Total pages in book: 167
Estimated words: 157175 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 786(@200wpm)___ 629(@250wpm)___ 524(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 157175 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 786(@200wpm)___ 629(@250wpm)___ 524(@300wpm)
She completely ignores me, ranting on. ‘And are there any more witches ready to try and get their claws into you?’
‘Ava, will you leave it?’ I’m not growling, but I’m pretty damn close. Keep your cool, Jesse. Keep your cool.
‘No. How am I supposed to know who to fight off if I can’t remember any of them? You need to tell me.’
Of all the things I want to remind her about, that isn’t one. Besides, it would take too fucking long. I haven’t the energy. ‘I said, drop it.’
‘And I said no. What am I sup—’
I stop, lower her, and pull her around my body so we’re front to front, grabbing her cheeks. I catch her gasp of shock in my mouth when I kiss her hard, shutting her the hell up. I’m distracting her. Resorting to desperate tactics. It’s something I won’t apologise for. Besides, it seems she rather likes kissing me. Thank God. I lift her from her feet and continue walking, never dropping her lips. All the way back to my bike. ‘It was a lovely afternoon. Don’t let anything spoil it.’ We have far more important things to deal with than Sarah or any ex. ‘Please.’
Her face twists, her energy obviously wiped from the exertion of stressing, and her forehead falls to my chest. I cup the back of her head and massage into her hair, avoiding the site of her cut. ‘I’m tired,’ she moans.
And I feel guilty. I’ve pushed her too much. I take her helmet and gently push it onto her head, wondering if it would be unreasonable for me to demand she and the kids wear helmets while driving in the future. After the accident, nothing I demand to ensure their safety should be unreasonable, and she’d better accept that. ‘Come on. You need to eat.’
I snap her visor down and plant a kiss on it before helping her onto the bike.
Chapter 21
I take her to a small bistro not far from our health club. She’s obsessed with the eggs Benedict here, has been for years. So that’s what I ordered her. But she’s hardly touched a damn thing, picking and poking at the food on her plate. ‘Eat,’ I demand.
‘I’m really not hungry.’ She drops her fork and pushes her full plate away before falling back on the chair.
My lips twist in displeasure. I’ll force-feed her if I have to. I don’t care where we are. ‘Here.’ I grab her fork and load it with some egg, holding it across the table to her. ‘Eat.’
Eyes sulky, her jaw tight, she moves back some more. ‘I’m not hungry.’
‘And I’m not in the mood for your defiance.’ My head cocks in warning. ‘Eat.’
‘No.’
‘God damn it, Ava, you need to keep up your energy.’ I make a racket scraping my chair across the floor with me still sitting in it, so I’m beside her, closer, ready to pry her tight lips open to get this food inside her.
‘Why? To deal with your unreasonable arse?’
I’d laugh if I wasn’t so fucking livid. ‘Don’t make me ask you again.’ I can feel myself starting to twitch in my seat. Today started so well, and now she’s ruining it with something so silly as refusing to eat. Why can’t she just fucking behave?
‘What are you gonna do? Give me the countdown?’ She blinks a few times, and then frowns.
‘Yes, I would,’ I confirm, and she snorts indignantly. I drop my head, trying to cool the building irritation. Jesus, I’m getting too old for this shit. She’s being defiant for the sake of it, to prove a point. ‘Ava.’ I look at her, ready to off-load every detail of her punishment when she’s well, but my intended threats all die on my tongue when I spot something over the road. I crane my neck, zooming in. John’s sitting outside a café up the street. He must be taking a break from the club.
I toss a few twenties on the table and claim a bewildered Ava from her chair. ‘This time, you got off. It won’t happen again.’ I walk us to my bike. ‘Wait here for me.’
‘Why, where are you going?’
‘There’s someone over there I need to have a quick word with. Stay put.’ I pass her helmet and jog off. ‘Hey, John!’ I call.
His body goes rigid all of a sudden. Then he slowly looks over his shoulder, and I see worry on his face. ‘Everything okay?’ I ask when I make it to him, rounding the table until I’m facing him.
‘Yeah. What are you doing here?’ He’s shifting in his chair, his huge body all nervous. Something isn’t right.
‘I took Ava for lunch over the road.’
‘So where is she?’
I take a seat, resting my elbows on the table. ‘Waiting for me. I just saw Sarah.’
He slowly removes his shades, revealing dangerous eyes. ‘Tell me she didn’t seek you out.’ His nerves are gone, and now anger is apparent, his eyes blazing. It makes me smile on the inside, his loyalty and worry never faltering.