Total pages in book: 224
Estimated words: 215705 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 1079(@200wpm)___ 863(@250wpm)___ 719(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 215705 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 1079(@200wpm)___ 863(@250wpm)___ 719(@300wpm)
“Should I stay here?” Carrie asks, tugging my hand as Gabe moves on ahead.
“She’ll ask to see us alone if she wants to see us alone,” I say, turning to face her, “but Cat’s probably more comfortable telling you than me.”
Her hand settles on my chest. “She wants you in her life, Reid. Whatever went wrong, you just have to reach for her.”
“It’s—”
“Complicated. I know. Let’s go hear her news.” She links her arm with mine and my cellphone rings. I snake it from my pocket to find a client, who’s a hundred feet deep in legal issues, calling.
“Go on in,” I tell Carrie. “It’s a client I need to talk to.”
“How important is that call?” she asks. “This is not just some party. It’s your sister in there waiting and this could hold up her announcement.”
She’s right. I stick my phone back in my pocket. “You’re right. I’ll call him back.”
Approval warms her eyes and she pushes to her toes and kisses me. “You might not be the asshole I thought you were after all.”
I mold her close and those perfect curves press to mine, my lips near her ear. “Don’t go weaving fairytales unless they include me spanking you while you’re playing dress-up, preferably in something see-through. And handcuffs.”
“After tonight,” she says, “I might just trust you enough to let you, Reid Maxwell.”
Trust is exactly what I wanted to earn tonight, with the handcuffs as a bonus. “Now you’re just trying to make me drag you into the bathroom and fuck you.”
“That would be bad manners,” she says, tilting those full, kissable lips in my direction, and tempting me ten ways to Sunday.
“And?”
She laughs. “Maybe after another slice of cake.” She twists in my arms and tugs me forward, with me enjoying the view of her perfect ass in those jeans, while hoping like hell that trust is really where we’re headed. The kind of trust that will endure even the most wicked of storms.
I urge her ahead of me to enter the kitchen. Carrie steps to the endcap between Cat and Lori, and I’m just joining her when the unexpected, and unthinkable happens: my father, who never attends family events, walks into the room, inappropriately dressed in a three-piece ten-thousand-dollar suit.
“What’s she doing here?” he demands, claiming the endcap directly across from Carrie and staring her down. “What are you doing here?”
Chapter fifty
Reid
“Who are you?” Carrie asks, staring across the island at my father, because while my father has been obsessed about her father and anyone connected to him, Carrie’s been sheltered, even by me.
“Just like your daddy,” my father says. “Playing coy, but really a cobra.”
“Let’s go to the other room and talk, father,” I bite out, motioning toward the door.
“Father?” Carrie demands, whirling to face me, but I’m already rounding the island to stand beside my father. “Let’s go talk.” I can’t look at Carrie. I can’t invite conversation that will allow my father to flatten her and destroy me with her.
But my father won’t look at me. He’s looking at Carrie. “You aren’t welcome here. No West is welcome in a Maxwell house.”
“She’s welcome in this house,” Cat snaps, “but I’m a Summer now, and you’re giving me yet another reason to be proud of that fact.” Cat turns to Carrie. “Ignore him. This is our house, not his.”
“You’re welcome here now, and you have an invitation to return,” Reese adds and Cat whirls on my father again.
“Why did I invite you?” she demands. “Right. You never come. That’s why. Leave.”
I feel those words like a punch, like it’s what she feels about me, but right now, I have to deal with the beast that is my father. He turns to me, finally giving me his attention. “Did you bring her here?” His voice is pure accusation and hate.
In this moment, looking into my father’s hard eyes, I know that if I don’t convince him that her presence makes sense for his reasons, not mine, he’ll target her. He’ll go after her because he thinks I’m not. “Carrie and I work together,” I say. “We’re an investment, making money for both families.”
“Investment?” Carrie demands. “You brought me here to make me more committed to the investment? You really are an ass, Reid Maxwell.” She looks at Cat and Reese. “Thank you for the invitation and the lovely evening up until this point.” She eyes Cat. “You’re most definitely a Summer, not a Maxwell.”
She turns and darts out of the room, which is exactly what I want and need, but it’s gutting me to let her go for even a moment. My eyes lift and meet Cat’s fiery stare that tells a story. She’s angry with me. She thinks I used Carrie. She thinks that I am no better than my father. “It’s not what you think. I promise. I’ll explain.” I don’t wait for her reply. Fuck my father. I can’t let Carrie go. I’ll protect her. I’ll back him down.