Total pages in book: 76
Estimated words: 90721 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 454(@200wpm)___ 363(@250wpm)___ 302(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 90721 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 454(@200wpm)___ 363(@250wpm)___ 302(@300wpm)
Katy didn’t have eyes for Winter though, her eyes were all for Max who was sitting down at the very end. Before Baylee could stop her, Katy leapt up on her chair, stepped onto the table, and made her way down to Max, expertly avoiding each plate and drink along the way.
Max was another member of Free. He, like the others of the Free family, had served in the army. Katerina was born under harsh circumstances, and it made me happy that Katerina and Luke were loved here. Max, in particular, was a favorite of Katerina’s; they shared a special bond from the day that she was born.
Katy’s mother was killed by an ex member of the team that the men of Free had been a part of. Katy’s mom was, what you could call, promiscuous. I only had the pleasure of meeting Leah Water’s once, and that was by pure accident. I’d walked into my brother’s home to water his plants, as I usually did every other day, to find my brother letting Leah out of his apartment from what I’d guessed was a one night stand.
From what Luke had explained to me, it’d been a one-time only thing, and he hadn’t spoken to her again. Nor had he heard from her again. It wasn’t until the police notified him that he had a daughter, and that the mother was killed that Luke was even aware he had a daughter. That Leah had even been pregnant in the first place.
From that day forward, Luke had changed. He’d been extremely grateful to Max though, since he’d visited his daughter every day until he’d been able to come home from Iraq.
Max laughed as Katerina launched herself into his arms.
He caught her expertly, and the smile that overtook my face nearly hurt. I was happy that Katy had so many wonderful people in her life.
“Your daughter is cute.” Sebastian’s rough voice said from in front of me.
My head turned to regard Sebastian, who looked....blank. I would almost call it mad, but his body language didn’t look mad, and he was fine just a second ago.
“Oh, she’s not my daughter. She’s Luke’s daughter.” I smiled at him.
His scowl became ferocious. “Who’s Luke?”
The question was so sudden, so snappish, that I didn’t answer him, confused by the barked question.
Winter laughed. “Luke Roberts, silly. You know, the police officer?”
“You belong to a cop?” Sebastian asked, exhaling slowly.
My brows furrowed at Sebastian’s rough tone. “No...he’s my brother.”
Sebastian’s face changed. One second he was scowling, and the next he was relaxed. “Good.”
My gaze went from Sebastian’s now blank one to Winter’s sly smiling one. “What?” I asked the other woman.
“Nothing. I’m going back to my seat. You have fun up here.” She said cryptically, before squeezing in between the chair and the wall to go back to her seat.
I sat awkwardly for a few moments, wondering what the hell to say after Sebastian’s probing questions, but he rectified my unease by asking me about the menu.
“What are you having?” Sebastian’s deep voice asked.
I looked up at Sebastian, studying his face while he looked at the menu. His eyes didn’t stop reading, but I knew he was aware of my perusal. Which might have been why he was doing it, knowing that he’d freaked me out earlier.
His hat was pulled down low, but I could still see his eyes, and the longer I studied him, the brighter they seemed to get.
When his eyes finally caught mine, he asked, “Well?”
I jolted. “Uhh, I haven’t even looked.”
Looking down, I snatched my own menu from the table, thanked God that I took medication that allowed me to read the menu now, and decided on a burger right in time for the waitress to arrive at my side, wanting to know my order.
The server didn’t even acknowledge me. Her eyes were all for the beautiful specimen of a man that was in front of me. “And what can I get you, miss?”
I suppressed the smile that tried to break free, and ordered a burger.
“What two sides?” She asked.
“Fries and a side salad.” I answered, beginning to get annoyed with the woman’s lack of manners.
“Drink?”
Her eyes were still on Sebastian, who was beginning to look amused at my annoyance with the woman.
Instead of answering, I waited until the rude waitress looked at me before answering. “I would like a sweet tea, please. The little girl down on the end,” I said pointing at Max and Katy. “Would like a corndog platter with a sweet tea.”
She smiled sourly at me before turning her gaze back to Sebastian. “And for you?”
“I’ll have the same as her. Only I don’t want lettuce or mustard.” He answered, not even giving her his eyes. Instead, they stayed on me, and my face started to flush.
Elliott, the comedian of the Free group, laughed.
Elliott was the type of man you would consider the class clown. Despite the humor, he also had one hell of an intensity about him. He came off as the joker, but if you watched his eyes, you could tell that he was also hyperaware of his surroundings. He was the shortest and smallest of the group, but that didn’t mean he was a runt by any means. At 5’11 and two hundred pounds, he reminded me of a runner or a swimmer; even a surfer with his shaggy blonde hair.
“Oh, man,” he wheezed. “You are so fucked.”
My eyes traveled from Sebastian’s amused ones to Elliott’s mirthful ones. What the hell were those two talking about?
“Don’t worry about them, honey. How was work today?” Blaine, Elliott’s wife, asked me.
Blaine was just Blaine. No words could really describe her. She was cute. Like a fairy. She was what I pictured Katy growing up to look like.
She was on the small side; okay, more like the tiny side, since she was about four inches shorter Elliot and skinny as a wisp. Her hair was blonde and styled to perfection, and her cute little floral patterned dress fit her perfectly.
She was also the first one to welcome me into the Free group of women, and I counted Blaine as one of my closest friends.