Total pages in book: 41
Estimated words: 38439 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 192(@200wpm)___ 154(@250wpm)___ 128(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 38439 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 192(@200wpm)___ 154(@250wpm)___ 128(@300wpm)
No. I wasn’t ready for another woman in my life. After multiple years with an ol’ lady, a woman I might not have completely trusted but thought I loved, I wasn’t ready to take on another woman. Not even one as lovely as this one. Besides, the jury was still out on if she was crazy or not. My head was still sore where she clocked me.
Surprisingly, that memory brought a smile to my face. One thing was for sure. She had spunk. Maybe El Diablo was right. If I were honest with myself, I might have pushed my mother away intentionally. I saw the justice system fail time and time again. Heard her comment on it yet she continued to play by the system’s rules. To me, not trying to fix a broken system was as bad as that system failing over and over. I might not have been able to fix it, but I was doing what I could to bring justice to my corner of the world.
OK. Fine. I’d go talk to the girl. But talk was all I’d do. I wasn’t getting close to her. That would only hurt us both in the end. I’d try to find out why my mother did this and fix whatever she needed to make this easier on her.
I went back inside, descending the stairs to stroll out the front door. As I did, my phone buzzed with a text message. I looked around the yard as I pulled out my phone to read the message. That was when I spotted Razor approach Hope with a smile and a fucking wave. My gaze narrowed as the other man sat on the ground with Hope, scrubbing a hand over the head of one of the massive dogs.
Oh, hell no!
I almost forgot about the text when my phone buzzed again. Unlocking the screen, I glanced down. Shotgun had the necessary paperwork ready to file for the annulment process. He was waiting for my go-ahead.
I glanced up at Hope and Razor. And stuck my fucking phone back in my pocket without replying.
“No. I’ve never had a dog of my own.” Hope sounded unsure of herself. Nervous. “I always thought I wanted a cat.”
“We’ll see what we can do about that.” Razor grinned as he continued to rough up the ears of the giant dog sitting next to them. The dog looked like he adored the attention. Hope mimicked his actions with the other mutt. One would think she’d never petted a dog before.
“There’s no wrong way to do it, you know.” Razor spoke gently. Like he was afraid of spooking the young woman.
Hope looked down, snatching her hand from the dog. The overgrown mutt whined and lay beside her, putting his head in her lap and looking up at her like the only thing in the world he wanted was for her to continue petting him.
“I’m not used to animals,” she admitted softly.
“So? Get used to them. They’ll let you know if they want you to do something different. See how he’s telling you he wants you to continue petting him?”
“I-I… yeah. I guess he does.”
“If he doesn’t like what you’re doing, he’ll walk away or move so you’re petting him where he wants. He’s not gonna get mad at you. He wants you to like him. Most domestic animals do.” Then Razor grinned. “Cats, though. Well, it’s more like they tolerate you. Once they’re grown, anyway. Kittens are different.”
Hope graced Razor with the most beautiful smile I’d ever seen. She still seemed hesitant, but relieved Razor had explained things to her. Who had to do that? Explain to an adult how to pet an animal.
“Thank you, Razor.” She looked down at the dog while she continued to pet his head, ruffing up his ears. The dog looked like he was in heaven. “For explaining without making fun of me.”
“Honey, ain’t no one gonna make fun of you around here. They do, you come find me and I’ll bust up a motherfucker.”
“I’m not… that is, I’ve never been around animals much.”
Razor shrugged. “Not everyone has. It’s nothing to worry over. Anything in this compound is OK to pet. We wouldn’t let unfriendly animals or animals that didn’t like people around the children.”
“I appreciate you telling me.”
“Now. How about a ride? I’ll take you to the best restaurant in Palm Beach. Tito makes a mean burger, and Marge makes the best milkshakes.”
“Excuse the fuck outta me!” I’d had all I could take. Not only was Hope breaking my heart, there was no way in hell Razor was putting her on the back of his bike.
Razor smirked at me. “Hey there, Warlock.” The big man lay back on one elbow where he sat next to Hope.
“You tryin’ to make a move on my wife?”
Razor barked out a laugh, like this whole situation was the height of hilarity. “Last I heard you were getting your marriage annulled. I’d say that makes her fair game. Takin’ her to Tito’s. See if I can get Marge to help me get into Hope’s good graces.”