Total pages in book: 133
Estimated words: 134598 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 673(@200wpm)___ 538(@250wpm)___ 449(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 134598 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 673(@200wpm)___ 538(@250wpm)___ 449(@300wpm)
“Devote yourself to Cate? Hmm. You know, I think I might just approve of you dating my sister, after all.”
Ethan held out his hand and they did some complicated handshake.
“But if you hurt my sister, I’ll kill you.”
“I would expect nothing less,” Ethan replied.
She shook her head. Men.
They were strange creatures.
43
“Can I open my eyes yet?” she asked.
He had hold of her hand and was leading her into her bedroom later on that afternoon.
“Just stay still while I shut the door. Now, you can.”
She opened her eyes and stared down at the red picnic blanket on the floor. There were plastic plates filled with food. Each plate held a different sort of food. One was a bowl of cut-up strawberries. Another was slices of cheese. Then there was a plate of crackers. More held olives, salami, and what looked to be chocolate brownies.
There were also plastic glasses filled with something that bubbled.
“What is this?” she asked.
“This is our first date. A picnic.”
“I can’t remember the last time I went on a picnic.” She didn’t really enjoy eating outside while sitting on the ground. But this . . . this felt like fun.
“Is it all right?”
She turned to him. “It is.”
His face seemed to soften slightly. “Sit down. I know some of the food like the crackers can’t be eaten with a knife and fork but I thought I could feed them to you.”
“That’s acceptable.”
Cate sat on the floor and watched as he picked up a spare plate.
“What would you like first?”
“Salami and cheese and olives.”
He carefully placed them on the plate so that nothing touched each other and set it in front of her.
“I poured us some sparkling grape juice. If you don’t like it, I also have lemonade.”
“I can’t believe you set this all up. For me.”
“You deserve it. And I’m going to eat it too.” He piled his plate up, then nodded to her knife and fork. “Eat, baby.”
She nibbled at her food slowly.
“Everything all right?” he asked.
“I just . . . I want to make this last. I can’t remember anyone doing something like this for me.”
“Well, you don’t need to worry. Because it will happen again and again. I’ll see to that. It’s a promise.”
“Even though this is the only date I’ve ever been on, it’s still the best one.”
“Me too, baby. Now. Eat. You aren’t eating enough and you have to eat some calories to help you regulate your body heat.”
Always the bossy Dom.
But she liked that too.
She just plain liked him.
They sat and ate the picnic food, which ended with him feeding her strawberries and chocolate brownies.
It was amazing.
Later on that evening after their picnic dinner, she and Ethan were curled up on the sofa when Ethan’s phone buzzed. Seth walked into the room with his phone in his hand. “It’s Polly at the gate.”
“Why would Polly be here on a Sunday night?” Ethan asked.
“Samantha probably has her working,” Seth muttered. “I’ll let her in.”
They hadn’t seen anything more of Samantha today. Something that Ethan wasn’t upset about. Sure, he probably should feel sorry for Rhodes having to deal with that viper. However, he’d made his bed. Now he had to lie on it.
The front doorbell rang, and Seth walked out to open the door. Polly walked in, looking pale and flustered.
Her hair was even more wild than usual. And she was wearing a long, bright orange skirt with a purple top with pink flowers on it.
It was the loudest outfit he’d ever seen.
“Is everything all right?” Cate asked. “Are you working on a Sunday?”
“Yes, I, um, Samantha asked me to do a few jobs for her, and I was collecting the mail from her apartment when I saw this. It’s a letter with just her name on it. What if it’s from the stalker!” Polly cried, pulling an envelope from her oversized handbag. It was encased in a plastic bag.
Seth frowned at the envelope. “I’ll get Rip.”
Ethan stood and moved to Polly. She was holding the envelope tightly, her breath coming in sharp pants.
“Give it to me, Polly,” Ethan said. “Thank you.”
She nodded frantically as he took the envelope. He noticed she was still panting heavily.
“Are you all right?”
“I just . . . I had to take three different buses to get here, but I accidentally got off too early and had to run the rest of the way. Sorry. I’m rambling.”
“Would you like me to get you some water?” Cate asked.
Polly gave her a surprised look. “Yes, please.”
Ethan sent Cate a wink as she passed him. Then Rhodes and Samantha strode into the living room, followed by Seth.
“What’s going on?” Rhodes asked. “Seth said there’s another letter?”
“Polly? What are you doing here?” Samantha asked.
“I went to get your mail from your apartment like you said and I found a suspicious letter,” Polly said.