Total pages in book: 69
Estimated words: 66497 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 332(@200wpm)___ 266(@250wpm)___ 222(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 66497 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 332(@200wpm)___ 266(@250wpm)___ 222(@300wpm)
He ran his knuckles over my cheek.
“I’ll try and get them to up to two hundred if you’ll have dinner with me.”
I stepped backward, realizing I looked like a crazy person as I shook my head frantically. But the Douche Canoe kept following.
He really isn’t too swift, I thought as I restrained myself from getting stabby.
“I’ll even get you a pretty dress to wear. What do you say, sweetheart? I’ll make it worth your while.”
“No,” I finally said. I wanted to shout it but I was still too shocked. I did manage to say it again, though. “No.”
He had the bald-faced audacity to look down at my tits. I was still holding the spade. If he didn’t back up, I was seriously considering giving him a good jab with it. I had shown remarkable restraint so far, I decided.
“I’ll be real good to you, sweetheart. Hey, if things go right, I could even set you up in a sweet condo.”
Did the man really just make me a ‘Pretty Woman’ offer?
He had.
He actually had.
“I said no. Please leave.”
Instead of leaving, he stepped closer. I backed up again. But he kept coming. I was starting to get scared on top of the explosive rage.
“There’s no reason to make this difficult. Pretty girl like you. We should all just get along.”
“She said no,” I heard a gravelly voice right before I saw the Douche Canoe get lifted up into the air. I blinked, and he was sprawled on the ground five feet away, staring up at Mac with a look of total shock.
For a second, we all stared at each other. Everyone was surprised except Mac. He looked cool as a cucumber.
The bastard jumped up and brushed himself off, clearly more worried about his suit than anything else. Mac took a step toward him, and he backed up, almost falling back down again. I nearly giggled at the outraged look on his face.
“Lay hands on me again and you’ll regret it! I will press charges!”
Mac just crossed his arms over his chest.
“You were menacing a lady. I’m not so sure cops are sympathetic to dickwads who do that.”
Douche Canoe’s face turned white behind his tan. He was scared. Mac had scared him. It was funny because I felt the opposite when Mac showed up.
I felt safe. It was instantaneous. Mac equaled safety to me, apparently.
A whole lot of other gooey feelings too.
“You won’t get anywhere near two hundred for this dump now.”
The guy wagged his finger at Mac again, then gave me a dirty look before throwing himself into his car and peeling off.
“Don’t forget your seatbelt!” I called after him. Mac gave me a funny look, like he wasn’t sure whether I was crazy or not. At that moment, I wasn’t sure either.
“Are you okay? Did he hurt you?”
“I’m okay. I was more offended than anything.”
“He was definitely… offensive,” Mac said with a small smile. I had a feeling he didn’t smile much. He almost looked impressed.
“What did he want?”
“To buy my land. And… other things.”
“Yeah, I gathered that last part.” He frowned at me. “It’s not safe out here for a woman by herself.”
I raised an eyebrow.
“I’ve never been bothered by strange men before. Now, it’s almost a parade.”
He did smile then. A big, beautiful smile that let me know he was in on the joke. It disappeared just as quickly.
I cleared my throat, realizing he had probably just created a mountain of problems for himself.
“I think that guy worked for your boss.”
He shrugged. “Doesn’t matter. Nobody gets away with bullying a woman on my watch.”
I nodded. It rang true. Okay, so the guy might be a player with very loud equipment and bulging muscles, but he also had a hero complex. It wasn’t a bad quality as far as I was concerned.
“You’re cold,” he said, watching as I rubbed my arms through my thin flannel. “Let’s go inside.”
I nodded and he followed me into the house. I noticed he had a big old-school metal tool box with him this time. He set down a bag from a big box store with thin strips of wood sticking out of it.
Calliope was splayed out in the center of the room, right where the last bit of sun was shining. Mac bent down to stare at the gray tabby stretched out in the patch of sun.
“And who is this?”
“Calliope. She, um, bites sometimes. Especially strangers.”
I stared in awe as his big hands stroked my usually cranky tabby cat. The way his big hands touched that cat was mesmerizing. He was so gentle. I waited for her to bite him. And then I realized he wasn’t looking at the cat.
He was looking right at me.
Heat dropped like a stone into my belly. I felt my body responding to the look on his face… the confident way he used those rough hands to tame my cranky kitty cat… the way he’d stood up for me without making me feel helpless or useless, like so many men tended to do.