Total pages in book: 60
Estimated words: 57350 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 287(@200wpm)___ 229(@250wpm)___ 191(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 57350 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 287(@200wpm)___ 229(@250wpm)___ 191(@300wpm)
Adam blinked. “I’m dating Bianca.”
“What do you think about taking two of us on?” Ewan asked.
“I’m not interested.”
“Ewan,” Bianca yelled from the truck. “You and Liam have been dating for six months. You absolutely can’t break up with him until this movie is finished. He’s the best director around.”
Ewan glanced back at her. “Have you looked at this guy?”
Adam exhaled. He really didn’t have time for this conversation. “Ewan, you’re a good-looking guy, and Liam is a lucky man.”
Ewan grinned.
“However,” Adam continued, “I’m fully involved with Bianca. And even if I weren’t, I prefer women.”
Ewan sighed dramatically. “That’s a pity,” he said. “Just a real pity.”
Billy made a strangled sound. “What are you people even talking about?”
Still holding Billy by the throat, Adam yanked him forward and stepped out of the way of the doorway, pointing the asshole’s face toward the truck. “Apologize to her.”
Billy coughed. “Sorry,” he rasped. The word barely made a sound.
Adam tightened his grip even more. “Again.”
Billy swallowed. Tears filled his eyes. “I’m really sorry.”
“I’d like an apology, too,” Ewan added cheerfully.
Adam turned Billy toward him.
“Sorry,” Billy wheezed out.
Adam pivoted him again toward Clancy, who stood near the vehicles watching the scene like someone witnessing a bizarre stage play.
“I’m sorry,” Billy muttered.
“There,” Bianca said from the truck. She leaned halfway out of the passenger seat. “Everyone said they’re sorry.”
Adam looked around the yard. They were definitely trespassing now.
“Yeah,” Bianca added as if reaching the same conclusion. “We should probably go.”
“All right.” Adam shoved Billy backward through the front door. Billy lost his footing and fell flat on his back inside the house, sliding across the wooden floor. Adam stepped onto the porch and tossed the empty shotgun onto the roof.
The metal clattered loudly against the shingles.
Billy groaned, still prone beside a sofa table.
Adam pointed a finger toward him. “If I ever hear about you pointing a weapon at any of my friends again, Billy,” he said, his voice deadly calm, “I’ll bury your fucking body where nobody will ever find it.” He turned and walked down the porch steps.
Small rocks crumbled under his boots as he headed toward his truck.
Behind him, Ewan hurried across the yard toward his SUV. “Yeah,” he said cheerfully, “it seems like a good time to leave.”
Adam slammed Bianca’s door and circled to the driver’s side. “I’ll follow you guys out,” he said.
“Sure thing.” Ewan jumped into the SUV, and Clancy drove off, tires spinning and spraying mud.
Adam pulled out behind them at a calmer pace. “Put your seatbelt on.”
Bianca fumbled with the strap and clicked it into place. “Yours isn’t on,” she pointed out.
He ignored her and kept driving.
They rode in silence until they reached Mineral Lake. Clancy turned toward the inn down by the lake while Adam continued straight, winding past the last buildings and heading toward his place outside town.
“I’m mad at you,” Bianca said, crossing her arms.
He gave her a quick glance. “I’m more mad at you.”
“Huh.” Color flushed across her face.
The woman was gorgeous when she was angry, but that didn’t appease him. Not this time. They reached his place, and he cut the engine outside the garage.
Bianca opened the door and jumped out before he could stop her, heading toward the sprawling house.
Adam shot out of the truck, caught her around the waist, and lifted her straight off the ground before setting her firmly back in the passenger seat.
“What are you doing?” she demanded.
“Stay.” He shut the door, counted to five, then opened it again and held out his hand. “You wait until I help you out.”
She blinked at him. “I’m not a dog.”
“No, you’re not,” he snarled. “Someone has been leaving you creepy notes. Another person shot at your car, and you just walked out of a house where a man pointed a shotgun at your head.” His voice dropped another notch. “You stay in the fucking truck until I make sure it’s safe and let you out. Got it?”
She stared at him for a second. It wasn’t agreement, but she took his hand and stepped down from the truck, making it halfway to the house before spinning around to face him. “How dare you?” she demanded.
Adam planted his feet and put his hands on his hips. “How dare I what?”
“Seriously?” Bianca stared at him like he’d just grown another head. God help him, she was gorgeous. The scarlet sweater clung to every curve she owned, blazing against the dark yard like a warning sign he had no intention of obeying. Her jeans molded to her hips and long legs before disappearing into black boots smudged with mud from Billy’s driveway. Her eyes flashed with fury, bright and dangerous, and that wild mass of hair spilled over her shoulders in thick waves that caught the porch light and turned the strands into flickers of fire. Even furious, even ready to take his head off, she looked like the kind of woman a man could get lost in—and right now, he was on board with that plan.