Total pages in book: 75
Estimated words: 71275 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 356(@200wpm)___ 285(@250wpm)___ 238(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 71275 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 356(@200wpm)___ 285(@250wpm)___ 238(@300wpm)
“KING!” she squealed loudly, then rushed toward him.
His hand left my back just in time for him to catch her as she wrapped her arms around him. I stared at their bodies embracing. He was touching her, yet I wasn’t supposed to touch Sebastian. Maybe she was another relative.
“Scotlin,” he replied, but his smile appeared forced.
“It’s been a year. That should be illegal. We’ve never gone that long without seeing each other,” she replied and then inhaled his shirt before tilting her head back to gaze up at him.
A relative wouldn’t have just sniffed him. Not like that.
“You’re finally here,” Sebastian drawled as he entered the now-crowded hallway. “We need to go.”
The woman patted King’s cheek. “It’s been too long since we worked together. This is gonna be fun.”
Sebastian flashed me a sympathetic smile as I tried to figure this all out.
“Yeah,” King replied, disentangling himself from her limbs that seemed to cling to him everywhere. “We need to head out.”
I watched as he turned his back on the other woman and gave me his full attention.
“I’ll see you tonight,” he said.
I nodded. It wasn’t like I could ask who she was since he wasn’t introducing me. That was a red flag. A big, huge one. But then I had made the rules and drawn lines for a reason. I didn’t trust King. We were not in a relationship. Which was why I shouldn’t have agreed to not touch Sebastian. I hadn’t been planning on it, of course, but that wasn’t the point.
He reached up and cupped my face. “Stay here today. Enjoy the library.”
Again, I just nodded.
“I’m riding with you. Sebastian can take my car,” the woman stated, once again wrapping her arms around a part of King. This time, it was his arm, and then she tugged him.
He ignored her as he waited for me to say something.
“Okay,” I replied, dropping my eyes to the ground. I didn’t want to look at him or whoever the woman was pulling on him.
“Call me if you need anything,” he urged.
“Oh my God, King. She has Maeme,” the woman said, sounding exasperated.
King swung his eyes to her. “Stay the fuck out of this.”
To my shock, she didn’t even appear bothered. Instead, she grinned provocatively, then hissed at him before turning and strutting toward the front door.
“Go on now,” Maeme said firmly.
King’s gaze flickered over to his grandmother, then back to me.
Not even able to force a smile, I stepped away from him, then headed in Maeme’s direction. When I reached her, she put an arm around me and walked me into the kitchen. Not looking back was hard, but I managed it. Mostly because I didn’t want Maeme to catch me.
The stack of waffles didn’t distract me from the swirl of jealousy, insecurity, and hurt that only King seemed to inspire.
“Her name is Scotlin May. She was literally the girl next door for King, growing up. Her family isn’t a part of us, but we work together. Her father is a state representative and will eventually be governor because of the pull we have. That’s all I can share without it being gossip. But that frown on your pretty face, let that go. Scotlin has no hold on King. He has a soft spot for her because of their past, but nothing more. Doesn’t seem to keep her from trying though. Never has.”
Nothing she had just said made me feel any better. Quite possibly, I felt worse. “She’s … Jefferson May’s daughter?”
Everyone in Georgia knew he was running for governor in the next election. He pushed family values and religion, and the South loved him.
“Yes. And it will benefit us particularly to have the new governor in our pocket. We have some control over our current one, but not to the extent the family wields over the governors of Florida, Alabama, Mississippi, and Tennessee. We need that kind of power here too.”
And so Scotlin May was important to them. I didn’t like it. I was pretty sure I hated it. First, there were the women who looked like porn stars and let King whip them in the tack room. Now, I had to deal with someone like Scotlin May in his life.
“Come eat,” she said, making her way to the island, where the food was spread out like a buffet.
Not having an appetite wasn’t going to be a good enough excuse for Maeme. I had to make myself eat. My thoughts went to Scotlin May’s tall, thin body. She looked lost here, as if she were supposed to be on a runway somewhere in Paris but took a wrong turn and ended up in Madison. I bet she didn’t eat waffles. Hill would call me fat, if he were alive. I hadn’t weighed myself since arriving here because it had been a prison I wanted to escape. The power he held over me. The way it mocked me if I ate something I shouldn’t have. Hill would beat me. Curse at me about being lazy and not taking care of my body. He had wanted a wife who looked like Scotlin May.