Total pages in book: 66
Estimated words: 63854 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 319(@200wpm)___ 255(@250wpm)___ 213(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 63854 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 319(@200wpm)___ 255(@250wpm)___ 213(@300wpm)
“That’s right,” Ollie says, shooting me a smile that makes my heart go pitter-patter. “You’ve grown up. Last time I saw you, you were this tall.” Ollie holds his hand out flat, palm down, at his chest.
I can feel all three pairs of green eyes on me, and they make me want to hide myself behind a curtain. I don’t feel ready at all to have these tall, dark, gorgeous Adonises see me. They wouldn’t look out of place on the cover of a glossy magazine, and I’m just another ordinary, small-town girl with a boring life.
I smile nervously. “Yeah. It’s been a while. I hear you live in the city now.”
“Yeah. San Francisco,” Mason speaks up for the first time. He smirks. “Get in touch if you ever visit. We’ll show you around.”
The Hunters are offering to give me a tour of the city? Oh god, that would be a dream come true.
Again, I’m glad it’s dark because otherwise, my parents would see me losing my cool. I don’t want them to know that the sight of these brothers have started a hurricane raging inside me right now.
“Thank you,” I say, even as doubt fills my chest. I suspect they’re just being polite. “Maybe I’ll take you up on that offer some time.”
In my periphery, I notice my mom turning to look at me, no doubt with a disapproving expression on her face.
“For you? Any time,” Mason says.
Is he . . . flirting with me?
“Are you here for the holidays?” Mom asks.
“Yes, Mrs. G,” Ollie says.
“Seems a bit early, doesn’t it?”
“It’s been a while since we spent time with our parents here in town. And since we can run the business from here, at least temporarily, we decided to stay a little longer.”
“So you’ll be here until . . . the beginning of January?” my dad asks.
“No, just until Thanksgiving. Then we’ll go back to the city for a few weeks before coming back here for Christmas,” Ollie says.
“Nothing’s set in stone yet, though,” Liam adds.
“What kind of a business do you run that you can afford to leave it for months at a time?”
Leave it to my mom to throw a subtle insult and word it as a question. She’s basically questioning whether they actually have a viable business.
“Medical tourism. It’s actually a booming industry. Google it,” Mason says, clearly irritated, although he still manages to keep that dazzling smile on his face.
“We’re not leaving the business, Mrs. Green,” Liam says calmly, although judging from the way his jaw’s clenched, he probably didn’t miss my mom’s passive-aggressive attack. “A lot of things can be done over the Internet now and we have staff at the office that’s more than capable of running the operations smoothly. At least that’s what we’re hoping for, anyway. This will be a test to see how well they work without our direct supervision.”
Liam’s usually quiet, but he’s eloquent and diplomatic when he speaks up. Mrs. Hunter once told me that he was going to law school, and I thought that was fitting for him. I wonder if he’s a lawyer now.
“I see.” My mom seems disappointed by the lack of any emotional reaction from the Hunters. No doubt she was hoping they’d slip up and tell her something gossip-worthy so she could share it with the entire town.
“It’s good that you’re setting aside time some family time, even though you’re busy,” I say, in an attempt to dispel the awkwardness and smooth things over. “Your parents must be excited about having you home again.”
“They are.” Ollie smiles like he never noticed my mom’s rudeness.
Honestly, they need to find a way to can that smile and open it during tense situations. It would melt any unease floating in the air. It’d help even Taylor Swift and Katy Perry get along. There’d be world peace.
“If you don’t mind,” my dad says, “it’s late, and we should get home now.”
I glance at my watch. It’s barely 8:30.
“Oh, that’s too bad,” Ollie says.
“We’re going home to have dinner with our parents now.” Mason fixes his intense gaze on me. “But if you want to, we’re planning to go out again tonight. It’s been a while since we’ve been home, so it would be great to have a local show us the lay of the land.”
Anxiety fills my throat. What do I say?
I want to spend time with these three gorgeous brothers, but my parents wouldn’t be happy about that. They’re not fond of the Hunters.
But if I decline . . . I could be letting go of a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.
“We must go home. It’s late,” my mom speaks up before I can say anything. She’s wearing a thin smile, and the tone of her voice is friendly, but I can tell she’s just putting on an act.
“Of course,” Ollie says politely. “Sorry for keeping you here. I’m glad we got a chance to catch up. Hopefully we’ll see you around.”