Series: Silver Spoon MC Series by Nichole Rose
Total pages in book: 36
Estimated words: 33590 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 168(@200wpm)___ 134(@250wpm)___ 112(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 33590 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 168(@200wpm)___ 134(@250wpm)___ 112(@300wpm)
"You are a super-spy," Scarlett mumbles, carefully setting the bouquet of book roses on a table just inside the front door. She spins to face me with her hands on her wide hips. "Did you computer stalk me, Finn Taylor?"
"Did you computer stalk me, Scarlett Crawford?" I retort, arching a brow.
"Obviously." She rolls her eyes like I just asked the world's dumbest question. "All I found was your business license. What did you find?"
"Wouldn't you like to know?"
"Yes!" she cries. "That's why I asked!"
I laugh quietly, shaking my head. If she keeps being this fucking cute, there's no way I'm leaving here tonight without getting a taste of her. "I didn't computer stalk you, pretty baby," I say seriously. "What I learn about you, I'll learn from you. I want to hear all your secrets from your perfect lips, not from any computer."
"Oh." Her expression softens, and then guilt flickers across her face. "Well, now I feel like a jerk for computer stalking you."
"Don't. We both know you were only looking for pictures of me anyway."
"Was not," she mumbles, but her blush tells me that's exactly what she was doing. She may think she's fooling me, but I see her sneaking peeks at me when she thinks I'm not looking. She can't keep her eyes off me. Scarlett has it bad for me.
Thank God.
"And done," I say, pushing Ophelia's keyboard away from me after dinner. "You're now the master of mahjong. Betty LaCroix won't know what hit her."
"Oh, my stars and garters!" Ophelia crows in delight, clapping her hands together and cackling. "That old heifer will be fit to be tied at our next match!"
Scarlett hides her face in her hands, trying to stifle her laughter. Ophelia Crawford is…well, she's something. She's been giving this town hell for eighty-odd years. I think she was born with hellfire in her soul. When she dies, the whole damn town will mourn her.
"You're such a good boy, Finn." Ophelia pats me on the arm. I'm pretty sure she's trying to cop a feel of my bicep. "I'm glad to see you finally grew out of that awkward stage."
"Awkward stage?" Scarlett's hands disappear from in front of her face so fast they're a blur of motion. "What awkward phase?"
"Braces and bad hair, dear." Ophelia shudders. "Poor boy didn't have a lick of style and had those god-awful glasses to boot. He looked like that ridiculous boy with the weird name in the red and white pajamas everyone is always trying to find in the picture books."
"The ridiculous boy with the weird name in pajamas?" Scarlett repeats, frowning as she tries to figure out who her aunt is talking about. "Do you mean Waldo, Aunt Ophelia?"
"Yes! That's the one." Ophelia pats me on the arm again. "He looked like Waldo. And now look at him."
I chuckle ruefully, rubbing the back of my neck. Of course she remembers exactly what I looked like when I was twelve but can't remember Waldo's fucking name. "That was twenty years ago, Miss Ophelia."
"Scarlett was a round little dumpling with frizzy hair when she was a girl. She stuttered terribly."
"Aunt Ophelia!" Scarlett groans.
"I bet she was beautiful," I say softly.
"Of course she was. You were both adorable children. You were just awkward. It happens when your peers are intimidated by you, you know. Finn was always too smart for his peers, and Scarlett was always too kind for hers." She glances between the two of us. "You two will make pretty babies regardless."
Scarlett nearly swallows her tongue.
"We will make pretty babies," I agree, staring intently at Scarlett. Fuck, the thought of this woman round with my baby, or cuddling my baby in her arms…. I want it with an intensity that's foreign to me. I ache for it, almost as badly as I ache for her.
The more time I spend with her, the more I crave her, the more I ache for her. This isn't a temporary feeling, something easily sated or fucked away. It'll take a lifetime to work her out of my system. I fear even that won't be long enough. I didn't fall for this curvy little bookworm. I crash-landed into love with her.
"Okay!" Scarlett cries, hopping to her feet. Twin spots of color stain her cheeks. Her pulse skitters in her throat, dancing against the pale expanse of skin. I'm learning to read her though, and this isn't anxiety. It's desire. "It's time for Finn to go home."
I immediately rise to my feet.
Ophelia holds her hand out, silently demanding that I help her up. I gently pull her to her feet, being careful not to hurt her. She's tiny, her skin thin over her frail bones. Her spirit may be as fierce as ever, but her body is failing her. She's in renal failure. With dialysis, she has a few years at most. She needs a transplant, but because of her age, she's low on the list. Healthcare is a lottery sometimes, and the elderly get left behind.