Total pages in book: 71
Estimated words: 73230 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 366(@200wpm)___ 293(@250wpm)___ 244(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 73230 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 366(@200wpm)___ 293(@250wpm)___ 244(@300wpm)
“He does. Talks about cows. Going swimming. Anything and everything. None of it makes a lick of sense, either,” CeeCee concurred.
“Thanks, CeeCee,” I ended the call.
Tasha looked at me suspiciously.
“I swear, she teases me about it constantly,” I promised.
Tasha pursed her lips.
“Fine,” she growled, crossing her arms and trying her hardest to appear mad when she really wasn’t anymore.
“So, did the doctor come in and tell you how she was doing?” I asked, changing the subject.
She nodded.
“I told him I was your wife, because he didn’t want to give me any information if I wasn’t ‘kin’,” she mimicked, using finger quotes.
I nodded.
“Doc Allen doesn’t like conversing with people. I’m sure he was just hoping you weren’t anyone important to me so he could get out of talking to you,” I admitted.
She rolled her eyes.
“Yeah, I got that,” she said. “He said that Koda’s wound was doing nicely,” she pointed to her left leg where, last night, they’d started an IV on her. “They took her IV out as soon as I got here. Then she started to wake up…and growl.”
I grinned.
“That’s my girl,” I said, scrubbing her fur through the bars.
She lifted her head and looked at me solemnly.
“Y’all have a special bond,” Tasha praised. “What breed is she?”
I shrugged. “Belgian Malinois.”
“Mmmm,” she chattered. “My cat is a Maine Coone.”
I blinked.
“What’s that?” I asked.
She held out her hands.
“Cats that get to be about this big. I miss her,” she smiled fondly at some memory only she could see.
“I just didn’t think that Koda would do well with her…or a ferret. But we can try, if you really want to,” I conceded.
She blinked.
“I really shouldn’t be living at your place. Not until whoever is behind all of this stalking business is caught,” she informed me.
I looked at her until she blushed.
“W-what?” She stuttered.
“Do you honestly think after last night that I would, or even could, give you up?” I choked incredulously.
She shrugged.
“It’s safer for you and your family. I shouldn’t be anywhere near your sisters,” she refused stubbornly.
I shook my head.
“My sisters are both trained to protect themselves. I’ve worked with them, but it was their fathers who taught them. They can totally take care of themselves,” I told her.
Her eyes widened. “Their fathers?”
I nodded in confirmation.
“CeeCee’s father is a general in the Army. Rhea’s father is a retired Navy SEAL turned freelancer. Trust me. They know their shit, and they didn’t hold back with their kids just because they were girls,” I explained.
“Is CeeCee’s father married to your mother’s sister?” she questioned me.
I nodded. “Yes. How’d you know?”
“I sat by them at the wedding.”
“Ahhh,” I grinned. “Yes, he’s married to her sister. But it’s only fair since my mother married his brother.”
Her mouth dropped open comically.
“You’re shitting me,” she gasped.
I shook my head.
“Not even a little bit.”
Koda licked my fingers, and I looked down at her as I continued to speak.
“My father wasn’t related to the other two that she has children with. He was just a passing fancy, but he shipped out and never came back,” I expounded.
“Ahh,” she said. “That makes sense, I guess. You never talk about him.”
Koda finally closed her eyes, and her breathing evened out, signaling it was time to go.
“Let’s go get some food,” I patted her thigh.
“If we get food now, I’ll be hungry again later,” she informed me.
I smirked at her.
“Then we’ll grab food and eat at home. Then we’ll go back out for dinner. I’ll even make reservations.”
***
I should’ve stopped her when I realized where this was going.
I was a trained professional.
I should’ve known this wasn’t going to go where she thought it was going to go.
“I deserve a better spot in this piece of shit restaurant. And your service has been fucking shit!” the man standing next to me at the hostess station snapped.
“Sir,” the hostess tried. “We don’t have any other available tables unless you would like to wait a few more minutes for one to open up.”
The thug, a white little prick the size of my left thigh with his pants hanging down to his knees, scoffed.
“Get me a fucking seat. Now,” he barked. “I’ve been waiting here to take my girl out for a fuckin’ hour. Those people,” he pointed to us, “got here after we did. Why do they get seated first?”
“Sir,” the woman apologized. “They had a reservation. They’ll get seated before you regardless of what time you arrived because they called ahead earlier in the day and reserved a table.”
Damn straight I did.
I wasn’t one to fuck around when I finally got my head out of my ass and took my woman out to the nicest restaurant in the county.
But this little prick was ruining my evening before it’d even started.
I’d just opened my mouth to rip the little shit a new one when Tasha put her hand on my arm to stop my words. I narrowed my eyes at her, and she pleaded quietly with me to let it go.