Total pages in book: 109
Estimated words: 101501 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 508(@200wpm)___ 406(@250wpm)___ 338(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 101501 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 508(@200wpm)___ 406(@250wpm)___ 338(@300wpm)
His brows furrowed at her cryptic answer. “Anything I can do?”
Her lips trembled, and the same look of despair clouded her features for a split second, then she shook her head and cleared her throat in an attempt to keep control of her emotions. “No. But thank you for asking. I need to get them to school, so if you’ll excuse us . . .”
She looked away and started the truck in anticipation of driving away, then turned her light green eyes Logan’s way before pulling out. The effect on him was instantaneous. In the brief moment when she’d turned her head away, she’d found her mettle and shored it up. When her eyes met his again, he saw the woman beneath the hoodie. She’d aged five years in that short amount of time, and his heart stuttered at the effect. She was all-American steel, covered in soft-looking skin, masquerading as a college student. It was an unbelievably sexy combination. One his baser instincts approved of on a level he never had before.
“If you come through Ennis, stop by Big Sky Saloon and I’ll buy you a drink for your troubles.”
He scanned her face and noted her eyes had cleared. She was entirely under control, and Logan oddly felt pride at how quickly she’d shifted gears. He’d planned on eating in Ennis then moving on until his head was clearer, but he couldn’t deny the effect she had on him, or the fact for the first time since his brothers had died, he felt something other than rage at their loss. “Who should I ask for?”
“Skylar. Skye for short.” He couldn’t help but grin. Her name was perfect for Montana.
“I might take you up on that.”
“We need to go,” the oldest male growled, glaring at Logan.
“Right,” Skylar mumbled.
“I’m Logan Storm.” He put out his hand for her to shake, needing to see if her skin was as soft as it looked.
Skylar stared at his hand for a moment then shook it. She pulled it back instantly, as if he’d burned her, but not quick enough for Logan to miss the fact her skin had felt like silk against his callused fingers, and the perfume wafting through the open window was the sweetest scent he’d smelled in his life. He also noted, in that brief moment of contact, the knot in his chest was a distant memory. And the relief was immeasurable.
“Nice to meet you, but we really have to go.” She didn’t wait for him to answer, just threw the truck in gear without looking in her side mirror, and pulled away in a hurry, leaving Logan standing on the side of the road with no answer as to why they’d been stopped in the first place.
The younger male turned his head as they drove off and locked eyes with Logan through the rear window, leaving him with even more questions. There was rage working beneath his eyes. Logan knew the look. Saw it daily in the mirror. The kid was battling demons of his own.
_____________
“What the fuck, Skye? We’re losing our home, and you’re flirting with some drifter!” Jake bit out sharply.
I barely heard what he said. I was running numbers through my head, at a depressing rate, even as my mind kept wandering back to Logan Storm. “What?”
“Storm. You asked him out for a drink.”
I blinked, feeling guilty that during our brief encounter with the mysterious man, I had been so caught up with the way Storm’s crystalline eyes seemed to bore right into my soul, I’d forgotten for a single moment about our troubles with Chance. “I offered to buy him one for stopping. That’s hardly asking him out for drinks, Jake.”
“He seems cool,” Josh mumbled beside me. “Did you see the tattoo on his forearm? He was in the military.”
The tone in his voice made me look at him. There was awe mixed in with curiosity. Other than fighting with Jake, that was the most emotion I’d heard from him since our father died. “What kind of tattoo?”
“Who gives a fuck about his tattoo? Can we focus, please?”
“Jake, your mouth.”
He looked at me like I’d lost my mind. “We have thirty days to figure this shit out or we’re homeless.”
I swallowed down the fear threatening to overpower me. He was right, we had to figure this out and quick. “I’ll talk to Matt at the bank. We’ll get another loan.”
“He’ll just buy it again.” Josh said this with so much finality, it about killed me. He was too sharp for a fifteen-year-old. The smartest of the three of us, if truth be told. A little too guarded as well—and stealthy. He’d make a great CIA agent the way he stalked around in the shadows.
“Then I’ll go to Bozeman. He doesn’t have that much power. He may run Madison Valley, but he’s not the biggest shark in the ocean. I’ll find someone he can’t strongarm to give me a loan.”