Total pages in book: 86
Estimated words: 81040 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 405(@200wpm)___ 324(@250wpm)___ 270(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 81040 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 405(@200wpm)___ 324(@250wpm)___ 270(@300wpm)
The warm water washed over me, and I imagined it was cleaning me of all I’d been through. I soaped my body twice and washed my hair three times before finally stepping out of the shower and drying off. The T-shirt that Huck had left for me was huge. It had to be his. I took the fabric and held it to my nose to inhale. It smelled like him. I slipped it on over my head, and it hung off one shoulder and hit me just above my knees.
Sighing at myself in the mirror, I turned out the lights to the bathroom and went to the king-size bed. Taking a pillow from it and the blanket folded up on the end, I went to the sofa and lay down. I didn’t know if Huck intended to sleep in that bed or not tonight, but I wasn’t going to be in it if he did return.
Opening my eyes, I blinked, confused as I looked around the room. Where was I? Sitting up, I realized I was on a sofa, and with that, it all came back to me. I was in a basement, being held prisoner by my dead fiancé’s criminal older brother. I stretched out my legs and dropped my head back on the sofa. Would today be the day I could go home? Unsure of the time, I walked over to a lamp and turned it on, then looked at my watch. It was seven thirty-three.
I glanced back at Huck’s bed, and it looked exactly how it had last night. He hadn’t slept down here. Hopefully, he’d return soon, and I could go.
I looked around for the television remote and found it on the table beside the recliner. Picking it up, I managed to figure out how to turn it on and change the channels. It was complicated, so I stayed with the basics. I stood there, flipping through the channels until I found the local news. Once I had some other voices to fill the silence, I put the remote down and went to use the bathroom and get myself ready to go home.
Twenty minutes later, when I stepped out of the bathroom, my eyes locked on Huck, and I stopped. He stood, scowling at the sofa as if it offended him. I waited until he noticed me, afraid to say anything. I still didn’t know what to think of this man. Should I be afraid of him, feel safe with him, stop noticing how attractive he was?
His gaze lifted to find me standing across the room, watching him.
“You slept on the sofa.” He sounded angry.
I nodded, unsure if that was an insult of sorts.
“Why?”
I tucked some hair behind my ear. “I, uh, well, that’s your bed. I didn’t think you’d want a stranger in it.”
His scowl deepened.
“Sit down,” he demanded.
I wondered if anyone had ever told this man no. The way he ordered me around made me want to stand my ground, but then there was the other part of me that knew better than to push the person in charge. I walked over to the sofa and sat down, telling myself that I’d get to leave soon and I’d never have to lay eyes on him again. Which was a good thing because the dirty, twisted part of me, which I had worked so hard to hide from the world, was attracted to this brutal killer. No amount of ipecac would get that demon out of me. But then it had never worked when Tabitha shoved it down my throat. Whatever demons she thought were inside of me hadn’t left. My boobs had only gotten bigger. If she had known about my sexual thoughts and the books I read, she’d never have let me sleep under her roof while I dated Hayes.
Huck didn’t sit down, but remained towering over me while he looked down at me. “For six months, you had to put on a fucking good act for my brother.”
The disgust was clear in his tone and expression. I was used to disgust. I’d grown up with it in my face daily. But seeing it on his face bothered me.
What all had he found out about me? How much could he have learned in such a short time? Did those things I had been wrongfully accused of show up? And why the heck did I care if Huck Kingston was disgusted with me?
Fine! Be disgusted with me. But get in line, buddy. You aren’t the first one.
“Hayes would never have put a ring on your finger had he known the truth, but then you know that. How did you think you were going to pull off being a minister’s wife?” He let out a hard laugh then. “You were good at it. I was even fucking fooled at the funeral.”