Total pages in book: 103
Estimated words: 96850 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 484(@200wpm)___ 387(@250wpm)___ 323(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 96850 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 484(@200wpm)___ 387(@250wpm)___ 323(@300wpm)
Eve hung up, right as Veda exited the Krispy Kreme in a red polka-dot dress, off the shoulder—last night’s clothes, apparently—double-fisting glazed donuts. The musician circled around the back of Eve’s car to stand outside the driver’s-side window.
“You sure you don’t want one?” Veda called through the glass. “They’re fresh.”
“I’m good,” Eve responded, giving her a thumbs-up.
That thumbs-up remained suspended in the air when Madden’s truck pulled into the parking lot, two spots away from them. The ignition cut out, but he made no move to exit the vehicle, he and Eve staring at each other through their respective windows, her stomach flipping like an Olympic gymnast doing a floor exercise.
Finally, he got out of the truck and Eve couldn’t help it. She sighed out loud. Thank god she was alone inside the car, because multiple cool points would have been deducted for the wistful whoosh of appreciation over Madden in a suit. Black, of course. Crisp white shirt underneath. A navy-blue tie to match his eyes. Some extra care had been taken with his hair, too, the lot of it tousled back into a windswept look.
Somehow, the black eye only heightened the potency of the man.
“That’s the guy?” Veda shouted through the window. “Are you kidding me?”
Eve smacked the glass. “Indoor voice, babe.”
“Sorry,” Veda replied, taking a bite of one of her donuts. “But like . . . yeesh.”
Get out of the car. Eve’s legs were slow to cooperate, but she finally got out, brushing the wrinkles out of her jumpsuit, just in time for Madden to reach them. And he wasn’t alone. Elton had also arrived and swaggered behind Madden in a pin-striped suit and a derby cap.
“Oh good, the Peaky Blinders are here,” Veda drawled, observing Elton’s approach.
Skylar’s brother drew up short. “Wow. This must be Veda.” He doffed the cap and bowed with a smirk. “This acquaintance is off to a fine start.”
“Sorry, that just popped right out of my mouth.” She held up the shiny confections. “I blame the donuts.”
Elton raised an eyebrow at the pastry in her hand. “Are you going to finish that?”
“Yes.” Veda laughed, as if the question were ridiculous. “Get your own.”
“Where did you find this girl?” Elton asked Eve, while pointing his hat at Veda. “A 1940s pinup girl convention?”
“Fifties.” Veda sucked the glaze off one of her fingers. “Nineteen fifties.”
“Oh, okay. Let me file that under information I don’t need.” Elton shook his head at the younger woman, a deep groove between his brows, before visibly wrestling his attention away. “Hey, Eve,” he said warmly, coming forward to kiss her on the cheek. “I just want to say that I called this pairing. You and Madden might have had everyone else fooled, but not me.”
“Okay, Elt,” Eve said dryly, no longer able to ignore the burn of Madden’s gaze on the side of her face, the slope of her neck. Everywhere. She took a deep breath and looked up into the most dramatic pair of eyes on the planet. “Hello, future husband.”
A corner of his mouth jumped, but when he spoke, his expression was sober. Serious. “Hello, future wife.”
One minute in his presence and Eve’s stomach muscles were already tighter than a drum. “You look—”
“You look—” he said at the same time.
Eve laughed quietly, watching the tips of his ears turn red.
“Dare I ask how you came by that black eye?”
“I told you waiting three days to marry you wasn’t going to be easy on me, love.”
While Eve did everything in her power to recover from that statement, Madden ticked his gaze between Elton and Veda. “Would you please give us a moment alone before we go in?”
“I don’t know,” Elton hedged. “What if she drags me back to her time machine?”
“Me?” Veda replied. “You look like you just got back from defending your turf in Birmingham.”
Elton laughed. “Fine. That was pretty funny.”
If Eve had blinked, she would have missed the pleasure that crossed Veda’s face. Pleasure she quickly hid under casual boredom as she extended a half-eaten donut. “You want the rest?”
“Do I?” Elton said, in a flawless Cockney accent, rubbing his hands together.
Veda snort-laughed, handing over the donut, and off they went, side by side into the courthouse, trading names of their favorite bakeries in and around Cumberland.
“I can’t tell if they’re going to be enemies or friends,” Eve mused out loud.
“I guess we’ll find out.”
* * *
I can’t believe I’m about to marry this woman.
Words wouldn’t do Eve justice. She looked beautiful in the white jumpsuit, the neckline low and dipping between her breasts, her hair soft and wavy, pulled back from her face. Resplendent. That’s the only description Madden’s brain supplied.
Goddamn, what he wouldn’t give for a wedding night.
He’d have that lipstick smeared all over her chin and cheeks before the door closed behind them. “I have to be back in New York by tonight,” Madden said, not bothering to hide the regret in his tone. “I wish I didn’t, but I need to be on a flight to Milwaukee in the morning.”