Total pages in book: 102
Estimated words: 103413 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 517(@200wpm)___ 414(@250wpm)___ 345(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 103413 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 517(@200wpm)___ 414(@250wpm)___ 345(@300wpm)
“You just called her a little girl and told her it was past her bedtime,” Nico pointed out.
“Well, she’s sitting up there, spying on us like a naughty child who doesn’t want to go to bed.”
Jerk.
Nico turned to look at Liam. She couldn’t see the look on his face, but Liam sighed. Nico smiled up at her again.
“What are you doing up there, pretty girl? Liam could have worded it better, but he’s right, it’s late. You should be getting your sleep. Of course, some of us need more beauty sleep than others. Some of us get cranky when they don’t get enough sleep.”
He blatantly pointed at Liam as he said that. Liam just shook his head. As far as she could tell, he didn’t need any beauty sleep. If he grew any more gorgeous, she might not survive.
“Nothing to say?” Nico asked.
“She won’t talk in front of me. She never talks when I’m around.”
Wait. That wasn’t true. Was it? Did she never speak when Liam was near? That was . . . ridiculous. Of course, she did.
“I talk when you’re around,” she said.
Liam tilted his head. “You know, I’m mistaken.”
Damn right, he was mistaken. Although she was shocked he’d admitted it. He didn’t seem the type of person to admit when he was wrong. “You’ve said, maybe, a dozen words to me in the three years we’ve known each other.”
That couldn’t be right.
She’d first met them when she was dating Liam’s brother, Michael. That relationship only lasted three months before he dumped her and basically disappeared.
Ass.
But Liam was friends with Regent so she’d seen him and Nico quite often over the last few years. Liam owned a few gyms in New Orleans.
They must have spoken, right?
“You’re exaggerating.”
“Am I?”
Nico was silent, watching them. She wished he’d say something. Rescue her from the big, bad beast.
Perhaps you should learn to rescue yourself.
If only she knew how. She knew she was no match for Liam. Not physically or mentally. Definitely not emotionally. Unless he was a basket case as well.
She took a deep breath in, letting it out slowly in an effort to calm herself.
For some reason, Liam and Nico stirred all this emotion in her. Not just admiration for their good looks. She could get past that. Yeah, they were lovely to look at. But so was a beautiful vase or a bunch of flowers. You could admire them, then move on.
There was something about the two of them that messed her up. It wasn’t like she wanted them. She never intended to date again.
Besides Liam being a jerk, there was also the fact that they were gay.
Maybe that’s why she stared at them so much when they were around.
They were safe.
“You can’t, can you?” he said smugly.
Oh, how she’d like to wipe that look off his face.
But then her brother reappeared. “Sorry about that. Urgent call. I know you were meant to be flying back to New York tonight, but are you able to stay a few more days?”
Liam and Nico shared a look.
“I can call the hotel we stayed at last night and see if they have some availability,” Liam said.
Regent frowned and nodded. “Don’t worry about the hotel. Stay here.”
Don’t say yes. Don’t say yes.
Liam looked straight up at her. “Sure, we’d love to stay.”
Regent moved his gaze up, likely wanting to see what Liam was looking at. His eyes widened as he saw her sitting there. Then his gaze narrowed. “Lottie? You okay, darling? What’s wrong?”
She cleared her throat. “Nothing’s wrong. Just waiting for you, and I didn’t want to interrupt.”
“You couldn’t sleep?”
It wasn’t something she wanted to talk about in front of Liam and Nico. Regent seemed to understand this quickly and he turned to the guys. “Take any of the guest rooms on the third floor. I’ll see you in the morning. Come here, Lottie.”
Lottie rose and moved slowly down the stairs. Last thing she needed was to trip and make an idiot of herself. When she reached the bottom of the stairs, she realized that she was going to have to walk past the two of them to get to her brother.
She only felt safe when one of her other brothers was around. But it was especially true with Regent. They had a different bond than she had with the others. Regent had always been there for her.
Steady. A rock.
Still, she had to take a moment to steel her nerves before moving past them toward Regent.
Liam frowned. “You should go to bed, Lottie.”
She paused and shot him a look. He stared down at her, his face stern.
Lottie turned to her brother, waiting for his reply. Regent gave her a thoughtful look then turned to Liam, his voice decidedly cooler as he spoke. “Lottie sometimes has trouble sleeping. We’ll say goodnight now.”
Regent held out an arm to her and she slipped her hand into the crook of his elbow. He was often old-fashioned in his manners. But she took refuge in them. In an uncertain, scary world, Regent could be relied upon to always be courteous and protective. Calm and steady.