Total pages in book: 115
Estimated words: 106948 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 535(@200wpm)___ 428(@250wpm)___ 356(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 106948 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 535(@200wpm)___ 428(@250wpm)___ 356(@300wpm)
“Must be an important job if you can afford a Rolls.”
He shrugged. “What about you, Miss Hannah with no last name? What is it you do?”
“It’s Hannah Barnes. You mean what do I do aside from working at a diner?”
“Yes.”
Taking a seat on the edge of the bed, I tilted my head and looked up at him, admiring the way the light brought out the strands of gold among the brown of his tied-back hair. With the scruff and muscles, he had a “Dangerous Viking Marauder in a thousand dollar suit” air about him.
For a moment, I entertained the fantasy that he was interested in me as a woman, instead of some girl he was making small talk with while we waited for the doctor.
“I’m going to ASU.”
He nodded as if he expected me to say that. “Let me guess what you’re studying…childhood education.”
I blinked at him, totally thrown for a loop. “Oh my gosh, how did you know that?”
His grin was playful, and absolutely devastating to my panties. “Lucky guess.”
A knock came from the door and it swung inward, revealing a very pretty woman around Leo’s age, maybe a little older, in a lab coat. She had her dark hair pulled back into a bun and wore these really cool cat-eye glasses. Tattoos peeked out on her wrists from the edge of her jacket and heavy black liner highlighted her big green eyes.
The way she smiled at Leo was openly affectionate and I let out an inner sigh. Of course he had a girlfriend. He was a hot-as-ballz rich guy, even if he was a bit scary. And of course she’d be uber beautiful and cool in a way I could never hope to be.
“Hello,” the woman said in a honeyed voice. “I’m Dr. Gardener. It’s nice to meet you, Hannah. I hear you’ve been burned.”
The flirty looks she kept giving Leo irritated me and I called myself a moron for reacting like a jealous shrew. Pulling myself together, I gestured to my arm, then Leo. “Hi, Dr. Gardner. Yeah, I accidentally spilled hot coffee on both of us. Check out Leo’s hand first, I think his is worse than mine.”
“Leo?” the woman asked with raised brows as she looked over at the man in question. “You mean Mr. Brass?”
Moving to my side, he placed a hand on my shoulder. “Hannah has permission to call me Leo. Her needs come first. Take care of her, and I’ll wait.”
Confusion followed by hurt flashed through Dr. Gardener’s eyes, but she forced a smile. “Of course. Well then, let’s take a look at your burn.”
Less than ten minutes later, my arm was covered with a blissfully numbing salve and lightly wrapped in a clean white bandage. I’d been given some painkillers and they must have been stronger than I thought, because I was having a hard time keeping my eyes open. My muscles were loose, relaxed, and when someone said my name, I could barely keep my eyes open.
“Hannah,” the vaguely familiar man said again. “Lay back, sweetheart.”
“Tired,” I mumbled as I frowned with my eyes closed.
“You’ve had a long night. Go to sleep. I’ll watch over you.”
“M’kay.”
In my dream, I was listening to two men talking in a Victorian house, their voices distant but compelling. Dressed like a 19th century lady in a green and black taffeta gown, I walked down the long corridors of the manor, following the baritone sounds of their conversation. Soon I came to an ornate, closed door and I paused. The men were on the other side and I could almost hear them, so I sank to my knees, the fabric of my dress rustling loudly around me, and pressed my ear to the keyhole.
The voices were still faint, going in and out, but I managed to hear them speak.
“She’s young,” a man said in a low voice with a very faint Hispanic accent.
“Yes, she is.”
“And very innocent.”
“I’m aware.”
“She reminds me of someone…”
“Audrey Hepburn.”
“Yeah, that’s it…those big brown eyes and pretty lips. I didn’t know you were attracted to such elegant women. She’s for sure not your usual porn star partner. Why Hannah? Of all the women in this world, all the women you’ve had, what is it about this one that makes her ‘the one’?”
“Those women were toys, nothing more, nothing less. They never meant anything to me besides a body to play with.”
The stranger let out a low whistle. “That’s cold.”
“It’s the truth.”
“But why this girl?”
“Because she’s mine. She’s my destiny.”
“You really think that?”
“I know it, feel it in my balls and my gut.”
“My mother approves of her, by the way.”
The man with the smooth baritone voice snorted. “Of course she does. If Judith didn’t care for Hannah, she’d already be on a plane to Germany with a one-way ticket—or worse.”
“This’s true.”
“What has Judith said about her?”