Total pages in book: 180
Estimated words: 176012 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 880(@200wpm)___ 704(@250wpm)___ 587(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 176012 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 880(@200wpm)___ 704(@250wpm)___ 587(@300wpm)
I tap out a text to Farrow. Come when you’re ready.
I run up the stairs, his reply rolling in. Cum when I’m ready?
I roll my eyes and stick my phone in my back pocket.
One more stop before I sleep tonight. I should hit the gym, but I have a full day tomorrow with several Fourth of July orders to prep. I need rest.
After showering, I brush out my hair and pull on some jeans, tucking in a tan tank top. I grab my phone and veer to my dresser, slipping in some gold studs and a little lip gloss.
I start to leave, but I spot a car out my bedroom window that wasn’t there when I got here. Drawing back the curtain, I immediately recognize Jared’s old Mustang.
My stomach sinks. Oh, no.
He’s going to have a fit if he sees Farrow Kelly picking me up.
With my I.D., credit card, and cash in my back pocket, I jog down the stairs and instantly smell the cologne Lucas was wearing the other night. I halt.
The legs of a chair scuff across the floor in the kitchen, hot blood coursing through my veins.
I walk toward it, Lucas coming into view as he sits at the table, bent over and tying his tennis shoe. The lights are off, the late day sun dimming, and he’s dressed in track pants with a shirt laying on the table.
I don’t see Jared.
“Why are you here?” I ask.
My voice is soft but steady. I don’t want to be angry at him, but I don’t want him here, either.
He doesn’t look up as he ties the other shoe. “I sold my mother’s house,” he tells me. “Your parents were kind enough to let me stay while they’re in Bermuda.”
So he’s staying the week? Or longer?
He must’ve returned his rental car and borrowed one of Jared’s many spares.
“I don’t need a babysitter,” I state.
There was a time I would’ve been ecstatic to have Lucas all to myself. If only he hadn’t started acting like I was his possession instead of his friend.
Finally, he looks up. “I’m not your babysitter,” he says.
Rising, he walks over to me, and I straighten, aware of his naked chest and making a concerted effort not to look.
“I’m sorry for how I’ve been.” He stops in front of me. “You were right.”
I was?
“I made…mistakes the last time I was home,” he explains. “It was never about you or the family. It was me.”
I stare up into his eyes, but my pride won’t let me ask him. What mistakes? If I know what happened, I’ll understand. Doesn’t he know that?
He pulls the blue Cubs cap off the counter next to me.
Slowly, he raises it above my head, and I gaze at him, lost in the moment of standing in front of him like this hundreds of times in my life and gazing into the same beautiful eyes.
He fits the cap onto my head, brushing my long bangs out of my eyes.
He swallows hard. “Please take it,” he whispers.
My skin tightens with goosebumps. He stands so close. The kitchen is dark. He could’ve stayed with Madoc, but he’s here. What does he want from me?
I’m not giving the compass back to him.
“I’m meeting Madoc.” He searches my eyes, a small smile on his mouth. “Want to go to the gym?”
He’s not asking for the compass back. I left it at the bakery anyway.
He just wants me to have the hat.
Do I want to go to the gym with him? God, yes.
I can’t say no to him. I never could. I never wanted to.
But that’s what women do, isn’t it? What my mother did all those years as my father’s mistress? She dropped everything when he wanted her close. Because she was addicted to how good his attention felt.
A horn beeps outside, just in time, and I inhale a shaky breath. “Farrow…” I say softly. “I’m going somewhere with him for a bit.”
Lucas’s eyes narrow, but then his expression relaxes. “Where…” He clears his throat, trying to reel in the agitation on his brow. “Where are you going?”
His tone is gentle, but I can tell he wants to forbid me.
“I can drive you where you need to go,” he offers.
My mother only got better when she took responsibility for herself. And my father only claimed her when she showed him that she didn’t need him.
I turn to leave, but he stops me. “Quinn.”
I look over my shoulder.
His chest rises with a breath that he doesn’t release. “Aren’t you going to tell me the news?” he asks.
What news?
“You bought a house.”
I square my shoulders. How the hell does he know that?
He approaches again. “Aren’t you…” He’s trying so hard to not be overbearing. “Aren’t you worried you’re moving a little fast?” he asks me.
Worried? “Yeah.” I smile at him. “I’m kind of liking it, though.”