Total pages in book: 141
Estimated words: 142783 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 714(@200wpm)___ 571(@250wpm)___ 476(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 142783 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 714(@200wpm)___ 571(@250wpm)___ 476(@300wpm)
“You, too.” I had to force the words out around the lump in my throat.
He tugged the woman who’d sat next to him up to his side.
She was stunning, curvy with a black bob that touched her shoulders. She wore a fitted sweater dress that went all the way to her ankles, a slit up to the knee on the side.
Jud slipped his hand around to her waist, his other going to the tiny bump that barely showed on her belly. “Aster, this is my wife, Salem.”
She stepped forward and shook my hand like we were going to be the best of friends. “It’s really great to meet you.”
She gently smacked Logan’s chest. “Tell me what you’re doing with this guy?”
“Hey, now, hey. Is that any way to treat your favorite brother-in-law? So rude. And here I thought you loved me.”
Laughing, she curled her arm around his waist. “You’re lucky I do, that’s for sure.”
Her smile was playful when she shifted her attention to me. “This one, I tell you, you have to watch out for him.”
“Oh dear Salem, what is this nonsense you say? We all know there’s no looking away from me.” Logan gestured at himself, all tease and arrogance.
The undercurrent of the vapid grin he sent me knocked my knees again, one that promised he was right there, that he wasn’t looking away from me, either, that he knew this was difficult, but he was asking me to do it with him, anyway.
The why was what I didn’t get.
Why not just hide me away for thirty days? But the newfound glint that speared me from that gaze made me wonder if he were contemplating how much it might cost to keep me.
“Ah, here come our superstars.” He gestured toward the side of the stage.
Trent’s wife, Eden, all but floated our direction. She held Juniper and Gage’s hands.
“Holy cow, that was amazing!” Logan shouted as they let go of Eden and came bounding our way. “Like, seriously epic. I see Tonys in our future. Broadway, baby.”
Logan shook his arms in the air like he was catching a dream.
“Right, Uncle, right? I was the best drummer in the whole wide world, right?” Gage bounded across the floor, words flooding from his mouth the entire way.
“Heck, yes.” Logan swept him into his arms. “Seriously, so good. Or maybe it’s a rockstar I see in our future. Those were some wicked drum skills.”
“Wicked?” The little boy scrunched his nose.
My fingers tingled while my feet itched.
Trent grunted again. “Keep it up, man, keep it up.”
“Prepare yourself.” Logan grinned. “This one right here has entertainment in his blood. I can feel it, and you know I’m never wrong.”
Trent rolled his eyes. “Never.”
The little girl was right behind. She went for Jud, and he tossed her into the air then caught her. “There’s my angel.”
She beamed at him when he hooked her to his side. “What’d you thinks, Motorcycle Dad? Do you thinks I’m gonna go to Russia and do all the dances in the ballet?”
“Absolutely, Little Bee,” he promised, pressing a kiss to her chubby cheek.
My head spun, my spirit abuzz as if I was tossed headfirst into the chaos of this close family.
Floundering through the fullness of it.
“Who’s that?” Gage smiled at me with a tilt of his head.
“You’re looking at one of my oldest friends, Gage. Her name is Aster.” Logan watched me with something I couldn’t decipher.
Energy lapped between us.
A tiny thread that weaved and grew.
If I wasn’t careful, it’d become more powerful than the two of us.
This pull I needed to ignore.
If I were smart, I’d run up the aisle and disappear forever because I’d bitten off more than I’d bargained for.
Logan was already too much.
Toss the rest of his family into the mix?
I gulped and tried to pin on a smile when Logan’s sweet niece piped in, “Oh, friends are the bestest and the most important in all the whole world except for the families. Is she your favorite friend, Uncle Logan?”
“She used to be. I keep wondering if there’s a chance she might be again.”
Redness flashed, climbed my chest and my cheeks.
This was bad.
So bad.
“Well, you look like a really good kind of friend to me, Miss Aster,” Gage cut in. “Like the kind you get to marry when you get older and you love forever and ever. Just like I love Juni Bee to the highest mountain and I’m gonna marry her when I get big.”
“But no kissin’. Blech.” The little girl’s nose curled in disgust.
A rustle of laughter moved through the adults.
Logan set Gage onto his feet and ruffled his hand through his hair. “Sorry to break it to you, Gage, man, but Juni here is now your cousin since her mom married your uncle Jud. You’re going to have to pick a new wife.”
“No way, nuh-uh, not a chance.” Juni furiously shook her head.