Total pages in book: 144
Estimated words: 138522 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 693(@200wpm)___ 554(@250wpm)___ 462(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 138522 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 693(@200wpm)___ 554(@250wpm)___ 462(@300wpm)
“I’ll be there soon and we can talk.”
“You don’t have to do that. We’ve got this under control. And I’m going to stay the night tonight, anyway. I’ll ride back with Brandon in the morning.”
We chat a few more minutes and disconnect. Brandon’s help should please me, but my mother’s defeat overshadows this, and I don’t know how she’s going to take hearing about the threat of criminal charges against her. I need to talk to her in person and make sure she doesn’t get sideswiped. And to do that, I need to talk to Gabe. I eye my morning-after-sex appearance in the mirror and fight the urge to make myself look more presentable. I did that with my ex. I wasn’t even comfortable being me and I lived like that for years of my life. I’m not doing that again. If I’m not good enough for Gabe, if the real me is not good enough, I don’t want to do this.
I walk to the door and open it, staring at the bed that’s a tangle of sheets and blankets Gabe and I made together. Together. I never thought I’d wake up on a Sunday morning and be a together again. I had shut down so completely before Gabe.
I head for the doorway and down the hall as I bring the living room, kitchen, and Gabe behind the island, into view. “Okay, Dexter,” he’s saying, glancing from his computer screen to the floor, where I assume Dexter is hanging out. “Should I file a motion or hold off for further negotiations?” He rotates in his seat and looks down at the dog. “Bark once for motion. Twice for no motion. Three times for uncertain.” He waves his hands at Dexter, who gives a funny whine.
Gabe scrubs his jaw. “That’s none of the above. Let me give you the details. Collin Bloom is the CEO of Megna Enterprises and a real dick.”
Dexter barks.
“Motion it is,” Gabe says. “And for the record, I agree. He doesn’t deserve further negotiations.”
I laugh when a few minutes ago I wouldn’t have thought that to be possible, and Gabe turns those beautiful blue eyes on me. “There is nothing funny about Collin Bloom, I promise you.” He motions me forward. “Come have some coffee and I’ll tell you all about him.”
I start in that direction and Dexter rushes around the island and charges toward me, a big smile on his cute face. I meet him halfway to the island and kneel in front of him, only to be knocked over as he starts kissing me. Gabe is there in a heartbeat, helping me up and controlling Dexter. “Bad manners, Dexter,” he says, pulling me to my feet. “But good choice of women.” His hands slide under my hair and he pulls my mouth to his. “Good morning,” he says, low and rough.
“Good morning,” I say, my hand flattening on the hard wall of his chest, the connection electric, warmth spreading up my arm and through my body.
He kisses me again and it’s not a barely-there kiss. It’s a melt-me-in-my-bare-feet kind of kiss that I feel in every part of me. I moan with the impact and he pulls back to look at me, a smile playing on his lips as he says, “Forget the coffee. Let’s go back to bed.”
“Oh no,” I say. “I can’t do that. I need to go to the ranch.”
“I talked to your mother. It’s calm there. Grayson and Mia already had breakfast in bed, so breakfast with us is off. We can go to the ranch to check-in and take your mother coffee. After we fuck in the shower.”
I pull back. “You talked to my mother?”
“Of course. I wanted to make sure she was okay.”
He was worried about my mother? Oh God. This man is trying to make me fall for him. “She’s not okay. She’s not. She wants to give up the property. She said Grayson and Brandon are helping her, but there’s not a better option. They won’t find one and she—she’s not good and I haven’t even told her about the legal issues.”
He cups my face. “There are no legal issues. I’m handling this. Trust me. I have a plan.”
“What are you going to do, Gabe?” I ask, alarm bells sounding in my head.
“Teach your ex a lesson. Teach them all a lesson.”
He’s going to end up dead, which means I have to handle this before he does, I have to end this. I’m going to have to do what I never wanted to do. There’s only one way to stop my ex. There’s only one way and I have to use it to protect my mother and now Gabe and his family. And I have to do it now. Which means I need to get away from Gabe for a while to make it happen.