Total pages in book: 28
Estimated words: 25941 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 130(@200wpm)___ 104(@250wpm)___ 86(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 25941 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 130(@200wpm)___ 104(@250wpm)___ 86(@300wpm)
Walsh: Who’s the guy in the suit?
Me: Brother-in-law
Why did he ask that?
Walsh: You should eat breakfast. It’s the most important meal of the day.
Walsh is probably right. I didn’t eat hardly anything last night, and it will be a while until lunch. I sit down at the kitchen island, and Graham helps my sister make a non-burned pancake.
“The bacon!” my sister screams as she rushes over to the oven. She opens it and a cloud of black smoke fills the kitchen. “I ruined it.”
“That’s like a crime against humanity,” I tease her, and she glares at me.
“We can make more.” Luke grabs an oven mitt to pull the sheet of blackened strips out of the oven. He drops the whole thing in the sink while I pour syrup over my pancake and try to eat it quickly.
Walsh: Am I going to have to bring you breakfast?
He has to be teasing me, so I send him another picture. This time it's my half-eaten pancake.
“Nadia, can you hear me?” Kat snaps her fingers.
“What?” I ask as I pull my attention away from my phone.
“Is it okay if Graham takes you to school?”
“Yeah, that’s fine.” I only have my permit because in Vegas I didn’t need to know how to drive. “You stay here and keep at it. You’ll get the bacon right the second time.” She sticks her tongue out at me as I slip off the chair and pull my bag over my shoulder.
“Oh, are you still going to that party tonight? Luke and I have some charity thing so we won’t be home until late. I’m going to the spa today before I get ready.”
Shit. I told her about the party, but that was before everything happened with Kyle.
“I think so.” I mean, there might still be a party? Kyle might also be in trouble with his dad. Either way, I don’t think I’m invited any longer, but I don’t tell her that. She’ll worry about me being at home alone. Kat is always worrying over me and whether I’m happy being here.
“All right. Text me later.”
“Will do,” I say and walk out with Graham to one of the cars.
“You okay?” Graham asks when we pull out of the gates and onto the road.
“I’m fine.” He gives me a sideways glance.
Okay, I’m not fine. I’m dreading school today. I’m going to keep my head down and hopefully avoid Kyle. That should be easy enough because when we’re at school he never really talks to me. He’ll text me sometimes, but I haven’t heard anything from him since last night.
“When my wife says she’s fine, that means she’s anything but fine,” Graham responds.
“I’ve got a test today. That’s all.” I shrug and try to play it cool. I don’t know if Graham would report back to Luke if he thinks I’m upset about something. Luke is the same as my sister. He worries I’ll hate it here too, but that worry probably stems from the fact that it would upset his wife.
My phone goes off again in my hand. Well, hell. I should be careful what I wish for. Though I don’t think I was wishing for Kyle to text me.
Kyle: About last night. Sorry, I was drunk.
My phone goes off again a second later.
Walsh: I want to make sure you’re taken care of.
My breath hitches, and suddenly I feel warm all over. Why are his texts having this effect on me? I have no idea what to say to Kyle, but I respond to Walsh.
Me: Thank you for checking on me. I ate and I’m on the way to school.
Walsh: Good girl
I stare at those two words that make my mind swirl. I have to be misinterpreting this. He’s being nice because his son was a jerk, and that has to be it. I wonder if he made Kyle send that apology text too. I turn my phone to silent before I shove it in my bag and we pull up to the front of the school.
I need to stop thinking about the Insleys. Both are trouble.
Chapter Four
WALSH
“You know, if you had Nadia, things like this wouldn’t happen.”
“What did you say?” I ask my office manager, who looks up from her tablet and blinks.
“I said that if you had audio, things like this wouldn’t happen.” She shakes her head and goes back to uploading my files. “I don’t know how the owner of a billion-dollar company can use a busted tablet with no sound to run things.”
God, I’m losing my mind. Everywhere I look, something reminds me of last night and that doe-eyed girl that looked at me like I was her savior. That barely legal girl, I remind myself. What is it about her that has shaken me up on the inside and now I can’t seem to let the thought of her go?