Total pages in book: 176
Estimated words: 167257 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 836(@200wpm)___ 669(@250wpm)___ 558(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 167257 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 836(@200wpm)___ 669(@250wpm)___ 558(@300wpm)
“Good.” I smiled softly at him, and his green eyes practically glowed with pleasure at the sight as my hands shifted from his strong pecs to his shoulders. “I really mean this too.”
Rowdy was somewhat of a freak—a sexy, mouthwatering freak—but a freak nonetheless. His height was basically a physical anomaly, so it really took some power and determination to bring my knee up high enough to connect with his balls. My efforts were rewarded with a pained whoosh from Rowdy as he let me go and bent over slightly.
I was a little disappointed. I thought it would be like in the movies, and he’d fall to his knees, screaming in pain or maybe even pass out. In reality, it was all so anticlimactic.
Or maybe Rowdy truly did have the heart of a lion.
“Aaah!” My irritation quickly morphed into panic when Rowdy limped forward and tried to grab me. I retreated, but he only kept coming, albeit slowly. He was obviously in pain yet determined to get to me anyway. I could run, but I still wouldn’t be quick enough.
And this time, it would end like the movies.
I’d run for safety just to be delayed by a locked door, and then I’d fumble to find my keys before the killer reached me, only to die on my doorstep anyway.
No.
That wouldn’t be me.
Reaching inside my purse, I pulled out the welcome gift I’d gotten tonight from the Kings during the party and aimed it right between Rowdy’s vengeful eyes.
His gaze slowly drifted to my weapon before dismissing it altogether and staring me down. “Come here, Atlas.”
“No.” I really shouldn’t have been surprised that my show of force did nothing to deter him since he’d had multiple guns pointed at him only hours ago, and it hadn’t fazed him.
“Atlas, bring your ass here!” he roared. He was standing up straight now, the pained dip in his brow now coupled with fury.
“Fuck you!” I shouted back.
Losing his patience, Rowdy grabbed for me, and I panicked, pressing down on the trigger with a squeal.
“Fuck!”
This time, he did go down, his hands instantly flying to his eyes to assuage the sting of the high-grade pepper spray. I waited for the sense of satisfaction to come at finally having bruised him as he’d bruised me.
I waited, but it was notably absent.
Rowdy released another pained groan, and guilt guided me forward to help him, but then I stopped, suddenly hearing a voice I never thought I’d hear again. As if the blood-pumping root of me could read my thoughts, it pulsed in answer to the question in my head.
“My father wasn’t a religious man, but there was a scripture he’d heard once that stuck with him. Above all else, guard your heart,” I recited to Rowdy’s bent head. I could have sworn he stiffened as if he knew what I’d say next. “For everything you do flows from it.”
I’d heard my dad say it to my mom all the time. The interpretation varied for each person, but for my dad, it was a reminder that every decision he made, everything he did, affected her. My mom was the center of his world, and he never did anything without putting her feelings and well-being first. I guess it stuck with me, too, but in a different way.
“You demand things from me I’m not ready to give, but you’re so good at making me want them too—so much sometimes that nothing else matters. But then…then you make me feel like a fool for feeling that way, and I’m lost all over again. I know what I said before, but I lied, Owen. I don’t think I can give you my body without giving you my heart too.” Rowdy was still as if bracing himself for what I would say next. “But you said it yourself. You’re not interested in that part of me, and I couldn’t trust you with it even if you were.”
Ignoring the pain of what I had to do, I walked away and left him kneeling alone on the pavement, injured and at the mercy of the other monsters lurking in Hooker’s Cove.
My eyes were still sore when I opened them the next morning.
After calling Golden to come and get me from the motel last night, I ended up downing Benadryl to knock myself out since no amount of washing my eyes would stop them from burning.
I gripped the edges of my bathroom sink and stared at my reflection in the mirror, but I didn’t see the mild swelling, redness, or the leftover capsaicin crystalized around my lids.
I saw the man Atlas had seen last night.
The man she’d taken a deeper look at and found lacking. The man she’d rightly decided wasn’t good enough for her.
Turning away, I rushed through my morning routine since I was running a little late, and on my way out, I texted Tony to see if he’d taken care of that errand I’d requested moments before passing out last night.