Total pages in book: 106
Estimated words: 99356 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 497(@200wpm)___ 397(@250wpm)___ 331(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 99356 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 497(@200wpm)___ 397(@250wpm)___ 331(@300wpm)
I saw it all in slow motion. The graceful arc of my attack zipping through the dusty air in the shop. The shockwave of his skin where the edge of my purse met his cheek. The furious surprise in his dreamboat eyes…
Time returned to normal, and all the sights and sounds came along with it.
Suddenly I was standing there with a purse in my hand that I’d just used to smack a stranger in the face. The stranger was tall. So tall. He was gorgeous, angry, and glaring right down at me.
He staggered backwards and both the kids stopped yelling. The little girl squeezed his leg. “Sorry, daddy!” she said over and over.
“Dad, I didn’t–” the little boy said.
Dad? “You said he wasn’t…” I muttered.
“What the hell is going on?” McDermit asked. He’d come out from behind the desk and the three old ladies were all cowering behind him like they were expecting a bomb to go off.
The man’s face was covered by his big hand. He tilted his head back and let out an irritated growl. When he lowered his hand, I saw an already-forming red welt just below his eye. “That was their idea of a joke,” he said. He had a deep voice that rumbled through my chest.
And God. That face. He was breathtaking, with cheekbones so defined it was no surprise my purse had been drawn to them. I bet flocks of birds were sucked in by the gravity of his supernatural sexiness. Instrument panels on airplanes probably malfunctioned when they flew overhead…
An irrational part of me wanted to hop on my tiptoes and offer to kiss it better.
No, no, no. Because I saw there was also a patch of gray at his temples and in the scruff around his chin. He wore it well. Distractingly well, actually. But he was way too old for me. He was also probably married, even if he wasn’t wearing a ring. He probably took it off to work out. Like six times a day, if his muscles were any indication.
“Um,” I said, slowly moving the purse to hold it behind my back. “I’m sorry I overpowered you.”
He blinked like he was still shaking off the disorientation from the blow. Then a very dangerously charming smile formed. “Overpowered me? Is that what happened?”
I lowered my eyes, embarrassment touching my cheeks. Were we flirting? “I did get you to stop trying to kidnap those kids.”
“My kids, you mean.”
I shrugged, and that smile of his wasn’t going anywhere. Oh my goodness. This man was practically a narcotic. What was it they said about hard drugs in school? Just try them once? For some reason my brain was struggling to recall.
He touched the spot on his cheek and a hint of anger flashed in his eyes. “What the hell do you have in your purse? Bricks?”
“Coins, actually,” I said, lifting out a few rolls of pennies and smiling weakly.
He didn’t appear amused.