Total pages in book: 86
Estimated words: 82411 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 412(@200wpm)___ 330(@250wpm)___ 275(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 82411 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 412(@200wpm)___ 330(@250wpm)___ 275(@300wpm)
“An adventure,” she repeats with a quick nod. “What do you tell them about our adventure if they ask?”
“They won’t,” I assure her. “They may take bets on the outcome, but they won’t nudge us in any direction.”
“So, your friends are taking bets on when we break up?”
I can’t tell if her defensiveness will lead her to fight harder to stay together or make her want to jump ship earlier.
“They’re more likely to bet on how soon we declare our love to each other or when two lines will show up on a pregnancy test.”
“I’m not having your kids, Derrick Lee!”
I shake my head but can’t manage to drop my smile. “I don’t think I want kids.”
“I know I don’t want kids. How’s that?”
“Okay,” I tell her. “No kids.”
“This is insane,” she says, running her hands over her sandy blonde hair as she drops her ass to the end of my—our—bed.
“You said it. Not me.”
She glares at me, but there’s a certain level of levity in her eyes that wasn’t there a few moments before.
“What do you tell your boss if he flat out asks about us?”
“I tell him the truth. I won’t lie to him.”
“What’s the truth?”
“That we married on a whim. It wasn’t love at first sight. We plan on getting a divorce, but you wanted to escape the gossip of our mutual decision.”
“Would he believe you if you told him it was love at first sight?”
I shrug. “Probably. Kincaid is one of the most extreme romantics I’ve ever met. I blame the love he has for his wife. The man thinks everyone will find true love.”
I fully expect her to challenge me even further, but she doesn’t.
“The marriage is real. Legally speaking, so we aren’t lying about that,” I continue. “They’re going to know that we’re involved in a sexual relationship. You’re too loud for us to deny that part.”
Her mouth hangs open as she tries to formulate a response.
“I’m not a screamer!”
I hold my hand out as if her reaction is my answer.
“During sex,” she clarifies.
I shrug. “Maybe, maybe not. I’m fully willing to test that theory right now.”
As if to prove my point on just how close everyone is, a door closes down the hallway.
“That’s Newton,” I tell her. “Hemlock is right next door.”
She follows the point of my finger to the shared wall opposite the bathroom door.
The laughter that was in her eyes when she was denying her screaming fades, and I take a step closer to her.
With a hand on either side of her face, I look down at her.
“Things are going to work out exactly how they’re supposed to,” I tell her, fully believing it.
“You don’t know that,” she argues.
“I do,” I assure her. “They named me Oracle for a reason.”
I lean forward and press my lips to hers before she can argue further. I don’t want her starting her new life here filled with doubt.
Just as I reach down and pull her to standing, with every intention of christening this room with her moans and the scent of her arousal, there’s a knock at the door.
I pull in a deep breath and take a step back. “Hold that thought.”
She chews on her lower lip as I turn to walk to the door. The woman is quite possibly every wet dream I’ve ever had. I know that has more to do with why I’m not ready to put distance between the two of us just yet, and, honestly, I’m okay with knowing that.
“Jinx,” I say, confusion in my voice when I pull open the door.
He doesn’t live at the clubhouse, so I have no idea why he’s knocking on my door.
“Do we have a job?” I ask, because it’s the only thing that would make sense, considering he’s on my team.
“No job,” he says, stepping around me and handing his cell phone over to Beth.
Chapter 12
Beth
“Miles,” I say, looking down at the phone in his hand. He looks so different from the way he did when he left Lindell for the Marine Corps so many years ago.
“Dr. Miller,” he says, waving the device a little as if I can’t see the thing he’s holding between us.
“I’ll call her myself,” I tell him, my eyes locked on his.
Miles Alexander, Kalen’s older brother, is older than me. He was never one of the ones who I had to worry about gossiping. By the time I hit the height of my disorder and was diagnosed, he was already out of town, living his own life here in New Mexico. As Kalen’s brother, however, I’m sure he heard all about what I’d done back home.
I never even considered him when I asked Derrick to bring me back here with him. The world is seriously too damn small most days.
Miles glares at me, telling me with his eyes that I better do as he says.