Total pages in book: 80
Estimated words: 77728 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 389(@200wpm)___ 311(@250wpm)___ 259(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 77728 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 389(@200wpm)___ 311(@250wpm)___ 259(@300wpm)
“I keep meaning to ask,” Kenzie mumbles, her voice rough from lack of use.
“What’s that, Kenz?” I sit down on the bed so I can hear her better.
“Is Cal the guy you were sitting on at the party?”
“Oh...um, yeah.” I chuckle. “He was there undercover.”
“I knew you two looked cozy.” Her lips tilt into something resembling a smile. “Now you’re like, in looove.”
“Glad to see the painkillers are kicking in for you.”
“I might have had the shit beaten out of me, but my eyes are fine, Hollywood.” It’s so nice to hear her crack a joke, after seeing her so broken. She takes a deep breath and sighs. “I’m just stoked you took my advice and got yourself a sugar daddy.”
“You always did say I had daddy issues.”
“Hmm, don’t we all?” She closes her eyes, drifting along the gentle current of a well-deserved high. “Why wouldn’t you fall for a man who wants to take care of you? Who wants to give you everything you never had, because he loves you sooo much?”
In her delirium, Kenzie has stumbled upon a kernel of truth. I don’t consider Cal to be my sugar daddy in the typical sense, though he makes a lot more money than I do. I think of him as my daddy because he cares for me and looks out for me the way a real daddy should.
But is Kenzie right about the rest of it? Am I in love with Cal? We’ve known each other less than a week, but of all the crazy things that’ve happened since the night we met, would falling for Cal really be the craziest of all?
“Want me to stay with you?” I ask her.
She shakes her head no. The little in me that’s desperate to grab a few spare moments alone with my daddy is thankful, while the friend in me is disappointed she doesn’t want me around.
Before we left the hospital, Mary pulled me aside and told me it could be a while before Kenzie starts to feel like herself again. She gave me her personal cell number and said she’d put us in touch with a trauma counselor—for both of you, she said.
I tuck Barnie the bear under the covers with Kenzie, wish her sweet dreams, then swing my bag over my shoulder and head downstairs.
I find Cal dozing on the twin-sized bed wearing only his boxers, in what was probably the den before Austin turned it into a home gym. I close the double French doors behind me and set my bag on the floor. It’s chilly in here, thanks to the window-unit a/c, but I don’t mind if it means that Cal and I get to snuggle.
He stretches his long, powerful, tapped-out body and opens his eyes.
“Hey,” he says sleepily. “McKenzie all settled in?”
I nod. “They gave her the good stuff. Hopefully it’ll help her sleep.” I slip my shorts off and rifle through my bag until I find my kitten, then tiptoe over to sit on the bed. “She didn’t want me to stay with her.”
“Is it selfish of me to admit I’m grateful for that?” He pulls me into his arms. His hair’s damp from his own shower, and he smells like soap and mint. “I’m amazed by you, Holly.”
“Why? I didn’t do anything.”
“What’re you talking about? You found McKenzie.” He strokes my arm. “And you didn’t give up, even when things got scary. I’ve met other cops who aren’t half as determined as you. Hell, I keep thinking...”
He trails off. I drape my leg over his hip and nuzzle closer to his body.
“Keep thinking what?”
“I keep thinking, if you’d left it up to me to find her, she’d still be at that mall.”
I’m not sure what to say. There are so many things I wish I’d done differently. But living the way Kenzie and I have, literally hand to mouth, you learn quickly that dwelling on the past is a luxury. You can’t feed or clothe yourself in regret, so there’s no point in thinking long-term in either direction.
“I don’t want to talk about that,” I say. “I’m just happy she’s here now. What happens next?”
“We get a warrant to search the Davis’ farm and see what evidence we find.”
“Will it be dangerous?” I ask.
“Listen to you.” He smiles tenderly. “Worrying your pretty head about me.”
“Of course I worry about you.”
Cal cradles my jaw and kisses me. I let my eyes drift shut and my lips spread apart as he reclaims his territory. I meet his tongue with my own, savoring him. I want him to melt over my skin like candle wax, to form a protective barrier between me and the world outside. He must be as desperate for connection as I am, because I can feel his cock hardening against me.
“It feels like we’re stealing this moment,” I whisper.