Total pages in book: 155
Estimated words: 146417 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 732(@200wpm)___ 586(@250wpm)___ 488(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 146417 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 732(@200wpm)___ 586(@250wpm)___ 488(@300wpm)
She needed to remind him or they would both be in a bad position. She pushed up off the table so she could look him in the eyes. “Because you blame me for what happened to your brother. Please don’t forget that. I say it because I know if you forget, it won’t be long before something reminds you and we’re right back to you hating me again.”
He stood where he was, dangerously close to her. “Tell me why you took the Colorado job.”
Her chest felt too tight. It always did when she thought about the time she’d spent in Bliss. It had been a place she’d almost managed to think of as home. “It was Colorado. It’s beautiful. It’s peaceful. I got to spend months and months surrounded by those mountains and those crazy people. It’s the best job I’ve had and all I had to do was watch John Bishop.”
“Tell me why you really took the job.”
She kind of wished she’d taken the pain and stayed in bed. Telling him the truth would likely be far more uncomfortable than her leg had been. “Because you were involved with Ian Taggart, and I knew there was no way you didn’t end up in that town. Because John Bishop was one of Ian’s mentors. Because by then you had gotten involved in the Lost Boys lives, and it was a good bet someone was going to go for The Ranch.”
The Ranch had been a research site funded by some of the darker elements of the CIA. It was a secret site deep in the Sangre de Cristo mountains. It was where Hope McDonald had done much of her early work. The site had been closed down suddenly and without notice, so all the research and data that had been inside had gotten trapped. She’d known the Lost Boys would someday come for that knowledge because they’d been a big part of those experiments.
Beck stared down at her. “You wanted to work your way into my life again?”
“No, asshole. I wanted to make sure you survived.” She started to move off the table. He was so fucking arrogant.
He put his hands on her shoulders. “Hey, I was asking. That’s all.”
He was also forgetting a few very important facts about that time. “I didn’t exactly announce I was there, you know.”
His lips kicked up in the sweetest grin. “No, you made damn sure you were never in the same room with me. I thought River’s friend Heather was a figment of everyone’s imagination. Especially Tucker’s.”
She winced. “He was definitely interested in female companionship. And he wasn’t picky about it at the time. We’re never telling his wife that story.”
Roni was one of the only people in their world who didn’t look at her with suspicion. Roni had made her feel like one of the girls. She would do a lot to avoid hurting Roni Croft-Seeger.
A single brow cocked over his eyes. “Yeah, you’re the one the less picky guys go for.” He studied her for a moment. “You’re still the most gorgeous woman I’ve ever met.”
She rolled her eyes at that. “Yeah, you followed Mia Lawless around for a good six months. I’m sure I’m still the most gorgeous.”
His hand moved to the ponytail at the back of her head and he tugged gently. “I said what I meant, Kimberly.” He seemed to realize what he was doing and let go of her hair, backing off slightly. “I’m sorry. We’re in a dungeon and I’m acting like a Dom.”
Her heart had started racing the minute his voice had taken on the deep timbre she remembered so vividly. “You were always a Dom. I just didn’t know what to call you.”
She’d been all of twenty-two years old when she’d met him, and he’d been twenty-five. So freaking young, and they hadn’t even truly begun to explore their sexuality. She’d thought she would have decades with him, decades to learn with him, grow with him.
She’d barely gotten two years with him from when they started dating to their divorce. It was funny that she’d been divorced from him for far longer than she’d been married, but those precious months were the most important of her life.
“Yeah, I figured that out, too.” He moved so he was leaning on the table next to her, their hips almost touching. “Big Tag pointed out a lot of things to me. The man’s an ass but he’s an observant ass. He might have pointed out how much Mia looks like you. She was a safe version of you to follow around for a while. I didn’t even realize I was doing it at the time. I thought she was pretty and nice, and I had a job to do. She was also madly in love with Case Taggart. I never touched her. We became friendly, but I wouldn’t even say we were friends.”