Total pages in book: 81
Estimated words: 94716 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 474(@200wpm)___ 379(@250wpm)___ 316(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 94716 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 474(@200wpm)___ 379(@250wpm)___ 316(@300wpm)
He probably could have said anything else and I’d have been pissed. However, he told me the God’s honest truth. It was plain and simple. It was Jack. He didn’t pull his punches. He said what he meant. He did what he thought was right and he would protect anyone he loved with his life.
“Yes.”
My God, it was like talking to a wall sometimes.
Getting up from the bed, I walked to the chair that was holding my bag. Removing the white t-shirt I’d worn to bed every night since I’d gotten out of the hospital, I slipped it over my head and turned to see Jack staring at me with a dark expression on his face.
“You still have that?” He asked in awe.
My brows puckered and I looked at him questioningly. Moving to me with purposeful strides, he fisted the t-shirt in his hands and held it away from my body. “This.”
“Yeah, what’s the problem?”
“Absolutely nothing. It just makes me happy that you had something of me all those years.” He said simply.
My throat clogged and I put my arms around his neck. “I’ve worn it every single night for the past seven years. Even when it needed to be washed, I waited for it dry before going to bed. I’m not sure how much longer it’ll hold up, so it’s a good thing I found you so I can steal another one.”
“Yes, ma’am. Steal anything you like.”
Chapter 10
I fall in love with you more and more every day. Except yesterday. Yesterday you were pretty annoying.
E-card Valentine
Jack
“Don’t you think that you’re over doing it a little?” I asked Winter.
“Fuck off.” She sneered and turned her back to me in bed.
I was standing on the side of the bed, completely dressed, waiting for her to get her ass up so I could leave. She had work in less than an hour, and with the way she was going, she’d surely be late. She also couldn’t afford to be late or she’d lose her job.
“You’re just being stubborn. It’s not the end of the world.” I said with barely restrained patience.
She turned over in a flurry and was on her knees poking me in the chest in the next heartbeat. Her curly red hair was flying around her in a mass of wild tangles. Her brown eyes were hard and unrelenting. Her nose did that cute little thing when she got pissed, all scrunched up and coming to a point. Hell, even her lip was slightly curled in a snarl.
“You listen here, Jackopa Shit-Head Stoker, I don’t even freaking understand why I was bumped down. I don’t drive the fucking ambulance; I ride in the back, working on patients. Basics drive. I’m a paramedic. There’s a big difference between the two. They had no freaking reason to be doing it either. I was at a goddamn funeral for fuck’s sake. It was five freaking days. Big freaking deal that I missed a shift.”
Each sentence was emphasized by a poke in my chest. Her nail was making little half-moon marks and I tried valiantly to withhold the smile that was threatening to break through. Sadly, it wasn’t meant to be, and I lost the battle.
“What’re you smiling at, Jackopa?” She sneered.
I held my hands up in a placating gesture, but it did no good. She was off ranting and raving about how awful men were. How they were put on this planet only to torture poor defenseless women. How she hated her job and wanted something she would love instead. Then she started on how I forgot to pick my boxers up off the bathroom floor.
Not that I was going to tell her that she was the one who’d worn them the night before. Especially since I didn’t wear boxers.
“What, are you on your rag or something?” The statement sprung like a tripwire in the middle of the room and she turned around slowly, mouth agape. I winced. What the fuck I’d been thinking, I didn’t know. It’d just popped out.
“As a matter of fact, yes, I am.” She said sweetly, closing the bathroom door with a soft click.
Then she ruined the delicate answer when she threw something heavy against the bathroom door, shattering it in, most likely, a million pieces. Walking to the closet, I thought about what was in there that would have broken, and then remembered the roses I’d bought her on the way home.
Tyler was notorious for their ‘Tyler Roses’ and I bought them for her because she’d said she loved roses. Seeing the next vendor on the side of the exit, I’d stopped and grabbed a dozen before getting back on the road. Tai had given me shit for being such a sap, but I’d do just about anything to put that smile on her face. Which is why I planned to buy her some every chance I got.
Grabbing her flip-flops from the bottom of the closet, I opened the door carefully to see her in the shower. Tossing the foam flip-flops over the top, they landed with a slap in the tub, and I turned around to leave the room. Glass crunched underneath my feet, and I sighed as I headed for the vacuum.
Clean up took ten minutes and not once did she say a word to me. Not that I could really blame her. I knew better than to comment on a woman’s time of the month. Next time, I would try not to lose my composure.
It clearly wasn’t worth it. I’d be lucky to have her speak to me for the next three days.
I made her a cup of coffee and placed it on the bathroom counter before I left. I’d just made it to the front of the shop when a black Ford truck pulled into the opened gate of Free. Sam started to stand before I waved him off and went to the open bay door to wait.
It didn’t take long before an older man in his late forties or early fifties stepped out and ambled his way up to me. He looked good for his age. Extremely fit. His eyes were ancient though. As if he’d seen everything and more in his life. Walking up to me, he stopped short and held out his hand for me to shake.