Total pages in book: 96
Estimated words: 91622 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 458(@200wpm)___ 366(@250wpm)___ 305(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 91622 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 458(@200wpm)___ 366(@250wpm)___ 305(@300wpm)
“I take it you heard what happened?” Erin asked.
“Good news travels fast,” Macy said with sarcasm in her tone.
“I didn’t know you were awake,” Cole said. He hooked his thumbs in his jeans pockets and stared at her with that intense look that set her nerves on edge.
His black T-shirt showed off well-defined muscles. He hadn’t shaved, and he was even more appealing scruffy than any man should be, while she looked like roadkill. She could only imagine the sight she presented, and she did her best not to wince.
“How’s the pain?” he asked.
“Bad,” she admitted.
His eyes darkened.
“Can you take anything given your condition?” Macy asked, startling Erin.
She’d forgotten she and Cole weren’t alone. Par for the course around this man, it seemed.
Suddenly, Macy cleared her throat, her eyes widening in sheer panic. Erin managed not to laugh at her friend’s distress. “He knows.”
“Oh? Oh!” She whipped her head around to look at Cole, whose expression, true to form, was bland, giving nothing away. “So can you take anything?”
“Tylenol, definitely. And the doctor gave me a prescription for something stronger to take sporadically if I’m in agony, but . . . I’m trying not to use it.”
Macy squeezed her hand. “Well, I’m sure that makes rest all the more important, then. You need to be still.”
Cole nodded. “She’s right. Sit. I’ll go get you something for breakfast.”
Macy narrowed her gaze, obviously not sure what to make of him yet. “I’ve got loads of food for you in my car. My mom sent me over with enough meals for you to heat for a good couple of days.”
Sonya Donovan, Macy’s mother, was a sweet woman who treated her children’s friends like they were her own. “Thank her for me.”
“I will.”
“Well, I’ve got eggs ready to cook, so you can eat those this morning,” Cole shifted his gaze to Macy. “Leave your car keys on the counter and I’ll unload for you when I’m through.” Without waiting for a reply, Cole turned and strode back into the kitchen.
“He always so chatty?” Macy asked, not bothering to hide the sarcasm in her tone.
“That was actually Cole at his most charming.”
“So how’d it go when you told him?” Macy asked as she and Erin settled into the club chairs in the den. Macy curled her legs beneath her and leaned forward in her seat.
Erin cringed at the memory. “He overheard the doctor say something about me being pregnant. He was shocked, obviously. But it’s all taken a back seat to the shooting. We haven’t really talked much about it yet.” Erin bit her lower lip.
“Well, he’s here and obviously taking care of you. So does that mean you two are . . . together?”
Erin shook her head. “Not even close. He’s my bodyguard. He and Mike almost had a brawl over who would take me home and where I would stay. When I insisted on coming back here, Mike relented and let Cole play watchdog.” And she hated being his responsibility just as much as she hated the idea that he was now saddled with her and a baby for the rest of his life.
When Erin envisioned her future, it was with a man she loved and who adored her in return. Maybe it was old-fashioned and silly, but she’d seen her parents together and watched her brother Mike fall hard for Cara, turning himself inside out to make her happy. She didn’t want to settle for anything less. Like being a man’s burden.
“What was that big sigh for?” Macy asked, too observant for Erin’s liking.
“Nothing. No sigh. It’s fine.”
Macy’s scowl let Erin know her friend didn’t buy the lie. “For a man who’s just your bodyguard, he’s pretty concerned about you.”
“Yeah, well, that’s just a sense of obligation.” She frowned. “As soon as I can get this sling off and move my arm a little, he won’t need to hover.”
“We’ll see. Meanwhile, any word on the shooter? Word around town is that it was a stupid kid who shouldn’t have been playing with guns.”
Erin cocked an eyebrow. “Really? As far as I know, they have no idea, so until the police find something, the overprotective men in my life are calling the shots.”
She laughed at her bad pun, and Macy rolled her eyes. “He’s unbelievably sexy. You know that, right?” Macy said of Cole, lowering her voice as she spoke.
“And brooding, and moody . . .” And occasionally charming and caring, but she wasn’t giving Macy any ammunition. “And he’s also a complete enigma who doesn’t seem to want to let anybody in.”
“Well, you’re his baby mama. He’s living here. If anyone can get through that gruff exterior, I’m sure it’s my sweet, gentle, caring best friend.” Macy waggled her eyebrows.
“You aren’t warning me away?” Erin asked, surprised. She, too, kept her voice to a whisper. “Because my brothers are livid, my parents will freak, and nobody in town will socialize with him except his cousins.”