Total pages in book: 110
Estimated words: 104403 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 522(@200wpm)___ 418(@250wpm)___ 348(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 104403 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 522(@200wpm)___ 418(@250wpm)___ 348(@300wpm)
What the hell was that about?
Twenty minutes later, Saint found himself seated in an Adirondack chair out behind the clubhouse with Lindsey, Gator, and Beth. It was too early, too bright, and too hot to start a fire, so they sat around the remnants of last night’s bonfire. Lindsey angled her chair so she could prop her bare feet in Gator’s lap while her sandals lay on the ground beneath her chair. Beth sat next to Saint in her own chair across from the other two, holding the bottle of whiskey Gator had snagged before they came outside.
She was quieter than usual and stiff. Maybe tense was a better word.
“You okay?” Saint leaned over to ask in a low voice.
“Sure.” She took a swallow directly from the bottle as his eyebrow arched.
“Gimme, Bethy,” Lindsey ordered. She leaned forward, motioning for the bottle, which Beth handed over. “So I think I owe you an apology. Saint too.”
He frowned as he looked between Beth’s troubled expression and Lindsey’s sheepish one. “What do you mean?” What the hell? Had she done something to Beth?
“Easy there, Rambo,” Gator muttered with a chuckle. “Your face is getting all murder-looking.”
Saint flipped Gator off.
Lindsey took a swig from the bottle before passing it off to Gator. “I invited Beth to lunch today with Melody and me because I thought she might have some insight into, well, you.”
He motioned for the bottle from Gator. “What are you talking about?” The whiskey had a pleasant burn as it traveled down his throat.
“I knew Mel was into you, and she suggested Beth might have some tips on how to snag you since you guys have spent time together recently. I didn’t realize Mel was so… aggressive in her interest in you, and that you didn’t return it.”
“How do you know he doesn’t want Mel?” Gator lifted the bottle to his smirking lips. “He disappeared for a while after taking her home. Maybe they spent the afternoon rattling her headboard.”
“The fuck?” Saint straightened. He could feel waves of tension and discomfort coming off Beth, who had yet to say a word since they sat outside.
“Stop being a shit-stirrer,” Lindsey said, whacking Gator’s arm. Of course, all that did was make him snort out a laugh.
“I’m kidding. I’m kidding. Don’t worry, Beth, he was doing shit for Zach all afternoon.”
Beth blinked, but Saint swore she relaxed a fraction of a percent. “What? Why would I care? Saint can… rattle whatever headboard he wants. Not my business.”
Gator snorted, and Lindsey tilted her head. “Sure, sweetie,” she said in a placating tone. “Keep telling yourself that.”
“Wha—”
“We’re losing the plot here, people. Bottom line… I’m sorry for the ambush. I did not think Mel would go that hard. She seems to have a fixation on becoming an ol’ lady.” She ripped the bottle out of Gator’s hands and tilted her head back for a long gulp of whiskey.
“Watching you drink that gets me so fucking hard,” Gator said, and Saint had no doubt he meant it.
Lindsey choked. She lowered the bottle, coughing, and her eyes watering. “Jesus, Gator,” she said when she regained control of her airway. “That’s supposed to be some kind of compliment? Everything gets you hard.”
He shrugged completely unashamed. “True, but watching you swallow gets me extra fucking hard.”
Lindsey rolled her eyes. “You’re a pig.”
As the two of them bantered back and forth, Saint turned to Beth to find her watching him with a host of questions swirling in her green eyes. At some point, she’d pulled her hair into a high ponytail that gave him a view of her entire face.
“So, Zach kept you busy this afternoon?”
“He did. Had a whole bunch of bullshit for me to take care of.”
“Mel must have been disappointed you couldn’t stick around.”
He grunted. “Not sure, disappointed is the right word. More like rabid.”
“Hmm.”
“But that had nothing to do with Zach. I shut her down before he ever called me.”
“Oh… really?”
He nodded. “I’m not interested in Melody. Never was.”
She blinked. Her gaze softened, melting to hot liquid jade he could lose himself in for the rest of the night. For the rest of his life, if she’d let him.
Whoa, that was a thought.
“It’d be safer if you were,” she whispered. “Easier.”
“Maybe,” he whispered back so only Beth could hear. “But I’ve never played it safe a day in my life.”
A loud throat cleared, startling them both. Their heads whipped forward simultaneously. Sure enough, Lindsey and Gator gawked at them with twin shit-eating grins like two goons.
“Whatcha talking about?” Gator sing-songed.
Saint and Beth flipped him off at the same time, which made Lindsey burst out laughing. Gator followed, and in seconds, all four of them were laughing like they didn’t have a care in the world. It seemed the whiskey had kicked in.
They stayed out there for hours, laughing, chatting, and enjoying the gorgeous summer night. Now that they’d cleared the air about his afternoon activities, Beth relaxed and joined in their nonsensical conversations. Saint listened more than he talked, which was typical for him, but this time it stemmed from his inability to do anything but watch Beth.