Total pages in book: 145
Estimated words: 147733 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 739(@200wpm)___ 591(@250wpm)___ 492(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 147733 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 739(@200wpm)___ 591(@250wpm)___ 492(@300wpm)
And I hope Miles finds some peace watching her choke down a giant spoonful of justice.
It’s a blustery night at Bee Harbor with intense waves crashing against the rocks outside.
There aren’t many guests here and tourist season is basically over in Pinnacle Pointe, but I’m staying in the lobby for another half an hour or so just to make sure no one needs anything before I feed the dogs dinner and crash.
I close my social apps and open a few freelance sites.
While I’m waiting, I might as well cold pitch a couple potential marketing clients.
I’m typing a message to the owner of a San Diego based media company when a shadow falls over my laptop.
I put on my best customer service smile and look up.
“Can I help y—Miles?” My breath catches.
My stomach insta-knots.
What does he want?
He’s standing on the other side of my desk, all tallness and manly angles and so Miles it hurts. His scent engulfs me, pine and testosterone wedded in an unholy fusion that strokes my brain like a kitten.
I hope he can’t see me leaning against the edge of the desk. It’s the only thing that keeps me standing.
“Can we talk?” His silver-blue eyes are brighter than ever, twin meteors coming to wreck me again.
Can we? I wonder cynically.
Regardless, I swallow past the rock in my throat.
“Sure. What do you want?”
“I had to thank you for everything, Jenn. You came to my rescue when I damn well didn’t deserve it.” The regret shadowing his eyes cuts me in half.
“Ava Wickes, you mean?”
Of course.
I should’ve known she’d mention me at some point, even if I hoped she wouldn’t.
He nods, his gaze softening. “She said you found her at some resort and convinced her to call me and spill her guts. You accomplished more than a whole team of investigators I threw together. Hell, if you hadn’t found her, this still wouldn’t be resolved. My old man would be spending his last days in a state mental hospital. I owe you the universe, woman.”
You lunk.
You stupid, sweet, bad-for-me man.
I can’t believe you still surprise me.
I shrug, rolling my shoulders so suddenly my bones hurt.
“You don’t owe me anything. It was the right thing to do, regardless of whatever happened with—well, everything.”
“Jenn, you didn’t have to follow her to another town and talk some sense into her. That wasn’t just thoughtful. It saved my ass.”
Glancing down at the desk, I sigh. “Come on. First off, half of it was Pippa’s idea. She was along for the ride. Also, Simone tried to pin made up sexual abuse on your poor father, and after seeing all the bad press and the Twitter tea... It’s safe to say your dad wasn’t the only one she tried to screw over. If a cartoon villain like her ever came after me, I’d hope to have a hero charging in.”
“Then you see why I had to protect you.” His eyes search mine as he leans closer. “Not that it excuses anything. After the shit I barked at you, I’d wear a muzzle for the next ten years and it still wouldn’t make it right.”
I try not to snicker at the mental image that brings.
Stay strong.
Don’t get his hopes up that he’s winning you over because he’s totally not—is he?
“How did you know Wickes was lying, anyway? Even I didn’t know what to think.”
“I had proof. Your parents were here when Wickes claimed she last saw Royal, and I had the records to back it up. I was, um, trying to work up the courage to send them over. But I also wanted a silver bullet first.”
He looks at me silently, his eyes glowing like soft blue stars.
“Gram kept paper records for everything. I didn’t plan on chasing Ava down like I did. It just sort of happened, thank God, and Pippa deserves a huge amount of credit for getting me off my butt and—”
I stop mid-sentence when his finger lands softly on my lips.
My eyebrows go up in question.
“Stop. You don’t owe me an explanation. You’re goddamned amazing enough.”
My heart thuds so loudly it’s deafening.
He’s tall and handsome and too complicated for life, and now he’s complimenting me with a love in his eyes I don’t know what to do with.
But love doesn’t just magically fix everything.
It doesn’t explain anything.
And God help me, I know where this goes.
Jenn, stay strong, a voice pleads at the back of my mind.
“Is that all then?” I force out.
His face falls.
“No. Jenn, pushing you away was the biggest mistake of my life. Worse than missing my father’s calls that night, and I couldn’t control that, no matter how many years I beat myself over it. It isn’t my fault my mother died, and it wasn’t Simone that pushed you away.”
He pauses.
A shaky breath fills my lungs.
“It was me,” he whispers, his voice so raw. “No matter what she pulled, I could always control the way I treated you, and I failed that test miserably. You told me you deserved better. You were right, and you do. I’m sorry as hell it took me this long to realize it, and sorrier I didn’t realize what I had. That’s why you’ve got a talking jackass barging into your work and hounding you. I want to believe this mess drilled some sense into my brain. I want to be the man you deserve.”