Total pages in book: 139
Estimated words: 132892 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 664(@200wpm)___ 532(@250wpm)___ 443(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 132892 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 664(@200wpm)___ 532(@250wpm)___ 443(@300wpm)
“Not bad,” I said, smiling at him. “You should get a damned good tip for that kind of service.”
Gage grinned back. “I’ll be sure to bring the tip jar next time.”
Catching me, he rolled to his side, tucking me into the crook of his arm. The sky had darkened, the sun very low now. The grade of the hill wasn’t too steep to be comfortable, but it was definitely steep enough that we didn’t have to sit up to watch the sunset.
“Wow, the smoke from the wildfires makes for a hell of a sunset,” he said.
“No kidding,” I replied, noticing those tiny white flakes again. I watched as one fell on his glistening chest, reaching over to touch it. It smudged, leaving a gray streak.
“Ash,” Gage said. “From the fires.”
I sighed, thinking of Randi’s grandparents. I’d grown up with wildfires—you can’t be surrounded by this much national forest without seeing them—but this year was worse than anything I’d ever experienced. I snuggled into him, relaxed and, for once, not stressed out about anything.
Okay, so maybe this wasn’t such a bad idea, my common sense murmured. Just don’t get cocky and do something stupid, like fall for him.
Gage kissed the top of my head, one hand rubbing up and down my back in soothing strokes as we watched the sun set. The orange lingered on the hills longer than normal, and then it hit me.
That lingering orange wasn’t from the sun.
Those were fires.
Big fucking fires.
“You see that?” Gage whispered, and I nodded against his arm. “Fuckin’ unreal.”
Indeed.
“Randi—my shop girl—her grandparents are evacuating,” I told him. “I’ve never seen it this bad before.”
“It’s all still up in the hills,” he reminded me. “I know it’s big, but it’s a long way from town. We should be okay.”
“I hope so.”
• • •
“Next time we do something like that, I need to bring sunscreen,” I said, shifting uncomfortably in the booth. Gage had taken me to Jack’s Roadhouse for dinner. I ordered a burger and fries, because if he couldn’t handle women eating for real in front of him, then we’d have a problem.
“Why’s that?” he asked.
“Think I burned my boobs up on the mountain,” I admitted, giggling. I had a nice buzz going and was feeling way more relaxed than I probably should’ve . . . but really, what was he going to do to me? We’d already had sex, and it wasn’t like I was holding out for a proposal.
Gage snorted, then started coughing because I’d caught him mid-drink. That set me off, and he pretended to glare at me. It would’ve been terrifying, too, if he’d managed to keep a straight face.
“So, I wanted to ask you something,” he said.
“What’s that?” I asked.
“You wanna ride out to the clubhouse after this, meet some of my brothers?”
I frowned, unsure of what to say. “We’ve had a fun night, but I think—”
“You’ve got a lot of fucking nerve!” a woman shouted across the bar, and I looked up to see Talia Jackson powering toward us, and she looked pissed.
“Fuck,” Gage muttered. “Let me handle this, okay? Don’t listen to her.”
I watched as Talia pushed her way through the bar, bearing down on us like an enraged harpy. I had a mental image of her with dirty, ratty wings and fire sparking out of her eyes, setting off a very inappropriate round of giggles. In that instant, Talia’s eyes met mine, and the giggles dissolved—she wanted me dead, that was clear. It was written all over her face. Remembering her big knife, I swallowed as my buzz disappeared.
It’s all fun and games until someone hacks you with a machete.
“You’re a fucking whore,” Talia hissed as she reached the table and lunged for me. In an instant Gage was between us. He swung her up and over his shoulder, making for the door as she started screaming. “He’s a liar! He’ll use you and throw you away, but not before he’s pimped you out to all his friends, Tinker Garrett! That’s what they do! He’ll use your business as a front for running drugs, and when you get caught he’ll laugh while you go to jail! The Reapers are a bunch of fucking cowards and—”
Gage pushed through the door, and while I could still hear her screeching, the words were garbled. Blinking slowly, I looked around the bar to find half the town staring at me. Then Daisy Wasserman slid into the booth across from me, reaching over to catch my hand, giving it a squeeze.
“You okay, Tinker?” she asked, her face worried. I frowned, trying to decide if I was or not.
“I’m not sure,” I admitted. “Did that just happen? Like, for real? Who does that?”
Daisy sighed. “Yeah, that was definitely for real. Talia Jackson has to be the trashiest woman I’ve ever met. Why she and her brother had to pick our little town, I’ll never understand. Things were so much better before they got here. You’re shaking.”