Total pages in book: 142
Estimated words: 133849 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 669(@200wpm)___ 535(@250wpm)___ 446(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 133849 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 669(@200wpm)___ 535(@250wpm)___ 446(@300wpm)
But she was smarter than the average girl because she’d been way stupider in the past. She knew exactly what a man could do to a woman.
But they weren’t all alike, and you’re not going to be here a month from now. What would it hurt to blow off some steam? It’s not like you’ve been to bed with a man in…years. God, it had been years. Her life was getting away from her, and she wasn’t enjoying even the smallest part of it.
Her heart ached because it wasn’t like she could go out there and flirt with him.
Or his incredibly intense and hot brother. He hadn’t said a damn thing, but the look he’d given her had told her all she needed to know. Or maybe they were cousins. She wasn’t sure. It was the first time she’d seen the mystery cowboy with his family. The dark-haired older man was definitely his father, and she thought the red-haired woman was probably his mom, making her younger version his sister. But she wasn’t sure where the gloriously gorgeous blond man fit in. He was older, too, but those two men were timeless.
“I’m fine. I didn’t fall or anything. And I know I’m clumsy, but I’ll get better.” She had to. She couldn’t afford to lose this job because her car was in desperate need of repair. She’d had to dump her original car and pay too much for a piece of crap since she’d had to find someone who would take cash and not request the normal paperwork.
Now the car needed work or it would break down entirely, and she was stuck in Willow Fork. That was sort of good and kind of bad. In the weeks she’d been here she’d discovered the town was split in two. One side was friendly and welcoming, and the other looked at all strangers as potential…she wasn’t sure. Enemies. Criminals. Women who might lead the men astray. It was weird.
Christa was definitely part of the good side of town. She put a hand on her shoulder. “I know you will. You’re already better. You handled the dinner rush this evening with ease.”
She wouldn’t say ease, but she was going to get through it. Of all the jobs she’d had over the last two years, this was the one she felt safest at. She’d bartended at a couple of places in LA where they were willing to pay her under the table. She’d done a lot of housekeeping work, but she’d been surprised to find exactly how many people thought the women who scrubbed their floors were less than human.
All in all, Christa’s Café was a good place despite the feral children. It had nothing to do with that freaking gorgeous cowboy because that was going nowhere.
She looked out over the counter to where the cowboy was pushing back his chair. The auburn beauty—the younger one since the older one was stunning, too—rolled her eyes at something he’d said. Definitely a sibling.
“That’s Josh,” Christa said quietly. “He’s a good kid. Though I guess he’s not a kid anymore. I love Josh. He calls me Aunt Christa, but you should know he’s a little on the wild side.”
“He’s mean?” Her brain went there. Immediately. Every single time she thought of a man, her first question was would he turn into a freaking monster. She knew that wasn’t what wild meant, but the words were an impulse.
Christa frowned her way, though it wasn’t an irritated expression. It was more curious, and that felt dangerous. “No, honey. Josh is the least mean kid I know. However he has been known to go through women. And he has some…nope. I’m not talking about that. You should know that he and Grim are both lovely men, but they have bad reputations when it comes to the amount of women they can run through, though I’ve also heard no one’s complaining. And that is my lecture since you are obviously a whole-ass adult woman who likely can spot a charming player from a mile away, no matter how good intentioned he might be. You seem a little fragile.”
She was beyond fragile. She’d been broken and put back together so many times she wasn’t even sure where her original parts were. It didn’t matter because she couldn’t exactly start a relationship with anyone. Not when there was a warrant out for her arrest. For murder.
Once her car was fixed up, she was going to finally make her way to Mexico and then further south. She would lose herself in a big city and try to find some kind of a life.
The cowboy named Josh looked her way as he held the door open. Their eyes met, and he tipped his hat toward her. He was big and broad and now she understood the phrase sex on two legs.