Total pages in book: 46
Estimated words: 43373 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 217(@200wpm)___ 173(@250wpm)___ 145(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 43373 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 217(@200wpm)___ 173(@250wpm)___ 145(@300wpm)
“You know, you could have him any moment,” Graham said, leaning over to whisper in her ear.
“Shut up,” she said.
Graham chuckled. “I’m just saying, I don’t know if you’ve noticed but he is trying to do everything he can to grab your attention.” He let out a low whistle and she reached out to slap his arm.
“Stop that.”
“What? You think he’s not doing this to gain your attention?”
“You don’t understand, things are a little more complicated between Rocco and me.”
“Ah, I see, they’re more complicated.” He raised his brows and she shot a glare at him. “This isn’t funny.”
He held his hands up in surrender. “I’m not laughing, although I guess I kind of am.”
“What? You think I should just go up there and start touching him?” she asked, expecting him to deny it.
“I think Rocco would love that.”
She shook her head. “You’re wrong. You do not know him like I do.”
“Ah, you mean the guy that shot your mating down and has been a complete and total dick to you, in the past?”
Rose couldn’t argue with that. “So, I guess you do know him and our situation a little better.” She’d only briefly talked about it with him. He’d been the first and only person she’d said anything to. This was because she didn’t have any friends. She just wasn’t close to anyone. Rose knew when her parents were alive, they had felt so guilty at not working harder to convince her to be with people her own age. She’d just been awkward with people her own age. It was better this way.
How odd that it had taken an infected human for her to find any form of friendship.
“Look, you know men make mistakes, and I guarantee you, Rocco has made a massive one. One that he regrets. You don’t see anyone else from the club, do you? It’s just you, me, and Rocco. Every chance he gets, he finds a reason to talk to you. It’s why we’re all out here, because he asked you what your plans were for the day. If he didn’t want to spend time with you, I’m sure he could have used club stuff as a way of getting out of it, and yet, ever since we got here, he’s stuck around.”
Rose couldn’t help but glance over toward him, only to quickly stop and spin around to glare at Graham. “You knew he was looking at me.”
“Well, it’s not exactly hard to, seeing as he is so focused on you alone.” Graham winked at her. “Why don’t you go and offer him a drink or something? Come on, Rose, you know you want to.”
“I will go and offer him a drink because I want to, not because you’ve suggested it.” Also, her wolf rather liked the idea of getting closer to him, which was insane. She should be trying to get as far away from him as possible.
Why? You like him, and yes, he’s an asshole, but he’s your kind of asshole. He’s your mate, and you cannot deny him forever.
This was a complete change to how she felt a few weeks ago. After what he did to her when they learned they were each other’s mate, she’d been determined to cut him out of her life. She had succeeded and knew it would be easy, because, well, she had nothing to do with the pack, other than work.
Then he had to come and knock at her door, and now she struggled to ignore him, to deny him. Being close to him every day as they took care of Graham made it harder for her to deny him.
Getting to her feet, she shot Graham a glare. “I’m doing this because it is the polite thing to do, not because you’ve told me to.”
Graham saluted her.
Rocco was right, she knew she had to try and keep her distance from this man, but it was so hard to do because he was so nice, and lovable. She didn’t have any romantic feelings for him, but she did like him. He was becoming a good friend, and she did care about him. She didn’t want to see him … die.
Approaching Rocco, he stopped and turned toward her, removing the perspiration from his brow.
“Uh, do you want a drink?” she asked. “Coffee, hot chocolate, soda, water?” The list was running out of her mind as she tried to focus on what kind of drinks she could offer. She struggled to not stare down at the rather expansive and impressive chest.
She’d never seen Rocco naked. This was new for her, and also a mega-struggle to contain.
“I’d love one. I’ll let you decide,” he said.
Rose nodded. “Right away.” She had to clear her throat as she suddenly felt so dry. Stepping around him, she entered her home and felt that warm flush assail her.