Total pages in book: 87
Estimated words: 81662 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 408(@200wpm)___ 327(@250wpm)___ 272(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 81662 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 408(@200wpm)___ 327(@250wpm)___ 272(@300wpm)
She rolled her eyes affectionately and grabbed Virgil’s glass of whiskey, finishing it in one gulp. “Hey, everyone.”
Sadie’s lips curled into an amused grin. “Hello, Maisie.”
“Hey, Maze,” I added with a welcoming smile.
“Your face is looking much better, Em. Much,” she added, a twinkle in her blue eyes.
“Thanks, uh, yours too.”
Maisie laughed when Virgil frowned at her and said, “I’m your fiancé. You’re supposed to tell me I look good.”
She shrugged. “You look all right, but now that Emmett’s scars have healed, we can see his handsome face again. It’s a good thing, Virgil. Relax.”
I knew Virgil was just giving her shit because from the moment I met Maisie, she’d become just like Kat to me. Another sister. “Yeah, Virg, relax,” I prodded, laughing when he flipped me off.
Cal showed up, alone once again, and silently took his seat beside Jasper, hoping his arrival would go unnoticed.
It didn’t.
“And where is Bonnie?” Sadie’s question stopped all side conversations, her tone icy and demanding.
“She’s not feeling well, Ma.” The fact that he wouldn’t look up when he answered spoke volumes, but Sadie let that part slide.
“For fuck’s sake, you’d think she was the first human woman to give birth with the way she’s acting. Do we need to call the doctor?”
“No,” he said quickly. “She’ll be fine, just needs to rest.”
Sadie nodded but her jaws clenched in anger. “If Bonnie wants to be a part of this family, she’s doing a piss poor job of showing it.” She snapped her napkin onto her lap for emphasis. “And if she doesn’t, well that can also be arranged.”
It wasn’t exactly a threat, but it was close enough to one that Cal nodded with more energy than I’d seen from him in weeks, possibly months.
Madison snuck in moments later, shooting a mischievous grin around the table as she took her seat across from me.
Kat showed up last, as usual. “Hey, bums, why so glum?” she said, unusually cheery, this time on the arm of my brother. Terry had a mile-wide grin on his face that told me Kat’s tardiness had nothing to do with work.
Sadie’s lips spread into a grin when her daughter appeared. “Katherine. Glad you could join us.” She nodded at Terry and Kat holding hands. “Does this mean you two have patched things up?”
Kat looked at Terry with love shining in her eyes and grinned before she turned back to the table at large. “It does. Terry and I are…a thing.” She seemed to struggle over the word, her voice thick with emotion. “We’re giving this love thing a shot, as they say.”
“Who says that?” Maisie asked with a teasing glint in her eyes.
“Everyone says that, duh.” Kat rolled her eyes and let out a little sigh when Terry brought her hand to his lips and brushed a kiss across her knuckles.
“This is us, both of us,” he clarified, his icy blue eyes aimed right at his best friend and boss, Jasper, “telling you all that we are a couple. Officially. Whatever the hell that means. She’s my woman, and I love her.”
Maisie let out a wistful sigh, hands to her chest like the southern belle she tried so hard not to be. “So sweet.”
“Right?” Kat’s face lit up like a neon sign, and she wrapped her arms around Terry, beaming with pride that he’d finally made the Ashby Princess his and pressed her lips to his. “I love you too, babe.”
When they finally parted, their two sets of eyes swung to Jasper, who for some odd reason had a stick up his ass about Terry dating Kat. It didn’t make sense to me since, over the years, Terry and Jasper had been closer than brothers. If there was one man in the world he could trust with his sister, it would be my brother.
Jasper polished off a glass of red wine and smacked his lips together with a sigh as he leaned back in the high back dining chair. “I still don’t like the idea of you fucking my sister,” he began with a growl.
“We’re in love, asshole, not just fucking,” Terry added, sending Sadie an apologetic smile.
“Well, I still don’t like it, but as Kat so astutely pointed out, it’s not my place to tell her who she can and can’t love. Especially when she loves the best man I know, and one I know will put his life on the line to keep her safe.”
“Damn fucking straight,” Terry added as he pulled Kat close.
“And if he doesn’t, I’ll kick his fucking ass,” Jasper added with a smile. “I’m happy for you as long as I don’t have to hear the details of your sex life.”
Kat flashed a wide grin and hopped over to Jasper, smacking a grateful kiss on his cheek. “Terry can agree to that, but I have to tell you about this thing he does with his tongue—”