Total pages in book: 20
Estimated words: 18683 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 93(@200wpm)___ 75(@250wpm)___ 62(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 18683 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 93(@200wpm)___ 75(@250wpm)___ 62(@300wpm)
“Don’t worry, angel,” Colt says, placing a hand on my knee. “This is where I grew up. Nobody here will hurt you.”
I look over at Colt for some kind of sign, but he’s looking straight ahead as he drives, threading a mysterious route through the unmarked streets. The occasional person gazes out at us from the stoop of their trailer or from a chair in their front lawn, but the place is pretty quiet, which somehow makes it more eerie and unsettling.
Eventually, we take a turn and come to a plot of land with a trailer that looks like it was burnt to the ground a long, long time ago. Only ashes remain.
Colt parks the car beside the wreckage, and without a word, steps out. After a moment, I follow.
There’s clearly something important about this place, and I know better than to make a silly joke or say something to try and lighten the mood. Instead, I wait for Colt to speak. After what feels like minutes, he does.
“I was living here when I got this.” He lifts his finger to the scar on his cheek, tracing the line its entire length.
“Colt…”
“Years ago, I thought I was in love.” An expression comes over his face as though he’s reliving a terrible experience. “In love with a woman who I thought was in love with me…”
He kicks forward, disturbing the ashes that I get a feeling have not been disturbed in years.
“If you don’t want to talk about this, you don’t have to—”
“Then somehow, she got it into her head that I was cheating on her. Which of course I wasn’t. So she gave me this.” Colt points to his scar and sighs. Then he points to the burnt down trailer. “And then she did that.”
A pain like I’ve never felt before hits me straight in the chest. I reach out and grip his arm, look him straight in the eye, and let him know that I’m there for him. All I want to do is heal him, no matter how silly that may be.
How could anybody be so cruel to someone like Colt? I can only imagine the kind of man he was back then.
“Oh my God, Colt…that is so…”
“It’s okay.” He smiles. My God. Even now he’s comforting me.
“No, it’s not!”
“But I guess it was then that the walls came up around me, you understand?” I nod my head and squeeze my hand harder on his arm. I inhale his scent, already feeling closer to him. “That’s when I opened the club and swore I’d never love again—never let a woman close to me again…until you came along.”
Colt’s words hit me like I’ve been run over by a truck. The combination of his scent, his eyes, the way he’s touching me, and the things he’s been saying…it’s almost all too much, and I find myself overwhelmed as I look up at his bright blue eyes staring down at me.
But there’s still that little bit of distrust lingering inside of me. I hate it, but it’s there for good reason. But if Colt can overcome what he’s been through, I should be able to as well, shouldn’t I?
“And you don’t have to worry about other women, Tilly,” Colt says firmly, stroking my hair back. “There’s only you from now on. And that’s a promise.”
8
Colt
I wake up for the first time in a while feeling different. And I know why immediately. It’s because when I look over, there’s an angel lying in the bed beside me. An angel named Tilly.
Delicately, I pull the sheets back, exposing her flawless naked body, and take just a moment to take it all in. It’s hard to believe the world has given her to me. How could I deserve such a beautiful woman?
It doesn’t matter now. I’ll never have the answer to those questions. All I know is that it’s my job from now on to protect her, be there for her for anything she needs.
Gently, I reach out and run my fingertips up her leg, from her foot to her knee, feeling the softness of her skin but being careful not to wake her. Then, from behind me, I hear my cell phone buzzing.
It’s Damien. With a sigh, I answer and step out of the room.
“Yes?”
“Boss!” I can hear the excitement in his voice. “You gotta come down to the club, boss. We got so many new hires, it’s insane. We’re gonna make so much bank!”
Damien always gets excited when there’s a new haul of fresh “talent,” as we call it, but I’ve never heard him this pumped up before.
“Geez, calm down, buddy. You’re gonna give yourself a heart attack.”
Damien laughs. “Seriously, it’s nuts. We’re gonna be rich!”
Only a week ago, I’m pretty sure I’d be sharing in at least a fraction of Damien’s enthusiasm, but this morning, I’m just not feeling it like I normally would.