Total pages in book: 113
Estimated words: 109086 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 545(@200wpm)___ 436(@250wpm)___ 364(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 109086 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 545(@200wpm)___ 436(@250wpm)___ 364(@300wpm)
He got to the door, eyeing me before he opened it, and because he did, my momentum brought me close. Real close. Lack-of-personal-space close. I could breathe in all the smells wafting from him. His cologne. The smell of gun—was there a smell for that? There were other traces of smells. I caught myself before slamming into him, but his hand fell to my hip, sinking in. He held me in place, keeping me.
I went still.
I could feel his heat.
As if transfixed, my eyes tracked up, taking in his chest, his throat, his Adam’s apple, his very prominent jawline, those lips . . . I gulped, pushing the beat of arousal down inside of me, and I finished the trek, coming to see his eyes, his eyes that had darkened. There was a slight smolder in them before he said, “I asked a friend for a favor. Your social media’s wide open. He got me a number within twenty minutes.”
Something shrank inside of me. “Oh. What—” I licked my lips.
He tracked the movement, his gaze piercing.
My brain fritzed for a second before I remembered. “What did my cousin say? I mean . . . How did he react when you told him about me?”
His eyes warmed before a wall slammed back down. They went dead and his tone was so flat. “He was surprised to hear about you, but I explained the situation, and he said I could bring you around there.”
“What did you all say?” Oh, god. Did my cousin know about everything? I wanted to give a good first impression when he saw me in person. My whole family-mending mission relied on that first impression. I didn’t want to scare him.
“I told him that you witnessed a shooting and you mentioned you were in town to maybe meet him.”
My focus sharpened. “That’s all you said?” My mouth parted in surprise.
His eyes flashed, but cooled right after. “That was it. Everything else is up to you.” He looked behind me for a moment. “You gave your statement. My cousin is in rehab. Our time together has come to an end. That means you and I are done.” He spun away from me, stepping outside. “You ready?”
I frowned, pursing my lips.
We were done.
That made sense.
My mouth went sour.
Chapter Nine
Sawyer
I didn’t like this. Any of it.
Every cell in my body was protesting the thought that he was going to drop me off at Graham’s and I’d never see him again. That was bullshit.
I studied him as he drove.
He was too cool. Too smooth.
There was a tic in his jawline, and his hand tightened on the wheel. He wasn’t as unaffected as he was playing it off.
“Are you sure you heard my cousin right? He said you could bring me to his place? He’s never met me. Maybe a sit-down somewhere else would be more ideal?”
“No. He said to bring you to his place. Apparently some of your aunts had been calling him?”
My aunts? Bess and Clara. As soon as he said it, of course that made sense. They were going to intervene no matter what.
I folded my arms over my chest. “I don’t like this.”
He threw me a look. “This is why you came here. To see your cousin.”
“No. I meant—” I clamped my mouth shut because what? What was I going to say? The total weirdness I got when I was around him? How I felt like I already knew him when it’d not even been a full day?
I wasn’t counting the subway meet because he’d been a dick.
“You meant what?” He was pulling over. Letting the engine run, he moved to face me. His voice went low, as if he knew what I was going to bring up. Which, if he did, then so be it. He felt it too. I’d watched him enough to know he wasn’t as cold to me as he was acting.
I ducked my head, because could I really say that? I’d sound like a lunatic.
“You are a lunatic.”
I whirled on him. “Excuse me?” Had I said that out loud?
I paled. What else had I said out loud?
He smirked, but his eyes were blazing. “A lot of stuff has happened to you in the last month. Your ex. Whatever else that’s attached to that, because I don’t feel like you’re telling me everything. You were losing your marbles outside of your cousin’s place of work, and a cop took you to the station. That’s not normal for a lot of people. Plus, dealing with my cousin. That’s a shitload of stress that you’re handling.” He quieted, his jaw clenched again. “You saw a man get shot, right in front of you. You are allowed to have some moments of lunacy right now.”
Oh. Well. I sniffed at him. “That doesn’t give you a right to call me a lunatic.”