Total pages in book: 153
Estimated words: 154595 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 773(@200wpm)___ 618(@250wpm)___ 515(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 154595 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 773(@200wpm)___ 618(@250wpm)___ 515(@300wpm)
Crap. She could see there was going to be another argument.
Gray folded his arms over his chest. “Back to the place where her stalker tried to drown her. I don’t think that’s wise.”
“I’ve got extra security coming,” Sampson told him. “She’ll be safe.”
“Maeve?” Jenner asked gently. “What would you like to do?”
She didn’t know. She didn’t want to go near the pool. But still . . . where else would she go?
“I want . . . I don’t know. I don’t like that he knows where I am. And I don’t want to go near the pool. However, I don’t . . . I just . . . I don’t . . .”
“Whoa, calm, baby. We’ll figure it out, okay?” Gray placed gentle hands on her shoulders. “Just concentrate on your health, first. All right?”
“Yes . . . okay.” Her breathing slowed, coming easier. “I’m sorry I’m such a mess.”
“You’re not a mess,” Immy said, sounding like she was in pain.
“Definitely not,” Jenner added.
“No, you’re not,” Gray told her with a frown. “And I don’t want to hear that shit.”
Immy sucked in a breath, staring at him with wide eyes, but Maeve just smiled. Gray might not be the comforting, there-there type. But she kind of liked his blunt version of reassurance.
It was straight to the point and no frills, but you knew where you stood with him.
“Fine. Let us know if you’re being discharged, Maeve,” Sampson told her. “There’s a new phone in your bag with all our numbers. All right?”
“But how do I get into the phone?”
“There’s no security code,” he told her.
Relief filled her. “Okay. Yep.”
“You don’t need to be scared,” Sampson told her. “That asshole won’t get to you again. Did you tell the hospital this was an accidental drowning?” Sampson asked Gray.
“Yep.”
He had? She hadn’t realized that. Then again, her brain was kind of fuzzy today.
“Why?” Sampson asked.
“Don’t like the cops. They’ll just get in the way of finding this fucker.”
Sampson nodded and they shared a look.
Immy squeezed her hand. “Eat your breakfast. Take a nap. We’ll be back later.”
Maeve nodded tiredly. She felt exhausted and out of sorts. Once they all left, a nurse came in to check her vitals and to tell her that she’d be taken off for an MRI in an hour or so.
After she left, Gray set out the food with a frown. “Still a bit warm at least.”
She looked it over in interest. Then she pointed at something green. “What the heck is that?”
“Kale chips. You’ve got poached eggs on a homemade hash brown with kale chips and a freshly-squeezed orange juice. There’s also some porridge with berries.”
“I’m all for eating chips, but I don’t believe kale should come in a chip form.” That was like false advertisement or something.
“You need to try it before you decide you don’t like it.”
She wrinkled her nose. “I’m not really that hungry.”
“Tough.”
He sat on the bed and picked up a napkin, placing it over her chest.
“I’m not that messy.”
“Yes, you are.”
Maeve opened her mouth to argue, but the truth was she didn’t have a leg to stand on.
Because, yeah. She was.
Then he picked up a fork and the container of food. He held some food up for her. “Open.”
She gaped at him. Uhh . . . what was happening right now?
“I’m not . . . I don’t need you to feed me. I can feed myself.”
“Know that. Ever think that maybe I need to feed you?”
Huh? Why would he feel the need to feed her?
“Have you got some sort of food fetish? You seem to have a few of these fetishes, maybe you should talk to someone about them.”
“You keep telling me to go to a therapist. I might get a complex, you know.”
She eyed him. “No, you won’t.”
“I don’t have a food fetish. Now, open.”
Her lips remained closed. She still didn’t trust something called a kale chip. Kale was not meant to be eaten for breakfast . . . or ever.
“You have to try it,” he said firmly.
“I really don’t think I do.” Surely being an adult meant she didn’t have to eat things she didn’t want to. “I’m not into green food.”
“What?”
“Yeah, green just isn’t my color. Now, maybe if kale was purple . . .”
“You know you can get purple kale, right?” he asked.
“What? No!” She stared at him in shock. “Darn it.”
“And you can’t just eat purple food.”
“Well, I don’t want to eat purple kale, now purple Pop-Tarts on the other hand are delicious.”
“Girl, you need to cut down on the Pop-Tarts.”
She gasped. “Now, you’re just being mean.”
“You need to eat your breakfast if you want to be a good girl and get good girl rewards.”
“What we talking about here? Like cupcakes? Chocolate?”
“I was thinking orgasms.”
“Orgasms are nice. I like orgasms.”
Warmth filled his eyes. “Good. Me too. Now, open. I won’t ask again. And I’m not doing the choo-choo train.”