Total pages in book: 112
Estimated words: 113272 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 566(@200wpm)___ 453(@250wpm)___ 378(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 113272 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 566(@200wpm)___ 453(@250wpm)___ 378(@300wpm)
It didn’t seem like Horse’s family was searching for him so why should she waste her time looking for them?
What she needed to do was get some furniture for the house. She’d been shocked to find that the house wasn’t fully furnished. She’d slept the last two nights on a mattress on the floor.
“You won’t be paying Kellan back,” Eli said.
“Of course I will.”
“Of course you won’t,” Kellan countered. “I say who pays me back and it’s not you. I want more details on how the two of you met.” He glanced from her to Shaw. “And why one of you threatened to spank the other one.”
Arabella sighed, shaking her head and deciding not to argue about the cost of the hotel room. She’d get some money out and sneak it into his pocket or something.
“That’s a secret we’ll take to our grave, along with everything that happened that night. Right, darlin’?” Shaw said.
“Stop calling her darlin’,” Kellan ordered.
They all stilled, then stared at Kellan. He blinked, looking surprised for a moment before he wiped it off his face.
“Why do you care if I call her darlin’?” Shaw asked.
Kellan crossed his arms over his chest but didn’t reply.
Right. So he was acting weird today.
“I’ve known her longer than you have,” Shaw said.
Jeez, they weren’t going to turn this into some weird competition, were they?
“I’m fine with Shaw calling me darlin’,” she told Kellan with a quelling look. “And what we got up to that night is our business.”
There. That should put an end to that conversation.
Their food was delivered and she nearly groaned as she stared down at her scrambled eggs and potato hash.
Her stomach gurgled.
She started eating before she realized that neither Kellan and Eli had started.
“What’s wrong?” she asked.
“What you got up to that night is definitely our business,” Eli told her.
She really didn’t see how.
“When was the last time you ate?” Kellan asked.
Sheesh.
“Guys, let the poor girl eat, will you,” Shaw said. “And you don’t have to be quite so intense.”
“I think that’s their SOP,” she replied.
“Their Standard Operating Procedure?” Shaw asked. “Yeah, you could be right.”
“We’re not intense,” Kellan grumbled. “Eat your breakfast before Eli decides to feed it to you.”
She blew out a breath and Shaw let out an amused sound. She was glad he was finding this funny. Because she wasn’t.
A pang of worry filled her as she stared at Shaw. She hadn’t liked the way their server had stared at him. With such . . . such hunger and nosiness.
Whatever happened to him had obviously been difficult and draining because he looked so much smaller than he had before. He seemed deflated.
Haunted.
But whatever was wrong with him was his to share. And no one had the right to just come out and ask him like that.
Still. She probably could have come up with a better story than she had.
“You’re bossy,” she claimed. “And I’m eating because I’m hungry, not because you told me to.”
Eli leaned into her and his scent was so intoxicating that it made her head spin. “As long as you’re eating we don’t care why you’re doing it.”
Darn it.
A shiver ran through her, making her clit throb and her insides heat.
Why did she have this reaction to him?
To them?
She’d never felt this way about any man, but now there were two of them? She’d actually started to wonder if she just wasn’t a sexual person.
But it seemed that her body might be making up for lost time.
Eli suddenly placed his arm across the back of the booth and she had to refrain from leaning into him.
From sinking in deep.
“After breakfast, we’ll take you home,” Eli stated.
“Um, thank you, but I’ve got my own car.”
The sooner she got away from them the better. Thank God they didn’t live here or she wasn’t sure how she’d survive, knowing that she might run into them at any moment.
But if Shaw was here would they be visiting a lot?
“So you live here, Shaw?” she asked, aiming for casual as she ate her breakfast.
“Born and raised. I joined the Navy soon after finishing school, though. I was back here visiting the night we met.” He winked at her. “But I’ve moved back for a while. I’m living with my brother, Duncan, and his wife, Laken. He’s a deputy here in Haven.”
“How many siblings do you guys have?” she asked.
“There’s ten of us,” Eli told her. “All boys.”
“Holy heck. Your poor parents.” She couldn’t even imagine. She’d always dreamed of having a brother or sister.
“Our mother had her hands full,” Eli said in a strange-sounding voice.
“Our father was a jackass who didn’t care what we did,” Shaw said bitterly.
She winced. “I know what having a terrible father feels like.”
Shit.
Should she have said that? All of them went still, staring at her.
“What did your father do?” Kellan asked.