Total pages in book: 26
Estimated words: 24167 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 121(@200wpm)___ 97(@250wpm)___ 81(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 24167 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 121(@200wpm)___ 97(@250wpm)___ 81(@300wpm)
After scrolling down to his name, I took a deep breath and jabbed my finger against the screen before I lost my nerve. I bit my bottom lip and let out a little puff of air when Dax picked up. “You okay, baby?”
When he’d called me baby after kissing me, I’d thought it was something special for just me. But hearing his greeting, I couldn’t help wondering if he used the term of endearment for all the women in his life since he had no way of knowing I was the one calling him. I felt as though my heart was being ripped from my body and was getting ready to disconnect the call when he barked, “Arya, fuck. Say something to let me know you’re okay.” An engine revved in the background. “If you can’t talk because someone’s hurt you, baby, you’ve gotta know I’ll find you and fix whatever the fuck happened.”
“I’m sorry,” I gasped as I finally came to my senses with his vow ringing in my ears. “I didn’t mean to freak you out.”
“You’re good?”
My lips curved up in a tiny grin at how relieved he sounded. “Yeah.”
He turned off his bike, and the background noise on his end quieted. “Maybe we just had a bad connection. I couldn’t hear you for a minute there.”
“Um, no. The connection is fine. That was all me,” I admitted softly, twirling a lock of my hair around my index finger.
“Did you call me just to hear my voice because you missed me?” I swore I could practically hear his smug grin just by his tone alone.
I rolled my eyes before replying, “No, I really did have a reason for calling.”
“Were you surprised I answered?”
Crap, he wasn’t going to let me tell him why I needed to talk to him until I fessed up to why I’d been quiet for so long. My cheeks filled with heat as I awkwardly whispered, “I, um, might’ve thought that you thought someone else was calling you when you answered the way you did.”
He zoned right in on my issue. “Because I called you baby?”
“Yeah.” Nobody could see me, but I still ducked my head and let my hair fall around my face so there was another barrier between me and the world. Being into a guy was a whole new experience for me, and my heart just had to go and pick a guy who could have anyone he wanted, leaving me feeling extra vulnerable.
“I should’ve been clear when I warned you about other guys, so you wouldn’t worry. There’s nobody else for me either, Arya. Just you, baby,” he swore.
My lips formed a perfect circle as I gasped, “Oh.”
“Yeah, so don’t you ever fucking worry about me when it comes to some other woman. I’d never pull that kind of shit on you,” he added.
Loving how Dax put himself out there for me and didn’t try to play games, I had a huge smile on my face when I asked, “Because my brother would kick your butt if you broke my heart?”
“Nova is gonna kick my ass regardless, baby.” His deep chuckle sent goose bumps up my arms. “But I’ll take whatever he gives me with a smile on my face as long as you’re mine.”
My heart melted at the idea that Dax was willing to fight with my brother if that was what it took to be with me. Not that I ever wanted it to happen. “Maybe he’ll go easy on you if my plan to surprise him with a visit in a couple of weeks to celebrate our birthdays works.”
“You’re planning on coming down here to surprise Nova?”
“Yup.” I gave him all the details for what I wanted to do—without mentioning that the biggest reason I wanted to do all of this was because I couldn’t wait to see him again. “Could you maybe help me throw the party together and keep everything a secret from Nova?”
There was a long moment of silence that made me a little nervous, but then Dax rasped, “Damn straight, I can.”
3
Dax
I doubted the smile on my face could get any bigger. Arya had unknowingly given me the perfect opportunity to set things in motion. I’d been prepared to go retrieve her, but having Arya come to me would make things much smoother.
And arriving while Nova was out on a run...Yeah, this was perfect. Unfortunately, she’d be missing the party she was planning, but I couldn’t muster up any guilt over it. Not when it meant Arya would finally be mine.
I intended to kidnap her the moment her car entered the compound.
Through a connection of Patriot, the MC’s Captain, I’d borrowed a cabin in the mountains—after threatening to beat him to a bloody pulp if he breathed a word of my location to Nova. The threat was enough to shut the Captain up, but Patriot wasn’t a chatty guy in the first place. Plus, I outranked them both.