Total pages in book: 73
Estimated words: 69777 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 349(@200wpm)___ 279(@250wpm)___ 233(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 69777 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 349(@200wpm)___ 279(@250wpm)___ 233(@300wpm)
“You do, huh?” she replied, and her tone went serious. “Are things good there?”
“Yes. Possibly perfect. There is so much; I can’t even begin to tell you it all. You wouldn’t have time.”
She was silent for a moment.
“You’re safe? That’s been handled?”
“Yes, all of it.”
“What about the identity you needed? Did it ever get to you?”
I smiled, leaning back in the chair. “Yes, but I no longer need it. Storm magically fixed that too. It’s part of the long story.”
“I’m gonna need to hear all about this long story. Since you’re safe, what about a trip down here? You can perform at the concert, stay with me, and we can catch up. The boys would love to see you onstage again.”
I knew I’d have to talk Storm into this, and I didn’t expect it to be easy. However, he wasn’t going to control me. We had gone over that. But I also knew he manipulated things. Working around that without him knowing would be hard.
“I would love to. But I need to make sure it’s possible first.”
“Do you have to ask Storm for permission? Because if that’s the case, I’m coming north. The Briar I know doesn’t ask a man shit.”
A heaviness sat in my chest. Was I changing? I didn’t like to think I was, but I was different with Storm. I gave him power where I had never done that before.
“No, that’s not it. Not exactly.” It was a partial lie. But there was Dovie to think about. She might not want to go on a trip, and I wasn’t going without her. I didn’t want to go without Storm either.
“All right,” she said, not sounding convinced. “Go get your phone checked. See why my texts aren’t coming through.”
“Yeah, okay,” I agreed.
“Talk soon,” she told me.
“Okay, bye.”
I ended the call and pulled my texts back up. Had I accidentally muted her texts? Could you do that? But if they were muted, they’d still come through, right? I wasn’t tech-savy enough to figure this out. I’d take it to an Apple store and have them look at it.
My phone rang again, and Storm’s name lit up the screen.
“Hey,” I replied with that giddy feeling in my stomach that only he caused.
“Hey, baby. What are you doing?” he asked.
“Well, I was going to go ride Noor, but I think I need to go get my phone checked out. Where is the closest Apple store?”
There was a pause, and then he cleared his throat. “What’s wrong with your phone?”
“I just talked to Pepper, and she called because I wasn’t answering her texts. She said she sent two, and I didn’t get either of them. It happened once before with her too. But it seems it’s only with her. Could I have pressed something on accident to make the phone block her texts?”
I heard a car door slam on his end of the line.
“I’ll check it out. No need to run off to Atlanta. Come on over here. I’m just getting back to the stables. I’ll get Noor saddled up for you. We’ll go for a ride together.”
Liking that idea much better, I smiled and stood up. “Okay, be there in a few.”
“Drive careful,” he told me.
“Always,” I replied as that warm, bubbly feeling I got when I was going to see him set in.
Once we hung up, I remembered what Pepper had said, and my smile fell. I hated questioning myself. I didn’t want to think that I was changing for Storm. I didn’t want to lose myself. But I’d also never been this happy. Was this what being in love was like?
I slid my phone back into my pocket and headed for the garage door. I’d ask him if he wanted to go with me to Miami. See how that went. There was no reason for me to overanalyze this. Things were really good with us now.
I walked through the stables, looking for Storm. Noor was ready, like he’d said she would be, but he wasn’t with her or Poseidon. I checked both tack rooms and then headed for the room where they’d had the topless party they called a race party. Stepping inside, I looked around, and when my eyes fell on Lula Mae sitting in one of the overstuffed chairs with a bottle of water in her hands, watching me, I wished I’d stayed with Noor.
“Well, hi,” she replied in her syrupy-sweet voice.
“Hello,” I replied tightly.
“Looking for Storm?” she asked.
“Yes. Have you seen him?”
She gave me a sympathetic smile, as if I were clueless and she felt sorry for me. “He just left after we had lunch together. He had an important meeting. You know, family stuff,” she informed me, then took another drink of her water.
Lunch with her? I’d just talked to him, and he was coming back from somewhere. He hadn’t mentioned Lula Mae at all. I was gonna call this a lie.