Total pages in book: 117
Estimated words: 110694 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 553(@200wpm)___ 443(@250wpm)___ 369(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 110694 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 553(@200wpm)___ 443(@250wpm)___ 369(@300wpm)
Fourteen
Linc
The only reason Branwen hadn’t lit into me yet, the way her eyes said she wanted to, was because of Stevie’s excitement. Even buckled into her car seat, she seemed to be bouncing as she kept pointing at things inside the Bentley limo that I never used. However, today, it’d seemed like the more comfortable option for Stevie. I’d made sure it was stocked with drinks and snacks for both of them, not that Branwen seemed to care. She was too busy shooting me scathing looks.
It had started at breakfast when I told Stevie I’d get her the toys she wanted. I didn’t see the problem with it. My daughter’s favorite toy was not going to be something another man had given her. Branwen could get the fuck over it. And when we stepped outside and the limo was waiting, her comment about my truck being able to hold more stuff was said with annoyance. Then, she said she would be driving her car because she needed to return it to Hudson since he had bought it for her.
The flare of temper in those eyes of hers had made me almost laugh when I told her that I’d already sent her car that way. I’d read in her background check where the car was in the fucker’s name, and I didn’t want it here. She wasn’t driving my kid around in a car bought by another man. She wouldn’t be driving at all. She would be driven and have security detail when she and Stevie left the house. My sending the cheap, ugly-ass car back without her consent had ruffled her feathers.
She sure as hell was enjoying her cold bottle of bubbly and leg room right now though. At that thought, my eyes drifted down to her legs, and I wished like fuck they hadn’t. It wasn’t the first time I had checked them out because, well, they were right there…crossed and bare. Her toenails were painted the same red color as her fingernails. The dainty gold anklet looked like it had tiny diamonds in it.
Had the dentist given that to her? She didn’t wear much jewelry. Other than the ring on her finger, that was the only other piece I’d seen on her.
I realized my teeth were clenched, and I tore my eyes off the damn thing and her legs to stare out the window. The show that Stevie loved so much was playing on the television screens so she could see the blue dog in all directions. Otherwise, the vehicle was silent.
I tried to think of something to distract me, but the need to know who had given her the fucking anklet was gnawing at me. What did it matter? Our marriage wasn’t a real one. Legally, yes, but that was it. She didn’t belong to me. Unlike our daughter, she wasn’t mine. My damn possessive streak, which had woken up the instant I knew I had a daughter, seemed to be spilling over onto the mother as well. I had to get a rein on that. This was day one of three hundred sixty-five that she would be sleeping in my house. Down the hall from me.
If I was completely honest with myself, I loathed the fact that she was going to see the dentist today. I wanted to snatch her away from him, just like I was going to do with my daughter. But if the man had any pride, he’d break things off when he found out she was married and would be living with me for the next year. There could be no wedding in a few months. With that thought, I relaxed my jaw, then turned my attention to the television that Stevie was watching.
The blue dog and a tan-colored one were climbing all over the larger blue dog. After a few moments of trying to follow what the fuck was going on, I glanced over at Branwen, who was looking down at her phone.
“Do the parents have a job on this show?” I asked her.
She glanced up at me, and for the first time since breakfast, the corner of her full mouth curled up slightly. “Yes. The dad is an archaeologist, and the mom, I believe, is airport security,” she replied with a touch of amusement in her voice.
“They seem to have an awful lot of free time.”
A small laugh trickled from those lips, and my eyes gave in and dropped to look at them. They were covered in a shiny pink gloss that made their natural pouty form a temptation. A memory of seeing them wrapped around my cock appeared, and I had to hold in a hiss as I swung my gaze back to the television in hopes that the talking dogs could distract me enough to stop the thickening inside my jeans. Getting a fucking boner with my kid in the car wasn’t acceptable.