Total pages in book: 156
Estimated words: 160192 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 801(@200wpm)___ 641(@250wpm)___ 534(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 160192 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 801(@200wpm)___ 641(@250wpm)___ 534(@300wpm)
He’d likely approve.
Although she still didn’t know where her handbag was.
“Do you have my handbag?” she asked North.
“Yes.”
“Can I have it?”
“No.”
“You are a very frustrating man!” she cried.
“I’m aware.”
“I want to buy a knife,” she told North.
“You will not buy yourself a knife. I will get you a knife.” North walked out of the gym and she trailed along behind him.
How the heck did he move that fast? She struggled to keep up.
“You don’t have to do that.”
“You’re not getting a knife unless I buy it for you,” he told her. “And I’m only getting you a knife when I believe you’re ready for it.”
She frowned. “And how long will that take?”
“As long as I say it will.”
Rude.
She gave up trying to keep up with him. She’d manage to find her own way back to her room.
It wasn’t like the house was that big. She’d just become temporarily disorientated before.
That was all.
Oh, there was the library! She loved the library.
Stepping in, she ran her fingers over the spines of the books. She’d almost gone through all the books that North had given her. Maybe she’d choose some more.
She wrinkled her nose at the choices. Why was there no romance? The titles were all so boring.
“What are you doing?” North suddenly asked.
She jumped with a yelp, spinning to look at him. “Jesus. Do I need to put a bell around your neck or something?”
He just gave her a look like he thought she’d lost her mind. Yeah, she probably had. But now she wanted to giggle at the idea of him wearing a collar with a bell on it.
“You were supposed to be following me to your room,” he stated.
“Well, if you want someone to follow you, then you should walk at their pace instead of a hundred miles an hour,” she complained. “And I don’t want to go to my room yet, anyway. I’m going to do some reading in here.”
North shook his head. “No, Jared wants you in your room. He has someone coming to visit. Now, come along.”
“No.” She stared at him sassily. What was he going to do if she refused? Pick her up and carry her to her room?
Seems that was exactly what he was going to do.
She let out a cry as he picked her up and threw her over his shoulder.
“Let me down! North! Put me down!” She slapped her hands down on his back, trying to wriggle free.
“Stay still,” he ordered. “Before you fall and hurt yourself.”
“If you just put me down then I wouldn’t be at risk of falling and hurting myself,” she complained.
“Quiet,” he ordered as they walked down the hall. Well, she guessed that was what they were doing.
“North! Let me down!”
“What is going on here?” Jared asked.
Uh-oh.
Daddy sounded mad.
And why did she just call him Daddy?
She whacked her forehead with her hand. What was wrong with her?
“I’m just taking her back to her room. She refused to go,” North explained.
“I didn’t refuse to go!” she complained. “You left me for dust! I couldn’t keep up. And then I wanted to read in the library. But you went all alpha on me and picked me up and carried me. I could get sick up here, you know.”
“North, put her down.”
North suddenly set her on her feet, making the room spin slightly.
Shoot.
“Are you all right? Angie?” Jared asked.
He slowly came into focus.
“Yeah, I’m okay.”
“I need you to go wait in your room for the next hour,” Jared told her. “I have to have a meeting and I don’t want you seen.”
“Why?”
“Because it’s one of the family and I don’t trust them with you. So go with North.”
Why did he sound so cold? So different than he had earlier?
“Fine,” she grumbled. “Come on, North. Keep up.”
She turned away, but Jared reached out suddenly and grabbed her wrist.
She flinched and he quickly let go, something flickering on his face. “I apologize. I didn’t mean to scare you. But sometimes, I just need you to do as you are told to keep you safe.”
She nodded with a sigh. “I get it.”
North followed her. At the base of the stairs, he held out his hand.
Another sigh escaped her but she took hold of his hand. “I’m surprised you’re not just throwing me over your shoulder and carrying me up.”
“I thought about it. But you would probably wriggle too much. I don’t want to drop you on your head.”
“You know you can’t hold my hand up and down the stairs all the time, right?”
“I could make it a rule . . .”
“North!”
He walked her to her door, opening it. “Remember, stay in here. Most of Jared’s family aren’t trustworthy.”
“Oh, I know. Trust me. I don’t want to speak or see any of them.”
“I’ll come back for you when the coast is clear. Then I’m sure Jared will take care of your punishment.”