Total pages in book: 99
Estimated words: 95264 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 476(@200wpm)___ 381(@250wpm)___ 318(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 95264 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 476(@200wpm)___ 381(@250wpm)___ 318(@300wpm)
“I am. Thanks for asking.” He leans back against the wall, taking a long sip of his beer, his eyes never leaving me.
“How long have you been here?”
He frowns at Scarlet. “What, about half an hour?”
“Yeah. About that.”
“So you just let strangers into the house now?”
“You mean, the half-naked man I met a few days ago?” Scarlet hands me a cold beer from the fridge. “How was bingo tonight?”
I grin, momentarily distracted. “Did he tell you?”
“That they let you call the numbers? He did, yes.” She shakes her head. “I can’t imagine what you came up with.”
“I was good! Right?” I coax Garrett. “I was good?”
“Impressive.”
“See? It’s all about the delivery.”
“I’ll bet. Will they let you do it again?” Scarlet brings her bottle to her lips.
“Are you kidding? Once Nancy hears about the encore I got tonight, she will wear a diaper and shit herself before she ever lets me near her bingo balls.”
Scarlet chokes on her mouthful of beer and leans over to spit it into the sink so she can battle a coughing fit.
Garrett shakes his head at me.
I shrug. “What? She knows me.”
Setting her drink on the counter, Scarlet fakes a big yawn, stretching her arms over her head. “Well gosh, look at the time.”
I frown. “It’s nine thirty.”
“Exactly. Time for bed. Night, guys.” With a wink at me and a whisper of “I’ll wear my earplugs,” she ducks upstairs.
Leaving Garrett and I staring at each other from across the tiny kitchen.
I take Scarlet’s spot near the sink. “You’re full of surprises tonight.”
“Too many? Should I go?” He points toward the door and moves a half inch, feigning.
I shake my head, earning his smile. “How’d things go with Shirley?”
“She didn’t spit on me.” He takes a giant gulp.
“That’s a win.” I watch his throat bob, remembering the feel of that sharp jut beneath my tongue. “I think she’s mad at me.”
“She wouldn’t touch those.” He nods toward the bag of sweets sitting on the counter.
My stomach sinks. “Oh man. That’s serious.”
“It bothers you this much that she’s upset with you?”
“Yeah. She doesn’t like anyone, but for some reason, she likes me. Liked me. Knowing that made me feel special, I guess. And I respect her. She’s smart, and tenacious, and does not take life lying down.”
Garrett studies me quietly for a moment. “She’ll get over it.”
“That’s what Ned said, but I don’t know about that. She still isn’t talking to Colin after he published those plans of yours, and they’ve known each other for decades.” She doesn’t like losing, but I think what she really doesn’t like is feeling disregarded. Polson Falls and everyone in it is moving on without her. “If you haven’t noticed, she’s stubborn.”
“Sounds like someone else I know.” He sets his empty down. “Ralph and Sam should clock out on all this development talk.”
“But aren’t you at all concerned?”
He cocks his head. “About what?”
“Shirley’s done with me. You’ve lost your inside man. This”—I wave a hand between us—“won’t help your cause anymore.”
“You’re saying I’ve neutralized you as a threat to my project.”
“Exactly. So there’s no need for you to keep trying to win me over.”
He hums. “You could still go to that town meeting and object to the variance.”
“On my own, without the granny gang? I suppose I could.” I have zero passion for it anymore. Garrett has won after all.
“Then, clearly, my work here isn’t done.” He pulls his body off the wall to saunter toward me. “Because I don’t trust her.” He points to the front-page Tribune cover affixed to the fridge, of my close-up.
“She is quite the anarchist.”
“She looks sweet, but she’s caught me off guard a few times, giving me whiplash.” He grips my waist and hoists me onto the counter, fitting his hips between my thighs. “I need to keep a close eye on her. She’s probably plotting to sabotage me right now.”
I struggle against a grin. “She needs constant distraction.”
“That’s the plan.” His lips skate across my jawline, and I utter a soft moan.
“I wouldn’t let her out of my sight if I were you.”
“That’s why I can’t go home this weekend.” His hands settle on my ass, gripping tightly. “I have to stay here and distract her from doing anything … irrational.”
“All weekend?” A flutter stirs in my belly. But he must be kidding.
“Definitely. She’s too unpredictable.” He pulls me flush against his body.
I sigh with the hard press of him against the apex of my thighs. “Can you handle her all weekend?”
“It’ll be exhausting, but that’s how important this project is to me.” He dips down to clamp his teeth over my pebbled nipple, heat from his mouth searing through my sweater.
I tip my head back, reveling in the sharp pinch mixed with pleasure. “Did you know that the brown antechinus can have sex for up to fourteen hours in a day?”