Total pages in book: 121
Estimated words: 113319 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 567(@200wpm)___ 453(@250wpm)___ 378(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 113319 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 567(@200wpm)___ 453(@250wpm)___ 378(@300wpm)
“Diana, this is my boyfriend, Austin. Or life partner. Whatever. The guy I’m living with.”
“Pleasure.” Austin stepped forward with his hand out.
Diana’s eyes lit up, but a moment later her face drained of enthusiasm. Her posture bowed and body mechanics turned mousy, as though she sensed a predator and was now a flight risk. Austin could immediately see why she hadn’t been chosen by Ivy House.
“H-hi.” She gently took his hand, her grip lax, and pulled away quickly. Tucking a strand of hair behind her ear, she averted her gaze.
“So what have you been up to?” Jess asked, pulling out a chair and then looking around. “Wait, we’ll go grab some coffees. Do you need a refill?”
“I’ll do that.” Austin kissed Jess’s temple. “What are you having?”
“Oh. Uh.” She glanced at the counter. “A cappuccino. This place does great cappuccinos. I should get one to go for Mr. Tom.”
He nodded, sighting in on Diana, who’d been looking up at him from under her lashes.
“Diana?” he asked, his touch on the small of Jess’s back to establish his claim. It was probably overkill in a place like this, but it was ingrained behavior. Not to mention that he had an uncontrollable urge to always touch her after almost losing her. He had to be sure she was real and this wasn’t some lucid fever dream while he endlessly waited by her side, pleading for her to return to him.
“Just, um…just a black coffee, please. It’s my fourth cup.”
“How long have you been here? I thought we said we’d meet at ten?” Jess asked.
“We did. I just needed to get out of the house. The kids are driving me nuts.”
Austin nodded and slid his hand from Jess, letting the ladies talk.
People cleared out of his way as he walked through the place. He wasn’t the only muscular guy in the coffee shop—nearly everyone seemed in great shape—but the other patrons still gave him a wide berth as he joined the back of the line.
The guy in front of him glanced back, physically fit and half his age. His eyes widened before his gaze snapped downward.
“Excuse me,” the guy said, slinking out of the way, clutching his phone.
The woman in front of him, about the same age and dressed in a strange, colorful outfit that somehow worked, glanced back as Austin took the other guy’s place in line. Her eyes widened and a small grin played around her lips. Her gaze dipped down his body.
“Hey,” she said softly.
He didn’t respond, hitting her with a no-nonsense, blank stare.
Her smile slipped a bit, but hunger grew in her eyes. She half turned, giving him more attention in a way that sent warning shivers racing through his body. If she did something stupid, like touch him or push in too close, it would set off Jess’s beast. Jess had great control, better than any alpha shifter and certainly better than him, but it wouldn’t do to use any kind of magic in the Dick world.
“I have a fiancée,” he said in a low growl, increasing the menace in his gaze and posture. His magic pulsed out, hot and dangerous. People around him tensed, those in line ahead of him glancing back, their backs bowing.
The woman put her hands up in surrender, her smile dimming, but her eyes still sparkled with desire. She clearly liked dangerous men.
“Can I help you?” the woman at the counter called to him, looking through or over everyone ahead of him. She waved everyone else out of the way, clearing a path for him to step up next. The patrons in line complied immediately.
Jessie
“Okay, real quick— Holy cow, Jacinta!” Diana put her elbow on the table and cupped her hand over her widened eyes. “Talk about a complete one-eighty in men. You went from posh and proper Matt to Mr. Rugged Growly Guy.”
I glanced back at the counter where Austin was strutting through the line and up to the counter like it was his birthright. Surprisingly, no one questioned him or griped. Everyone kinda just bowed out of his way and waited for him to be done.
You could take the alpha out of his territory, but you couldn’t take the alpha out of the man.
I grinned like an idiot. “Yeah. But he’s really sweet, actually. He’s honestly a big softie.”
Diana watched him place an order. She shook herself out of studying him, took a deep breath, and smiled at me.
“Tell me everything,” she said. “It’s been so long since I’ve seen your face! Talking on the phone is not enough. How is Great-Uncle Earl?”
“Is he really your great-uncle?” I asked, forgetting that she’d called Mr. Tom that before I met him.
She furrowed her brow. “He’s related to Aunt Peggy in some way.”
“And Aunt Peggy…is not magical?”
“What?” Diana asked, the sort of confused reaction you get when you’ve said something completely outlandish and the other person is hoping they’ve misheard.