Total pages in book: 115
Estimated words: 108531 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 543(@200wpm)___ 434(@250wpm)___ 362(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 108531 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 543(@200wpm)___ 434(@250wpm)___ 362(@300wpm)
She’d found if she wanted to scare off a man, having a massive well-trained dog at her side helped. Unfortunately she only had Luna, so she would have to make do with a massive dog. She got to the bottom of the stairs and could see a shadow at the door. Paul was taller than his brother, but he didn’t have Quaid’s muscle. She remembered him being fairly slender for a man. He pressed the bell again, proving he really wanted in.
It was sad that sometimes a man simply didn’t get what he wanted.
She unlocked the deadbolt. She checked the alarm and saw that Quaid must’ve turned it off when he’d taken Luna out for her morning ablutions, so she threw open the door and there was Paul Havery.
He was one of those guys who technically looks handsome but whose privilege was so stamped on his face that she could practically smell the frat party that went on around him. His expression went from determined to surprised in a heartbeat. “Well, hello. You are not what I was expecting. My name is . . .”
“No.” She slammed the door closed and watched through the opaque glass as Paul put a hand on his chest as though deeply offended by the gesture.
He knocked this time. “Hey. You can’t tell me no. I’m here to see my brother.”
She opened the door again. “He doesn’t want to see you. He doesn’t need amends. He’s good. Go away.”
Paul put a hand out to stop the door from closing. “I need to talk to him. It’s about a case.”
She bet he had money, too. “Excellent. You can talk to me. I handle half the cases here now.”
He looked her up and down, but not in an assessing way. “You’re a lawyer?”
“Don’t let the bunny slippers fool you. I’ve practiced for years.”
“And you have a dog. You’re the colleague Quaid is working with.” Paul laughed like that was the funniest thing ever. “When he told me he was working with someone here in town and they were staying over, I thought for sure you were a man. You must be Jayna Cardet. I heard you were back in town and got your law degree. No wonder Mom is worried. But you are not my brother’s type. I’ll tell Mom she doesn’t have to worry about you making a move on him. Damn, you look good, girl. You can be my type.”
Yes, he’d also been a high school lothario. “How can I make a move on your brother if you keep interrupting us? Since you heard Quaid has a guest and I wasn’t staying here until last night, you must be the reason he got called to the sheriff’s. Did you get arrested?”
“No,” Paul replied, seemingly offended. “Why on earth would you think that?”
“I don’t know, maybe because you got arrested a lot when you were younger. Also, logic.” She could logic a lot of things. Having to deal with his brother being arrested would absolutely put Quaid in a bad mood and lead him to think his life had gotten more complicated.
“None of those charges stuck,” Paul pointed out. “And I haven’t been arrested in more than three years. I went to rehab and I graduated and everything. That’s why I’m here. I’m going to make amends with my brother.”
“He doesn’t want amends. He wants breakfast.”
“Well, I could eat,” Paul replied.
“What kinds of amends are you making?” She wanted to find out exactly what she was dealing with.
Paul seemed to think about that for a moment. “Well, I thought I could spend time with him. Keep him company while he works. Rebuild our relationship so he knows the new me.”
That felt like a powder keg waiting to explode. She also noticed Paul had managed to center the “amends” around himself. “No. Come up with better amends.”
Paul’s hands went to his hips as he stared her down. “Look, Cardet, he’s my brother and you can’t make me leave. Don’t try to intimidate me with that big fluff ball of yours. That dog might lick me to death, but that’s the worst danger I’m in. So you might as well move that cute ass of yours and let me see him.”
That was not going to happen. If he wasn’t intimidated by her fluff ball, she would see how much he remembered about living in Papillon. “If you don’t leave Quaid alone, I’m going to tell everyone I can that Paul Havery came home because he’s lonely and really wants to meet a nice girl.”
Paul’s eyes went wide, and his jaw dropped. “You wouldn’t.”
“I would,” she vowed. “I’ll sit in that café and tell every grandma who walks in that there’s a single man in town and he is looking to change his luck. I’ll say the name Havery and they will drool, Paul. Then I’ll give them your phone number.”