Total pages in book: 88
Estimated words: 87573 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 438(@200wpm)___ 350(@250wpm)___ 292(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 87573 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 438(@200wpm)___ 350(@250wpm)___ 292(@300wpm)
Her look was quizzical before she ducked into the passenger seat. She sank into the leather seat and crossed her legs, giving me an even bigger glimpse of her dream catcher. Fuck me. The ink on this woman did something to me.
I revved the engine to my Lexus and shifted into drive. Eve lived in Tech Terrance, just off of Texas Tech University’s campus, with two of her friends. Nothing in Lubbock was more than a fifteen-minute drive away, except for the airport. An Uber wouldn’t have cost her much, but I wasn’t about to let her take one.
“So, what happened to your car?”
She huffed and looked out the window. “I have no clue. It wouldn’t start this morning. And I couldn’t jump it because Piper had to be at the winery early and Blaire was over at Campbell’s place.”
“I could give you a jump, if you need it.”
Her brows furrowed. “Do you even know how to jump a car?”
“I’ll take that as the insult it is. Of course I know how to jump a car.” When she still looked skeptical, I added, “I can change a tire and my own oil, too.”
Her eyes slid down my sharp suit, the perfectly knotted tie, and crisp white shirt. “Why do I find that hard to believe?”
Because she had only ever seen me as a suit. An image I had carefully cultivated for years. West was my twin and my opposite. He was wild, rebellious, an artist, musician, and a dreamer. I was a realist and business-oriented. I was the guy with the five-plus-year plans. I had goals and ambitions, not dreams. Dreams were unactionable hopes and wants. Dreams led to disappointment.
“I can get my hands dirty.”
“Oh?” she asked, leaning forward with interest. “I’d like to see that.”
“Hmm,” I said with an arched eyebrow.
“Who taught you to work with cars?”
“My dad.” My throat was thick when I uttered the words.
Dad was…complicated. He’d been complicated before we discovered his duplicity. He was twice as frustrating now that we knew he had a whole other family. While I felt lucky to have Jordan and Julian in my life, he had uprooted all of us when it came out. He ruined everything he touched, and somehow, I still wanted him in my life.
“I see,” she said softly. “I wouldn’t have guessed he was a car person either.”
“Not really. But I had an interest, and…he usually invested in our interests.” I shrugged. “The man’s flawed, but he put West in front of a piano at a young age. He wouldn’t be in Cosmere otherwise.”
“Maybe. I don’t think either of you owe him anything for where you are,” she said hotly. Her hand tightened on the door handle before loosening. “You did it in spite of him.”
For a second, I wasn’t sure we were talking about my father anymore. But I didn’t know enough about Eve’s past to know if she was projecting. We’d never gotten to the point before to discuss her family. Eve wasn’t really much of a sharer. She always seemed like a creature of the present. Anything that happened beyond the moment we were in was forgotten.
I decided to drop the whole thing. My dad was a hot topic on a good day.
“Are you coming to Jensen’s thing tomorrow?”
“The mayoral announcement?” she asked with a wrinkled nose.
I laughed at her expression. “What’s that about?”
“What?”
“The look.”
“Politicians,” she said with a little gag at the end. “What have they ever done for us before?”
“Fair, but it’s Jensen.”
Jensen Wright had been the CEO of Wright Construction since he had graduated college. He’d passed the helm to his sister, Morgan, a few years back to pursue his true passion—architecture. Now, he worked closely with the company he had run and was a regular fixture around the property.
Against his better judgment, someone had convinced him to run for mayor. The spot was open, and the other options were appalling. It was a clever con, and it had worked. I didn’t know what his wife and kids thought about it, but Emery must have given him the green light or else he wouldn’t be having an event tomorrow in which all the Wrights were planning to be in attendance.
“The girls cajoled me into going,” Eve admitted. “Downtown will already be set up for the Fourth, and I can’t resist a funnel cake.”
“Noted,” I said as I pulled into Eve’s driveway behind her bright red early aughts 4Runner.
Piper’s blue Jeep Wrangler was parked next to it, and she came running out, holding up her cell phone.
Eve popped the passenger door open. “Forget your phone again?”
“Having a work phone and a regular phone is ruining my life,” Piper said. She winked at Eve. “What’s going on here?” Her tone was light and suggestive.
I got out of the car. “Hey, Piper.”
“Whitt,” she said with a head nod. “Why are you driving my girl home?”