Total pages in book: 115
Estimated words: 109608 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 548(@200wpm)___ 438(@250wpm)___ 365(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 109608 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 548(@200wpm)___ 438(@250wpm)___ 365(@300wpm)
The devastation of my past decisions drops to the pit of my stomach. “Worse.”
I see the wreckage of realization entering his warm eyes and turning them cold. “Don’t tell me you’re married.”
“Engaged.”
“Engaged.” He grins. “We can handle that.”
Carter walks up the stairs and then calls back. “Come on, darling,” he says, laying the love stuff on thick. “Let the man do his job.” I hate him.
With my eyes never leaving Loch, I beg. “I’m so sorry. I’ll clear this up as soon as we’re on the plane.” As much as I want to kiss him, to hug him like I always do, I turn to the plane, still uncertain of Carter’s intentions. I know they’re bad, but what he’s capable of is still an outlier.
Loch catches my hand and kisses it. “Not if it will jeopardize the trip.”
“I can’t promise that it won’t. I don’t know what kind of pact I’ve made with him, but it’s ending very soon.”
Loch’s gaze reaches the early dawn, and he stares into the sunrise in the distance before he turns back to me and winks. “This should be fun.”
36
Loch
This is fun.
This Carter guy is oblivious to who I am. As much as it’s tempting to flip into caveman mode and claim Tuesday as mine, it’ll be fun to fuck with him.
Am I her friend?
A guy she’s dating?
Work for the airline?
He has no fucking clue, and it’s glorious to be in the power position.
I’ve encountered plenty of assholes who think they’re smarter and better than I am—from prosecutors to random guys scared to lose their girlfriends when I’m around. I’m not blind. I know I’m an attractive man. Fuck, look at Tuesday. The woman is drop-dead gorgeous, and she looks at me like she’s the lucky one.
How does that make sense in any universe?
She doesn’t see herself clearly, but I do. She’s so much more than a pretty face. She’s sweet to the point that people will try to take advantage of her. Trusting when she probably shouldn’t be after all she’s been through. Smart. So fucking smart that I know whatever she sets her mind to, she’ll achieve. And whether I deserve it or not, she’s loving. Openheartedly, she loves me without conditions, taking care of me when she’d have every right to be selfish, considering what’s going on in her life right now.
Inside and out, the woman is nothing less than spectacular. And I’m the lucky bastard who gets to be with her.
So the last thing that’s going to happen is this jerk-off taking her from me. Fine, I went a little caveman. Staring me down like he can intimidate me is a joke. If he keeps it up, his ego will get his ass kicked. I take another drink of orange juice and glare at him.
Tuesday comes down the short aisle of the jet wearing pajama pants, a T-shirt, and a baggie hoodie. She makes it hard to take my eyes off her even when she buries her body under layers of clothes.
As cute as she looks, there’s a reason I’ve never given her pajamas. Naked is my preference for her when she’s in bed with me. Funny that I didn’t even notice what she wore when she hopped out of the SUV. I only saw that beautiful mouth of hers smiling for me.
An hour after our reunion, she drops into the seat next to me after sitting with Allison since we took off. I’m happy to have her back. “How are we playing this situation?” I ask, stealing a glimpse of her eyes.
“Truthfully, I’m not sure how I should be playing it. What do you think?”
“Is he useful for knowledge?”
She bends her knees and wraps her arms around her legs, resolve forcing a sigh from her. “I’m afraid so. After chatting with Allison, he has information that I need.”
“Like?”
Leaning closer, she looks around to see if we have privacy. Allison is still in the backseat with her legs spread across another while Carter has been keeping his head down for the most part, except for the occasional staring contest he has with me. “You ready for this?”
“If it’s about you having sex with anyone else, I’m not.”
“It’s about him having sex with someone else . . . on our wedding day.”
My gaze shoots up to look at the fucker. “He did not fuck another girl on your wedding day.”
She shrugs. “He did.”
“I should go thank him for fucking up the best thing he ever had.”
Laughing, she elbows me. “You’re ridiculous, you know that?”
I nudge her gently right back. “I actually do know that.”
She goes on to say, “I left him at the altar, so that was his karma. But there’s more to the story. ”
My gaze shoots to her, not giving a damn if he sees me staring at her anymore. She’s worth it. “Whoa. Back up. You left him at the altar?”