Total pages in book: 103
Estimated words: 96970 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 485(@200wpm)___ 388(@250wpm)___ 323(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 96970 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 485(@200wpm)___ 388(@250wpm)___ 323(@300wpm)
Sincerely,
Alexander Marian
Owner
Timber - Artisanal Pizza & Curated Wines
A few minutes later, my phone buzzed with a text.
Smokey the Overbear
I can’t decide if your email was snarky or sincere.
It said sincerely, didn’t it?
Smokey the Overbear
I need you in my bed when I get home tonight. It will be after midnight because of another late training session. I left a key under the mat. Tell me you’ll be there.
You’re very bossy.
Smokey the Overbear
Huh. That explains why people keep calling me Chief around here.
Go back to work, Chief. I’ll see you tonight.
All I got in return was a fire emoji.
“You’re checking your phone again,” Lennon said without looking up from his burger.
My sister and cousins had convinced me to come out for a late dinner at Frank’s, and now they were giving me hell. I slipped the phone back in my sweatshirt pocket.
“What’s new at the ranch?” I asked.
He shrugged and kept eating, so I turned to Rosie. “What’s new at the ranch?”
“Boosters and tags, mostly,” she said, dipping a fry in ketchup. “All the stock is off summer range, and we’re staging hay for winter. The hands are working on equipment maintenance. Checking the plows and stuff.”
Ella leaned in and lowered her voice. “I heard the fire chief is seeing someone up in Billings.”
My ears perked up, and my heart started beating harder. “Where’d you hear that?”
“One of the servers at the Pinecone said she heard it directly from the horse’s mouth. The chief said he was visiting his special friend up in Billings. She didn’t know who the woman was, though.”
I hid a wince. Hadn’t I promised Ella I’d keep my hands off the chief since she liked him, too? I was a shit brother.
“What would you do if he asked you out?” I asked.
“I’d say hell yeah. Why?”
I huffed out a laugh. It was like that, was it? Good. “No reason.” Maybe she’d forgotten our little agreement.
“What about you, Alex the Grape?” Rosie asked. “Tavo said you haven’t been around much. In fact… he kind of implied you’ve been spending the night out.”
Ella turned to me with red laser eyeballs. “Spill. Everything. Right fucking now.”
I was a terrible liar. Judd had been right when he’d accused me of that. I swallowed and loosened my muscles so that I didn’t stiffen up like people do when they get put on the spot.
“Yeah, so. Yeah,” I said.
And then blinked. What? What even was that?
Ella’s eyebrows shot into her bangs. “Oh my fucking god. Who the fuck are you seeing?”
Rosie blinked rapidly, her lips opening but not letting any sound out. Even Lennon leaned forward.
“No,” I corrected. “I mean, yeah, but no.”
Was that worse? I had a feeling that was worse.
Just then, Legacy’s sexiest fire chief walked in to pick up a large to-go order for his crew. As he caught sight of the four of us sitting at a nearby table, he up-nodded casually and said, “Marians,” and then continued to the counter as if nothing was amiss.
As if my body part hadn’t been inside of his body part early this morning.
I swallowed. “I have a lover in Spokane.”
My sister and cousins’ heads swiveled toward me, and I could have sworn the chief’s head tilted.
“Spo… kane,” Ella said. “That’s an eight-and-a-half-hour drive from here.”
Lennon’s face dipped into a thoughtful frown. “No wonder you look like shit. More driving than fucking.”
Judd’s shoulders crunched forward slightly like he was holding back a laugh.
“No, not Spokane,” I snapped. “I always get them mixed up.”
“Emigrant,” the chief coughed.
“Emigrant,” I said quickly. “Emigrant. Two hours over the mountains, that’s all.”
Ella stared at me. “You mix up Emigrant and Spokane?”
Rosie looked confused. “Doesn’t Emigrant have like three people in it? How do I even know the name?”
Lennon was more generous. “Good barbecue in Emigrant. I can see the appeal.”
I sat up and stretched my neck. “So anyway. Enough said. What about your love life, Ella? Papa said he’s planning on setting you up for the wedding. It’s either that or he’s inviting Britt Schmidt. Your choice.”
That was enough to change the subject. My sister’s pompous ex was always good for a healthy rant session, and there was nothing Ella was more hypocritical about than the family messing in her own love life. She’d do anything to avoid talking about the guy who’d been an on-again, off-again rollercoaster of drama.
When we were finally finished and we all went our separate ways, I made a beeline for Kincaid’s place. After I got there and let myself in with the key he left, I sent Tavo a quick text.
I’m out for the night and if my nosy family wants to know my comings and goings, tell them I’m in Emigrant.
Tavo
I feel like this is a racial joke which is unexpected coming from you.
It’s a town on the other side of the Absarokas.