Total pages in book: 97
Estimated words: 93301 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 467(@200wpm)___ 373(@250wpm)___ 311(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 93301 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 467(@200wpm)___ 373(@250wpm)___ 311(@300wpm)
“She was, but we called a truce. Now she’s . . .” From inside the house, I heard her laugh. “She’s driving me a little crazy.”
“In what way?”
I rolled my shoulders. “I know this is going to sound shocking, but I might have made a mistake.”
“What did you do?”
“I kissed her.”
His eyebrows shot up. “That is kind of shocking. I’m surprised you’d make a move on someone you’re assigned to protect.”
“It wasn’t a move, okay?” I sat up taller in my chair. “It was a tactic.”
“A tactic?”
“Yeah. I took her to Backwoods last night, and she wanted to have a drink in the bar before we left. Some asshole came up from behind and was about to tap her shoulder.”
“Ah. Lives were at stake, and you had no choice but to kiss her.” He raised his beer to me. “You’re a hero.”
“Don’t be a dick. It was the only thing I could do in the moment to protect her.”
He grinned and took a sip. “Of course it was. Go on.”
“So even though I only kissed her in my capacity as her close personal protective agent, I believe she may have gotten the wrong idea.”
“You didn’t explain yourself right away?”
“I did, but . . .” This was the part that got tricky. “Then I kissed her again.”
“At the bar?”
“Yes.” I hesitated. “And later back at the house.”
Austin burst out laughing. “Dude.”
“Look, that one was not my idea,” I said defensively. “She put the moves on me.”
“Why’d she do that?”
I held out my arms, like duh.
My brother rolled his eyes. “You know what I mean.”
“I don’t know. It came out of nowhere! She was all, ‘Let’s go sit by the fire,’ and ‘Now I’m going to sit in your lap’ and ‘Don’t tell me you didn’t like seeing me naked.’”
Austin nearly choked. “You saw her naked?”
“It was an accident!” I glanced at the house and lowered my voice. “When I arrived on Thursday, the fucking door was unlocked and she wasn’t answering my knock, so I let myself in, and she happened to walk straight from the shower into her living room without even covering up with a towel. Who does that?” I demanded.
“You must have scared her to death. No wonder she tried to fire you.”
“She also threatened to make me sleep outside.”
My brother laughed. “Did you?”
“No. She ended up giving me the couch, but it’s like three feet too short, and my legs keep cramping up.” As if to make my point, I massaged my left hamstring. “And there are already paparazzi up here taking her picture. Any minute now I’m expecting to see a camera lens pop up over your fence. I’m telling you, so much about this gig is a nightmare.”
“But you have to do it.”
“I have to do it.” I leaned back and shut my eyes. “But I didn’t have to kiss her, and I feel like shit.”
“How come? Sounds like she was into it.”
“Because it’s a betrayal of the trust her brother placed in me.”
“Did he tell you not to touch her?”
I shook my head. “Some things between brothers are just understood.”
“I get that,” he said, “but you and Kelly are also two grown adults who can make your own decisions.”
“Excuse me,” I said, pointing my beer at him, “I seem to recall you refusing to touch Veronica because she was working for you.”
“And you were right in my face the whole time telling me I was being—let me see if I remember this correctly—a fucking idiot.”
I smirked. “You were. It was so obvious what was going to happen.”
The back door opened, and Adelaide came rushing out. “Daddy, look!” She ran over to us, and I noticed her shirt said Hart Throb in glittery pink and red letters. “She signed my shirt!” Spinning around, Adelaide presented us with her back, where Kelly had signed Pixie Hart, dotting the i’s with hearts just like she’d signed the napkin yesterday, only much bigger.
“Pretty cool,” Austin said.
“I’m going to wear it the first day of school,” Adelaide announced, her cheeks flushed with anticipation.
Veronica and Kelly came out the back door, each holding a glass of wine, and made their way over to the table. My brother rose to his feet and held out his hand. “Hey. I’m Austin.”
She smiled brightly as she shook it. “Nice to meet you. I’m Kelly.”
“That’s her real name,” Adelaide said excitedly, hopping from foot to foot. “I thought her real name was Pixie Hart!”
Kelly laughed as she came around the table and took the chair next to me. “Nope, that’s just a name a promoter liked back when he was booking me at county fairs and the like. Apparently, he didn’t think Kelly Jo Sullivan was catchy enough.”
“Does it bother you?” Veronica asked as Austin pulled out the chair next to him for her. She gave him a grateful smile as she sat down.