Total pages in book: 80
Estimated words: 76381 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 382(@200wpm)___ 306(@250wpm)___ 255(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 76381 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 382(@200wpm)___ 306(@250wpm)___ 255(@300wpm)
“Coming,” I said. With each step, my stomach tensed and twisted around on itself at the idea of walking in there to possibly see Callow flirting—or worse—with another woman.
But whatever it was, it was.
So I stiffened my spine, lifted my chin, and followed my daughter… who just threw open the damn door.
“You can’t just walk right into a—“ I started to scold her as I followed behind, stopping short as we walked into the common room to find a bunch of the bikers and women sitting around a poker table.
One woman was in the process of pulling off her shirt.
Until the man next to her spotted Daphne and reached over to pull it back down.
“Looks like we are going to forego the whole stripping part for the time being,” he said, grinning at us as he sat there in his absurd bright orange Hawaiian shirt with iguanas all over it. “Hey girls. Looking for Callow?” he asked as, with an almost pathetic amount of relief, I realized he wasn’t seated at the strip poker table with all of the pretty women. “Callow!” he yelled. Then, “Company!”
A moment later, a door in the hallway slammed. I swear my heart thumped in time with his footsteps until he was in the doorway, looking bed-sexy in a pair of low-slung black sweatpants.
And nothing else.
The desire was a sucker-punch to my system as my gaze moved over his wide chest, down the deep indents of his abdominal muscles.
“Shit,” he said, spotting Daphne, and quickly lifting the black tee in his hand to throw it on. “Hey, Daph,” he said after he was done, taking a few steps forward. “How you feeling?” His gaze slid from her face, likely noticing how much the cuts had faded already, to her cast that was now covered in signatures.
“A lot better,” she said. “We made you cookies. Well, Mom made you cookies. I mostly…”
“Critiqued,” I filled in for her, embarrassed at how my heart ached for him to look at me.
Then, at the sound of my voice, his gaze moved from the plate in Daphne’s hand to my face.
I swear those blue eyes had impact, making me almost go back a step.
“Hey,” I said, my voice small and airy.
“Hey, babe,” he said, eyes going warm, little crinkles forming beside them.
“Why don’t you bring these to Callow’s room?” Daphne asked, shoving the cookies at me, making me grab for them before they fell. “While I get a poker lesson,” she said, reaching for a chair.
“Absolutely n—“ I started.
“I promise to keep it PG,” the Hawaiian shirt guy who had to be the guy Sully from Callow’s stories, said. “It’s… a math lesson,” he added as Daphne wedged herself between two of the women, setting her book on her lap, and watching as Sully gathered up the cards to shuffle.
“Coffee?” Callow asked with a little smirk, waving toward the kitchen.
“Sure,” I agreed, figuring I could at least glance in at my daughter every few minutes to make sure she was behaving.
“How’s she doing really?” he asked as he went right to the coffee maker to start making a fresh pot.
“She’s… okay,” I said, surprised how true that was. “Physically, she gets annoyed that she can’t pick things up or wash her own hair. But other than that, she’s good.”
“Emotionally?” he asked, putting fresh grounds into the filter.
“She’s… okay. Honestly. I think I’m worse off than she is,” I admitted.
Turning on the machine, he turned to me, brows pinched.
“Something going on?” he asked.
“No. No, everything is alright. I’m just having trouble sleeping. Jumping at noises and shadows kind of thing.”
“It’ll get better,” he assured me. “It hasn’t been that long.”
“Yeah,” I agreed, focusing on unwrapping the tin foil to expose the cookies because things felt unusually awkward between us.
I was so focused, in fact, that I didn’t even see Callow move.
But then, there he was, his hands reaching for me, grabbing me, turning me to him, then crushing me to his body as his lips claimed mine.
The moan that escaped me was immediate as I melted into him.
My arms went around his neck, holding him tightly as his arms wrapped me up tight enough to nearly cut off my air supply as his lips slanted over mine again and again.
A tingle worked its way up my spine and spread outward until it overtook me completely, leaving me swaying into his strength as his tongue teased, as his teeth nipped.
It was Callow who came to his senses first, pulling his lips from mine, but not letting me go, just holding onto me.
And I went ahead and gave into the urge to press my face to his strong chest, breathing him in, absorbing his warmth, enjoying the strength in his arms.
“You didn’t text,” I said, wincing even as the words escaped me, knowing how needy they sounded.