Total pages in book: 72
Estimated words: 73043 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 365(@200wpm)___ 292(@250wpm)___ 243(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 73043 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 365(@200wpm)___ 292(@250wpm)___ 243(@300wpm)
The answer to that was: to keep your damn dogs from climbing into your car and refusing to leave.
Rafe gestured for me to get inside my car and then stepped back while holding the door.
I bit my lip and crawled in, very aware of how well my jeans fit my butt—and that was perfectly. I’d nearly had to apply butter to get these jeans on.
I may be young, but I was far from stupid.
I’d paid attention the few times that Rafe was around long enough for me to hold a conversation with him. I also knew that he preferred me in jeans.
How did I know that?
Because he’d paid more attention to me when I was fully clothed. I didn’t know if it was due to the fact that I actually looked better in jeans or because he wasn’t willing to look at me if I wasn’t fully clothed.
Whatever the reason, I chose the route that would reveal the most of my assets, while still being modest enough that he would at least look at me and not look the other way.
So, I climbed in, tried to do it seductively, and then forgot to pay attention to the gear shift as I swung my knees around.
The minute the gear shift hit me in the knee, I started to whimper and fell over, straight into Kayla’s lap.
“Oh my God!” I whined. “Kayla, kiss it and make it better!”
Kayla, being the dutiful, awesome best friend that she was, bent over and kissed it.
Then she smacked it.
“Bitch!” I cried. Literally cried. “Owwww, it fucking hurts. Jesus, it hurts worse than when I hit my funny bone!”
And I did that a lot.
Did I mention I was a klutz, too?
“Who is Trance?” Rafe questioned as he situated himself in the car while completely ignoring the fact that I was dying.
One could die from blunt force trauma to the knee, couldn’t they?
Because I felt like I was.
“Trance is a member of the Dixie Wardens like Papa Silas,” I wheezed. “The Benton, Louisiana Chapter. Not to be confused with the other nine million and thirteen chapters.”
“Papa Silas?”
“Well,” I hesitated. “He’s Silas…but he’s also kind of a grandfather. Even though he has a kid younger than me. But, still. He’s Papa Silas to me. He told me Granddaddy Silas wasn’t working for him.”
“Actually,” Kayla interrupted. “Janie has called him Papa for as long as we could remember. She tried to change it to Granddaddy Silas once when she was a kid and like she said, he told her no.”
“Do you know who Silas is?” I questioned.
Everybody knew Silas.
And I could’ve sworn I’d seen Silas and Rafe in the same room as each other at least once over the years that Rafe had been around.
“Yeah,” he said. “I also know Trance. Well, kind of. I know who he is, but I don’t know him. Though, in the dog training world, he’s pretty famous. Everyone knows the Spurlock dog training guru. I’m just surprised he couldn’t whip your pups into shape. He’s known for his perseverance.”
I sighed. “That might’ve also been my fault,” I admitted, my head still resting on the seat now next to Rafe’s thigh.
“She told Trance to bring them home,” Kayla said into the silence. “She called one night crying because she missed her ‘friends.’ She also asked to speak with them. Then, when they wouldn’t talk, she told Trance to bring them home for a little visit. He brought them home mainly because he knew this wasn’t going to work out. Janie treats them like her children. I’m also pretty convinced they’d kill me if I tried to take Janie anywhere without her permission. They already growl when I eat her food.”
Rafe snorted.
“I taught them the things that were important. I can’t have my extended family coming into my house and eating all my food. Food is expensive,” I muttered, then sighed and sat up.
The children of Free really were awful. Justin, Elliott and Blaine’s son, was the absolute worse.
“Sounds to me,” Rafe said as he waited patiently for me to get situated. “That you didn’t need to send them anywhere. If they already protect you, they most likely wouldn’t need to be away from you at all. You just need to hone their already deeply ingrained instincts.”
“How do you know all this?” I questioned, reaching for the seatbelt that would strap across my lap.
He stuck the key in the ignition and pressed the clutch with his left foot. His right hand came down on the gear shift. His forearm flexed as he dropped it into neutral.
I closed my eyes as I waited with bated breath for my car to roar to life, and seconds later, it did.
I shivered and opened my eyes, smiling widely.
“Janie’s also insanely in love with her car,” Kayla said with disgust in her voice. “You should feel privileged. She doesn’t let anyone drive it, not even her dad.”