Total pages in book: 105
Estimated words: 98965 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 495(@200wpm)___ 396(@250wpm)___ 330(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 98965 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 495(@200wpm)___ 396(@250wpm)___ 330(@300wpm)
I promised him I would.
But we both knew it was a goddamn lie.
Six
ARIA
As I swung the BMW X7 out onto the main road toward Ardnoch, I waved in my wing mirror to Jamie, the guard on duty at the staff entrance, then focused on the road ahead.
“Look at you driving on the wrong side of the road on the other side of the car,” Allegra teased, her eyes wide with admiration. “Seriously. And in an SUV, no less.”
I grinned at her playfulness. We’d decided to give ourselves a week before we called our parents about the art school situation, and I’d never seen my little sister so happy and relaxed as these last few days. “What do you mean?”
“Back in LA, you drove convertibles.”
“True.” I chuckled. “Convertibles are for LA. SUVs are for the Highlands.”
“Well, you’re a badass. Does it not get confusing driving here? There are a ton of traffic circles.”
“They call them roundabouts. And you get used to them.”
“When you’re scarily adept like you?”
I snorted. “Scarily adept?”
“Your ability to learn something new within minutes is scary, yes.”
Shaking my head at her teasing, I asked, “Are you looking forward to seeing Sloane?”
“Very much.” Allegra nodded as she stared at the passing trees. “So, now that I have you trapped in a car, maybe you can tell me why you acted uncharacteristically immature to North Hunter?”
My back stiffened. I knew it. I’d thought it was weird she hadn’t mentioned the encounter in the gym yesterday. She’d been biding her time for the right opportunity. Sneaky girl. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.” Yesterday was the first day of my period, and seeing him flirt with my baby sister ignited my menstrual wrath. The first two days of my period, my cramps were always so bad and I was always so tired, which led to impatience and snippiness. I did my very best to rein it in and not infect people with my bad mood. Sometimes I didn’t succeed, which would lead to self-flagellation of the worst kind.
“You were pretty mean to him.”
“First day of my period,” I explained.
“Okay, that might account for your impatience, but there’s something else going on with you and this guy. The air between you practically crackled. Did you sleep with him?”
“No!” I objected loudly. “With that man-child? Puhlease. He’s just like every other so-called charismatic, charming actor we’ve ever met. It’s all lies and bullshit and you never know what they’re really thinking because they’re so good at pretending.”
Allegra huffed. “Uh, North was none of those things to you.”
“He was at first. Believe me. He tried to be all smoldering and sexy the first time we met, and he was dating Cara Rochdale. She probably didn’t even dump him because of the scandal. I bet she found out he’d cheated on her a million times.”
“Hmm.”
“What?” I threw her a dark look as I pulled my SUV into the parking lot outside the Gloaming.
“I just think you’re making a lot of assumptions about the guy based on … what? Your experience with Preston? Your horrible experience with Lucas? North Hunter isn’t Lucas.”
Heat scored up my neck at the mere mention of his name. “Don’t talk about him.” Before she could respond, I practically jumped out of the car.
Allegra hurried to follow me, and I locked the car as I strutted down the street toward the cobbled lane that housed the florist. Usually, I’d buy wine from William’s Wine Cellar, but Allegra was sober.
“I’m sorry for pushing.” My sister fell into step beside me. “I just worry about you. I don’t want you to be lonely.”
Softening, I wrapped an arm around her shoulders and ducked my head to hers as I pulled her into my side. “You don’t need to worry about me ever. I’m—oof.” I stumbled with my sister as my other shoulder bumped into something.
A female voice cried out, and we turned to see an older woman clutching her forehead as bags of groceries spilled onto the ground. She was a tiny woman, and I realized I’d walked into her head with my shoulder because I wasn’t looking where I was going.
“I’m so sorry.” I kneeled in my jeans and began gathering her groceries into her bags. Allegra scrambled to help me.
“Och, it’s awright.” The woman assured me. “It happens.”
Once we’d gotten her shopping back in the bags, I offered to help her to her car.
“Ahm stayin’ in a wee flat ’roond the core-ner.” She brushed me off. I wasn’t familiar with all the villagers yet because I spent so much time on the estate, but I didn’t recognize her roughened face. She had the kind of skin that spoke of a hard life. And she didn’t sound like she was from around here. In fact, her accent made me think of North and his strong brogue when he was drunk. When I googled him, I discovered he’d grown up in a town I’d never heard of set between Glasgow and Edinburgh.