Total pages in book: 173
Estimated words: 174632 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 873(@200wpm)___ 699(@250wpm)___ 582(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 174632 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 873(@200wpm)___ 699(@250wpm)___ 582(@300wpm)
“So it could just be like she said. Maybe you need to ease up a bit, man. You’ll worry yourself bald if you keep going like this.”
Maybe Jack was right.
There was no reason to worry about her. She seemed happy. If anything, she was a bit too carefree about everything.
It was likely that she led a charmed life. She’d probably never known the hardship of having to choose between eating or paying rent.
Grumbling to himself, he settled in to spend the next few hours bored to death.
Three hours later, Maggie was dead on her feet.
But when she caught sight of Uncle Willy’s tired face as he started packing up, she knew she couldn’t relax just yet.
“Let me get that, Uncle Willy.” She reached for the bags he was holding.
“What are you doing? Give me that.” Ian grabbed the bags off her. “The two of you need to go sit in the car while we get this. Jack has gone to turn on the air-con.”
“I can help carry the bags,” she told him. Who did he think lugged all this around when he wasn’t there?
“And?”
She huffed out a sigh. Fine, he could carry everything. Who was she to stop him?
“All of this tension between you can only mean one thing,” Uncle Willy said to her as Ian walked behind them.
“Uncle,” she said warningly. She had a feeling that she knew where he might be going with this and had to head him off.
“There’s no smoke without fire, my dear.” Her uncle smiled at her. “And there’s so much fire with you two that it could send us all on flames.”
She groaned. Yep, that’s where she’d thought he was going.
“What?” Ian asked. “What fire?”
Uncle Willy sighed, turning around to glance at Ian. “Not much of a romantic, are you, lad?”
“Lad? Romantic? I’m not following.”
“Listen. I’ll make it easy for you. Take her on a date. Okay?”
Um, what the bloody heck! What did Uncle Willy think he was doing?
“Uncle Willy!” she protested.
“What?” he asked, looking genuinely confused. Although sometimes it was hard to tell with him. It could all be an act.
Sneaky old bugger.
“You can’t arrange dates for me,” she told him sternly.
“Why not? You won’t arrange them for yourself. Besides, you’re still young. You should be out having fun. Not spending all your time following a doddery old fool around.”
“You are not a doddery old fool!” she protested. “And maybe I don’t date because I don’t date. Perhaps it’s a choice.”
“Course you do, my dear. You’re just shy.”
Ian made a choking noise and she shot him a dark look. “You be quiet. This has nothing to do with you.”
“Nothing to do with me? I’m the one he wants to take you on a date.”
“You or that other young chap. Good-looking boy.” He nodded over at Jack, who was walking toward them. “Got some depth to him.”
What did that mean?
“I reckon he’d be a good protector, as long as he didn’t eat you first, that is.”
What the heck was he talking about?
“I am not looking to date anyone.” Although an orgasm she didn’t have to give to herself might be nice.
Shoot. She needed to be careful or eventually, she’d say something out loud that she didn’t want anyone to hear.
Ian strode past her without a backward look.
What the heck had gotten into him? Was he that upset that her uncle had suggested that he date her? No doubt, that idea horrified him.
The jerk.
Ian didn’t know what to think as he walked away.
She wouldn’t date him? Why the heck not?
Are you forgetting that you decided she wasn’t the one for you? Or for Jack and Jameson?
Remember what’s important, bringing Jameson back to your relationship.
Finding a woman they all wanted.
“Everything all right?” Jack asked quietly as Maggie and her uncle walked past them. She didn’t even look at him.
Ian just grunted.
“Was it something with Maggie? What did you say to her?”
“What makes you think I said something?”
Jack just shot him a look.
Ian sighed.
“I like her. I’m thinking of asking her on a date.”
Ian nearly stumbled. He put the bags he was carrying down to look at Jack. “No, you aren’t.”
“I think I will.”
“You can’t do that.”
“Why not?” Jack asked.
“Because I don’t want to date her.”
Jack raised his eyebrows.
“We agreed to have a relationship with the three of us and one woman. And she’s not the woman for us.”
“Isn’t she?” Jack turned and started walking back to the car.
“She’s a brat. She needs a spanking.”
“Ahh, so you want to be the one to spank her? Interesting . . .” Jack turned to grin at him.
“That is not interesting. She’s just a brat who likely has to work for family because no one else will have her.” As soon as the words were out, he wished them back.
He’d seen how hard she’d worked today. She wasn’t like some of the women Jameson had wanted to date.