Total pages in book: 84
Estimated words: 78647 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 393(@200wpm)___ 315(@250wpm)___ 262(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 78647 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 393(@200wpm)___ 315(@250wpm)___ 262(@300wpm)
The kiss was hesitant at first because I felt unsure of myself or what I was doing. Unsure even of how Calvin would react.
But as soon as he did, placing one hand on my waist, I deepened the kiss and pressed my body close to his. He was lean and hard, stronger than he looked as I sank into him, drunk more from his kiss than the drinks I pounded all night.
Calvin took over the kiss, leaning over me and grasping me tighter as his tongue pushed between my lips and tangled with mine. It was a real kiss. A proper kiss. It was everything a kiss should be, everything I wanted my kisses to Wyatt to be but they had never been.
This kiss was…everything.
It fired me up, pumped hot lava through my veins as a rush of emotions, a sensation I couldn’t name, washed over me. It was a pulsing desire, an urge I couldn’t quite describe, forcing me to get closer to him. Closer than I already was, which was pressed up against him naughtily. My nipples beaded hard and my stomach clenched deep in my core.
Deep inside me, I had an ache I’d never felt before.
It startled me and I pulled back, eyes wide and chest heaving to suck in one proper breath. One look at Cal showed he looked just as shaken up as I felt. But he also looked angry and I sucked in a breath. Horrified.
He didn’t want this.
“Oh my God, Calvin. I am so sorry.” I didn’t wait for a response. I turned on my heels and stumbled away as fast as possible, not stopping until I was locked in the safe quarters of my temporary home.
Alone.
CHAPTER EIGHT
Cal
After Bonnie ran away from me like her ass was on fire, I gave her a minute to come to her senses. When that didn’t happen, I went to my own quarters and did what I did best. Got down to work.
I focused on digging into Addison Marie Beck’s life, but more specifically, the life of Jack Beck. Her father. Jack was a truck driver who’d spent most of his life in the Boston area driving for an industrial food packing company with his wife and later, his little girl.
It wasn’t clear yet, but Jack Beck and his daughter—only his daughter—moved to Texas at some point. When I looked really closely, he worked for an Ashby company, Jas Freight Lines. It would take more time to uncover the rest, but my mind wasn’t clear at the moment. That was all I’d been able to find after a couple hours of digging.
It was pathetic.
Thoughts of Bonnie filled my mind. That kiss and those lush, pink lips that had made more than one appearance in my fantasies lately were only part of the problem. The other part was she was obviously deeper in the shit than she wanted anyone to know. That worried me for multiple reasons.
At the top of the list was protecting my family, even against the sweet little church girl. She laid one hell of a kiss on me, which wasn’t very church girl-like, and then she’d run off like a scared little rabbit.
Exactly like I’d expect a church girl to behave.
But that didn’t square up with her hanging out with one of The Crusaders. I needed to get a better read on her, which meant no more fucking distractions.
No more kisses. No more fantasies. No more thinking with my dick.
The security monitor beeped as the screen flashed several times to focus on the image of Jasper. He never came to this part of the property, which meant he wanted to talk. Or he wanted help, which he would disguise as an order.
“Jasper, what can I do for you?” I said with a grin guaranteed to piss him off as he walked into the spacious room that acted mostly as my office.
He frowned at the bank of screens. “What’s all this?”
His gaze immediately went to the screen filled with photos of Agent Beck as a child. And her father. “Something about Agent Beck seems off, don’t you think?”
He narrowed his brows to a question mark. “Not really. She’s young, so she still believes in the good versus evil bullshit, but she’s harmless.”
“You blinded by a pretty face, Jas? The woman has a hate that goes well beyond cops and robbers. I don’t like it, so I’m digging until I find out why.”
“Don’t bother. Marshall will keep a leash on her.”
“He doesn’t give a shit how he takes us down, as long as he does, brother. Believe that.” Jas raked a hand through his hair and looked around the room, probably searching for my bar.
“Jas, your blind spot where Agent Beck is concerned is…alarming.”
He snorted with a hard and icy glare, aimed my way with military precision. I was unfazed.