Total pages in book: 57
Estimated words: 53605 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 268(@200wpm)___ 214(@250wpm)___ 179(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 53605 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 268(@200wpm)___ 214(@250wpm)___ 179(@300wpm)
“There’s something to be said for traveling light.” I slide my fingers down her arm, feeling her shiver. “Besides this truck, and if you don’t count my hockey equipment, I don’t have much more than that.”
I nod toward her bags and her face softens. She likes that we have something in common.
Baby, we’re going to have so much in common. Very soon.
“Admit it though, you liked that filthy talk. You’re a dirty girl deep down.”
She snorts through her clenched teeth. “I’ve never been talked to like that before. I’m pretty proud I handled it so well. For a second, I considered jumping out the window. Or punching you in the nose.”
“Good luck. I put the child locks on as soon as I got in the truck. And my nose has been broken a few times, I’d barely feel it.”
“You are trouble with a capital T, mister…or should I say…” She squeezes her eyes shut for a beat then brightens as she opens them, clears her throat and uses an exaggerated announcer’s voice, “Jaaaaaames, The Savage, White!”
Fuck. I almost come in my pants. She’s a temptation I can never resist. It’s a done deal. Sooner or later, tonight or tomorrow or next week, I’m going to be balls deep in my new little sister.
CHAPTER 3
Nancy
“Girl, I get it.” Azra, the VA Mason hired for me as more of a moral support and paid friend, nods on the screen of my phone.
I adjust the pillows on the bed in the room Dad and Sheila offered me to settle in when I turned up with bags and a cat in tow. Leaning back, I let out a long exhale when my back muscles relax. Taylor jumps off from my lap to play with his tail on the floor.
“Watching Mason walk away… I wanted to curl into the fetal position and start rocking back and forth.” I shake my head. I cried enough and it’s not good for me or the baby. So I continue filling Azra in while biting back tears again. “But then, then, this whole stepbrother thing, with the filthy talk and the eyes that make me want to lick chocolate sprinkles from his abs for the rest of my life…”
“Girl…” She trails off, turning her camera toward her laptop screen. “I wouldn’t need the chocolate sprinkles for him.” She’s got pictures of James pulled up on her Google search. When she turns the camera back around, I chuckle; she’s biting into the knuckles on her fist, playfully swiping the drool off her mouth. “He definitely looks savage.”
I glance toward the door, worrying someone may hear her. But Dad and Sheila are in the backyard, enjoying the day, while James went out to grab some champagne for Sheila.
The cinnamon rolls and quiche were cold by the time we got here, but I didn’t care. I got loaded up with a generous plate of food and told to go take a rest. Honestly, Sheila is lovely. I hope Dad realizes how lucky he is.
Azra tugs her purple hair into a ponytail. I see her fingers move quickly over her laptop always working.
“Says here,” she says as she reads off her screen, “that he had the nickname before he joined the Savages. Did you know that?”
I shake my head. “So, what, he always wanted to play for them or…”
“Nope. The Savage was on account of his temper and reputation as being a fighter on the ice. He could take on anyone and pretty much always knocked them out. Or their teeth.” She chuckles. “Anyway, there’s a few headlines from hockey magazines saying ‘Savage joins the Savages’ or whatever. Kind of funny.” Her smile fades. “So tell me, how was Mason?”
“Sad. It was just sad, but he wasn’t even worried about going to prison. I mean, it’s federal prison, not like…super max with gang wars and cavity searches. He was worried more about me and the baby. Gosh, Azra… we had these rose-colored glasses on about the baby and the future. I knew he would make a great father; otherwise, I would never have agreed to everything. We were always just each other’s biggest cheerleader, and no matter what, we knew if we did things together, everything would work out.”
Mason has the kind of mind that can calculate ten years of market data at a glance then formulate the short or long risk but, keeping milk in the fridge? Or toilet paper in the closet and the electric bill paid?
Not on his bingo card. So, he hired me. He trusted me and I loved him. In a best friend and partners in crime sort of way.
Only, I didn’t realize the crime part was real until the FBI came knocking on my door and from there, it was a slippery slope into where I’m at now.