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)
“Yes, of course. Do you mean . . . oh . . . you’re in a harem together? You have a girlfriend?”
“No. Not yet. But one of the reasons we moved here is so we could pursue that sort of relationship. Find a woman for the three of us.”
“Three?”
His face grew clouded. “We’re trying to convince Jameson to, uh, join us.”
Right. Of course. Wow. The woman who earned the three of them would be one lucky girl.
And that’s not going to be you.
Because, obviously, you’re out of their league.
Even she wasn’t believing her own lies anymore.
“I need to go talk to him. Don’t worry, I’ll make this right.” She moved away from Ian, ignoring his demands that she come back.
Seemed he was back to normal.
Jack looked over at her, then around the landscape as she approached him.
“Didn’t take Ian long to revert to being bossy again,” he said.
She might have been relieved that he was talking to her if he wasn’t speaking in a completely monotone voice.
“Probably just as well he’s back to normal. Holding back was likely making him constipated,” she said.
Yikes.
Why was she talking about Ian being constipated?
“Or giving him an ulcer. It can’t be easy for him to hold in all his demands. He was probably born bossy. Came out of his mum’s . . . vagina . . . all . . .”
“Do you need me to stop you from talking?” he asked curiously.
She sagged in relief. “Yes, thank you. Although I really wish you’d stopped me before I said the word vagina.”
“Wanted to see how far you’d take it.”
“The answer is always too far. Jack, I owe you an apology.”
“No, you don’t.” He sounded reasonable. But he wasn’t looking at her. And he hadn’t once smiled.
This wasn’t her Jack.
“I do.”
“You don’t want to go on a date. That’s your prerogative. I accept that.”
He was saying all the right words, but he sounded all wrong.
She breathed out a deep sigh. “It was the ice-skating.”
Right.
So her plan was just to blurt it out. Good job.
“What do you mean?”
“I can’t . . . I don’t ice-skate anymore, and the idea of it . . . look, I reacted stupidly and I’m really sorry. Okay? It didn’t have anything to do with you. I’d love to go on a date with you, although Ian said you’re in a harem with him, but without a girlfriend. Since I know he doesn’t want me, well . . . I guess we could go as friends or something.”
She managed to rein in her rambling. Just. Holding her breath, she waited for him to answer.
But at least he was now looking at her. Uncle Willy glanced around suddenly. She stepped forward. Was he looking for her? Did he need her for something?
“Maggie, dear, could you get me some water?”
Shoot. How had she forgotten to keep him hydrated?
“Coming!”
“I’ll get it.” Jack reached for her arm, but she managed to get around him.
“My job. I’m good. Thanks. Nice chat. Toodles.”
She smacked her forehead as she rushed to the cooler bag before Ian could get there.
“Why are you hitting yourself? Stop that,” Ian scolded.
She rolled her eyes. “You’re getting predictable, you know.”
“What? Here, let me. You should be resting, not running around after your uncle.”
“That’s my job.” She had to fight hard not to make a snarky comment. She was better than that.
Or she liked to pretend that she was, anyway.
After taking a bottle of water to Uncle Willy who reassured her that he’d be ready to leave soon, which could mean in ten minutes or two hours, she spun back around. Only the world tilted dizzily.
Shoot. What was going on? Her head thumped as Ian and Jack suddenly appeared in front of her.
Whoa. That was almost too much for her poor brain to take in. The level of hotness was off the charts.
“Um. What’s going on?” She ran her hand tiredly over her face. To her surprise, she saw it was shaking.
“See what I mean?” Ian said.
Huh? What did he mean?
“Yep,” Jack replied. “We need to deal with this. Now.”
“What? What are the two of you talking about?”
To her shock, they each took one of her hands and led her back to the slightly shaded area where they’d put their stuff.
Ian pointed at her. “Sit down in there.”
“What? Why?” She turned to look at Jack. “What is going on with the two of you?”
“Do what he says,” Jack said firmly.
Okay . . . that was odd. But she decided it was best to go along with what they wanted.
She sat in the shade. It wasn’t that much cooler, but it was nice to be out of the sun. She closed her eyes for a moment. She could almost have a nap right here. If her head would stop thumping, that was.
A yip of shock escaped her as she felt someone pull her slightly forward. Then something cool was pressed around the back of her neck.