Total pages in book: 145
Estimated words: 146666 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 733(@200wpm)___ 587(@250wpm)___ 489(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 146666 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 733(@200wpm)___ 587(@250wpm)___ 489(@300wpm)
“That’s very graphic,” she said faintly.
Shit. Reel it in.
To his shock, she smiled up at him. “You’d have missed me?”
Missed her? Of course he would have.
“Yes. And I’m not the only person. You think your brothers wouldn’t miss you? Your friends?”
Something sad entered her gaze.
“Greer? Wouldn’t they have missed you?”
“Of course they would have,” she said with fake brightness. “Now, you said something about a bath.”
“Greer,” he said warningly. “They would have missed you.”
“I know they would have. I know that. Really, I do. It’s just . . . sometimes I feel like I’m always on the outside, looking in, you know?”
That hit him hard.
Because how often had he felt that way around his friends? He knew they all loved him.
But he didn’t have that person. Someone special.
And he wasn’t going to lie.
It fucking hurt.
But what hurt more was that she didn’t have it either. Because he wanted that for her even more than he did for himself.
She deserved all the happiness she could find.
What if you could give that to her?
Fuck. He needed to pull back a bit. And he would. As soon as he handed her over to her brother to protect her.
Resentment and anger stirred inside him.
Damn it. He didn’t want to give her back to Sav.
He held her closer. For the moment, she was his. And he’d do whatever he needed to keep her happy and safe.
Greer held him close.
She could have lost him today. What if that guy had decided to start shooting?
She could feel the panic rising inside her. Damn it. Bring the numbness back. It was better than feeling like this.
“Come on, your bath will be ready.” He drew back and she had to fight the urge to hold on tight to him. “Will you be all right in the bath on your own?”
“I think I can handle it,” she said dryly.
“All right. While you take a bath, I’ll go out and get us some food—oomph.”
She stared down at him in shock. “How did I get up here?”
“Uh, pretty sure you just climbed me.”
“No, I didn’t.”
Had she? Good Lord, what was wrong with her?
“You okay, Ladybug?”
“Yes, of course I am.”
She really, really wasn’t. Had she just climbed the man like a tree?
Again?
This was a bad habit that she needed to break.
“I think I’ll just get down now. I thought I saw a spider.” She winced as she said that, remembering how he’d screamed the other night when he’d seen one. She didn’t want him to get upset. “I mean a mouse! It was definitely a mouse!”
“You saw a mouse? Are you sure? I need to call down to reception.”
“Wait . . . no. It could have just been a ghost or something.”
His eyes widened. “A ghost?”
Sheesh. This was getting worse and worse.
“Umm. Or maybe nothing at all. Maybe it’s just my imagination running wild. Sorry. I’ll get down now.”
She felt strangely reluctant to let go of him. He’d become her safety net. Ready to tackle panic attacks, nightmares, and men with guns.
Her very own superhero.
“You’re looking at me strangely.”
“Um. Yeah. Sorry.”
“Are you going to tell me what’s going on?”
“I’m thinking about it.” She wasn’t entirely sure what was going on herself.
Maybe she was losing her mind. That was the only thing it could be.
Right?
All the anxiety and fear had messed with her brain cells. Otherwise, why would she have blacked out like she had, then climbed him like a dancer’s pole?
“You’re thinking about it?” He didn’t sound particularly pleased about that. “You know you can tell me anything.”
“I don’t think I can tell you everything.”
His gaze narrowed. “Why not?”
“Well, I’m hardly going to tell you when I’ve got period pains or my boobs are sore or that I’ve got a rash in a weird place, right?”
She tried to wriggle free, but he didn’t loosen his hold on her.
“Are you going to let me down?” she asked.
“I’m thinking about it.”
Well, that was rude. Throwing her own words back in her face. She glared at him.
He grinned back at her.
That was even more annoying. Hack was always smiling at her when she got annoyed at him. Like he thought she was cute or something. Then he set her on her feet. “Come on. Bath time.”
Thank goodness for that.
“For future reference, though. You can tell me all of those things. I have no issues dealing with period pains, sore boobs, or rashes . . . no matter where they are.”
Gulp.
Why had she mentioned any of those things? Also . . . maybe he wouldn’t mind looking at that sickle-shaped mole on the back of her leg.
He steered her into the bathroom and turned off the taps before running his hand through the water. As though he was testing the temperature of the water.
Wait . . . he was testing the temperature of the water?
Who was this guy? And how was she ever meant to say goodbye to him?