Total pages in book: 141
Estimated words: 143382 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 717(@200wpm)___ 574(@250wpm)___ 478(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 143382 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 717(@200wpm)___ 574(@250wpm)___ 478(@300wpm)
But I knew for certain Scott and Louise loved both their girls and showed it.
So I reckoned it was more about Dream being jealous of her sister.
“Going back,” Eric took me out of my reverie. “You weren’t wrong calling her on her shit. It’s never wrong to stand up for someone who’s getting beaten down by a bully.”
Aw.
I loved that he thought that.
I grinned at him.
Then I took another sip of my cocoa.
“What’s this about mocha icebox cake?” he asked.
“I’m not sure it’s an actual cake. It’s some mocha mascarpone cream thing sandwiched with chocolate chip cookies that you chill for a long-ass time then eat.”
Eric swiped my mug out of my hand and put it on the coffee table.
“Hey! I wasn’t done with that,” I snapped as he dragged me to the door. When we were out of it, I asked, “Where are we going?”
“To the grocery store.”
I grinned again.
So…totally…and perhaps it would be constantly…falling for this guy.
My hip was moving.
I opened my eyes.
Eric’s face was close to mine.
“Hey,” I mumbled. “Headed to work?”
“Yeah.”
Catching you up, we didn’t do it. Apparently, getting kidnapped and having your brother be an asshole to you killed your have-wild-sweaty-sex-for-the-first-time-with-your-new-hot-guy vibe.
But that was okay.
Eric and I made the icebox cake. Then I showed him the Barefoot Contessa episode where she made it. Then, although he didn’t confirm he shared this urge, we both struggled with not going and attacking the cake we made before it was fully chilled. I gave him a toothbrush head for my pad. He stripped to his boxer briefs. I took some time to recover from seeing his chest again before I put on my third sexiest nightie (I didn’t want to be a bitch), and we went to bed.
And that brings us to now.
“I’ll cook tonight,” he said.
Dig it!
We had plans!
That said…
“No. I’m on a roll. But in your day’s meanderings, if you run into truffle butter, give me a shout. I’m making mushroom, truffle fettucine.”
“I think my gut needs you to stop watching Ina Garten.”
Like he had a gut. I’d seen those ridges. And the hip dents.
Delicious.
And nice. My have-sex-for-the-first-time-with-your-new-hot-guy vibe was coming back.
He came in to brush his lips to mine, but when he moved away, he advised, “It was fucked up how they went about it, but the lesson to be learned is keep sharp. You women are out there. Get rid of that little bag and take your Taser with you.”
Good advice.
I nodded.
He did the lip brush again, and this time murmured, “Go back to sleep.”
Then he was out of my vision, and not long later, I heard the front door close, so I knew he was out of my apartment.
I was about to fall back to sleep when a thought occurred to me.
No.
An idea occurred to me.
No!
A brilliant idea occurred to me, so my eyes popped right open.
It was such a good one, I threw the covers back and hauled ass out of bed.
I hit the Nespresso, then I hit the toothbrush then I hit the shower.
AJ’s Fine Foods was probably already open. I’d get my shopping done. Then I’d get to work. There, I’d talk to the girls and get my plan in motion.
The white shoe polish said Tex’s special that day was Gingerbread Rum Raisin.
The drawing was a gingerbread man who looked very angry, and possibly homicidal.
Gingerbread, I could do.
Rum, I could also do (very much).
Raisin, I could do in an oatmeal cookie (maybe).
So I’d skip that today.
I swung into the back door, dropped my bag (my bigger one, with Taser, something Eric returned by leaving it on my kitchen counter that morning) in my locker and announced to the room at large when I hit the main area, “Angels Confab!”
Raye, serving someone a mug of coffee, looked at me.
Harlow, taking an order, looked at me.
Luna, at the espresso machine steaming milk, looked at me.
Tito glanced at me, then he returned to and poked at the screen of his iPad.
I headed behind the bar.
Raye and Harlow joined me and Luna.
I opened my mouth.
I shut it when Tex joined us, his bulk making the space back there, which wasn’t minimal, seem stifling.
“Hey, Tex,” I greeted.
“Yo,” he mini-boomed.
“Um…” I circled a finger among the girls. “We’re having confab.”
“Right,” he said and didn’t move.
Okay.
Tex was going to be in on our confab.
I looked to the chicks.
But Harlow spoke. “Are you okay after last night?”
“Yeah,” I replied.
“Where did you and Eric go after you went in and came out of your apartment?” Luna asked.
“To the grocery store for the ingredients to an icebox cake.”
The chicks stared at each other.
“Are we doin’ boy-girl stuff, ’cause I’m out if we are,” Tex announced.
Since he wasn’t an Angel, I considered lying and telling him we were.
Then I said, “No. I had a great idea this morning to catch whoever is grabbing people from the camps.”