Total pages in book: 89
Estimated words: 83598 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 418(@200wpm)___ 334(@250wpm)___ 279(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 83598 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 418(@200wpm)___ 334(@250wpm)___ 279(@300wpm)
Garrett smiled at me with that wicked grin that was unfair to the female population, and then he held up a key. “You will need this,” he said, walking toward me.
I looked at the key and him, then opened my palm for him to drop it in. “What is it?” I asked.
“The new key to your camper. The lock you had was pointless. Anyone could have gotten inside. It’s been replaced with the best locks that can be put on that thing. Gypsi was given her new key when she was picked up this afternoon from work.”
He had changed my lock! Now it was locks! More than one? When?!
“You can’t just go change the lock to someone’s home!” I told him angrily.
Garrett’s smile seemed to deepen. “Yes, I can, and I did.”
God, this man! He made me furious.
“It’s illegal,” I said through clenched teeth. “I could call the cops.”
He chuckled then, as if I were some amusing child. “Please, do that. Tell Harold I said hello. The chief of police has his job because I put him there.”
My hand tightened around the key that I wanted to throw at him, but knew I wouldn’t be able to get into my camper if I did. “You had no right to go to my camper, break in, and change the lock. What is wrong with you? Why would you do that?”
Garrett closed the distance between us, his face no longer smiling, but intense. “Do you want someone to break in on you and your daughter while you are asleep? Because I fucking don’t,” he said with a fierceness in his tone.
I swallowed and stared up at him. “We’ve lived in that camper for seventeen years. No one has ever broken in on us.”
He ran his knuckles against my cheek. “That was luck. I don’t trust luck to keep you safe.”
My heart started hammering in my chest so hard that I was sure he could hear it. How had I gone from being furious to being excited by his touch within moments? Where was my backbone? Melted on the floor by my feet—that was where.
When his hand left my face, I instantly missed his touch. Garrett turned and walked over to the couch and sat down before lighting his cigar. I watched him as I stood, unmoving from my current spot. His gray eyes met mine, and I was suddenly fantasizing about throwing myself into his lap.
“You’re off work tomorrow,” he said. “I want to take you somewhere.”
I stared at him. Was he asking me out? He hadn’t said it was a date. Just that he wanted to take me somewhere. I should say, No thank you, and go get his drink.
Instead, I opened my mouth and asked, “Where?”
My response pleased him. It was clear in the way his eyes shone and the grin that spread across his face.
“I’m buying an island. I’d like a woman’s opinion on the house that’s already there. I’m unsure if I should keep it or have it torn down and build something else.”
A laugh bubbled out of me. For so few words, he’d said several funny things. For starters, he was buying an island.
“What’s so funny?” he asked, still smiling.
I shrugged. “Oh, I don’t know. Maybe that you are buying an island. I didn’t know people could do that. Then, there is the fact that you want my opinion on a house when I live in a camper. Don’t you know plenty of women in your world who would be better at giving you an opinion?”
He took the cigar from between his teeth as he leaned back and continued to look at me. “I own two other islands already. Yes, I know women, but none who I want to spend the day with, nor do I care about their opinion.”
I placed a hand on my hip as I stared at him. “But you care about my opinion? You realize any house is going to look good to me? I seriously doubt I will be telling you to tear it down and rebuild.”
Garrett raised his eyebrows slightly. “What if it’s a falling-down shack?”
Then, I was grinning. I was enjoying this conversation. I was enjoying his company.
“Is it?” I asked.
Surely, he already knew if he was buying the island.
“No,” he replied with a smirk.
I laughed again.
“I like hearing you laugh,” he said, his expression turning more serious. “Come with me tomorrow.”
I wanted to go. I shouldn’t go, but I wanted to. “How far is it? Is there a bridge? Can we drive?”
“We could drive and take a boat from the mainland, since it’s only two and a half hours away, but we will take my helicopter.”
His helicopter. He owned a helicopter. I’d never been in a helicopter. I’d never flown at all. The crave for adventure was clawing at me. A ride in a helicopter, a private island that he was going to buy—it sounded exciting. Unreal and like something I would never get an opportunity to do again.