a smile. “Come on, let’s go eat tacos.”
Stepping back inside, delicious heat hit us at the same time my family’s curious gazes did. I was sure Thane would ask me later what all that was about, but the rest of them could just wonder. Nosy buggers.
A short while later, all of us seated around the dining table, we created a cacophony of noise that Lachlan kept wincing at, his attention on the baby monitor beside his plate. Finally, our conversation died down as we dug into the tacos Regan and Robyn had put together.
“I just wanted to give you a heads-up,” Regan said, breaking the verbal silence, her eyes on me. “That social media journo, Harriet Blume, who was here annoying everyone this summer, is gossiping about you on her platform.”
Ignoring my irritation, I swallowed a bite of taco. Wiping my chin with a napkin, I replied, “What’s new? The gossip rags will gossip.”
“Well, she’s posting frequently about you and how you’re here hiding because Celia Bergstrom broke your heart.”
I snorted. I’d worked with the attractive Swedish actor on a film last year, we fucked once, and it was barely memorable for either of us. Sometimes, even if you had good chemistry on screen, it did not translate to the bedroom. “Let her write whatever nonsense she wants. As long as she’s not here, that’s all I care about.”
“I don’t know how you cope with people making up stories about you,” Arro said, her brows pinched together. “It would drive me nuts.”
“Which is why you’re not an actor.”
“Do you miss it?” Thane asked seriously.
I felt Lachlan’s eyes on me now.
“Aye and no,” I answered. “It’s complicated.”
Thane nodded, seeming to understand.
“You should start thinking about finding somewhere more permanent to live,” Regan advised. “Now that you’re staying.”
“Am I staying?” I teased.
She scowled at me. “Why wouldn’t you want to stay here surrounded by the people who love you?”
“Point well made.” I bit into the rest of the taco, feeling my family watch me, waiting for me to say more. Swallowing the bite, I chuckled. “I’m staying, okay. I have no plans to leave anytime soon. But I’m not rushing into buying a house.”
“Or building one?” Arran raised an eyebrow.
“Or building one. Just yet.”
That seemed to appease them.
“You know who needs a house.” Arro shot me a quick look before addressing Arran. “Monroe.”
My stomach dropped.
“Gordon told me yesterday that he accepted a delivery for a freestanding electric fire that Roe’s putting in his caravan. He’s not thrilled about it because he’s worried it’s a fire hazard, but I asked what else he expects her to do. The caravan is twenty years old and bloody Baltic.”
“That I can testify to.” Robyn nodded. “And I didn’t stay in it in the winter.”
“What can we do?” Eredine asked, her worry for a stranger evident. “Arran has tried talking to her about moving out of there, taking help from us, but she won’t listen.”