Total pages in book: 110
Estimated words: 107965 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 540(@200wpm)___ 432(@250wpm)___ 360(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 107965 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 540(@200wpm)___ 432(@250wpm)___ 360(@300wpm)
She nodded and sighed. “Okay. I’ll shut it off for a bit.” Morgan put the camera away and reached for Brock’s shirt, which was lying on my bed. She brought it to her nose. “Mmm… Smells exactly how I’d imagine a big, hot lumberjack would.” She groaned. “Shouldn’t have sniffed that. Now I’m horny. A lot of good that does me being stuck in here.”
I watched her a moment, feeling…something. Why did her reaction to his shirt make me jealous? I mean, I barely knew the man and certainly wasn’t able to stake a claim. But in my head, Brock was my pseudo-kidnapper, no one else’s. He’d had my bare ass on his shoulders just this morning. Ugh. I cringed. That whole situation was less than ideal.
“Are you gonna see him again?”
“Well, I think I should return the shirt and the notebook, don’t you? I mean, how else is he going to chart his daily good deeds?”
“I think that makes a good excuse to see him, because you know seeing him again is really what you’re looking for.” She smirked.
Feeling my cheeks heat, I denied it. “It’s not like that.”
“I thought you said he was hot.”
“He is, but my attraction to the guy can’t mean anything. I mean, what am I gonna do? I don’t live here, and technically am not even supposed to be leaving the premises.”
“What else is there to look forward to for the next three weeks? If you’re not gonna sneak out and see the burly bartender again, maybe I will.” She crossed her arms.
My heart fell to my stomach.
Morgan snapped her fingers. “A-ha.”
“What?”
“Your face just turned so red. Now I know you’re bullshitting me. You do like him a little.” She laughed. “Maybe more than a little. And I was only kidding, by the way. Just trying to test you.”
“I don’t know him from a hole in the wall, Morgan. You can’t like someone you know nothing about.”
“You know he’s protective and he likes to kill animals.”
“Which, by the way, is an oxymoron.” I laughed.
“Are you calling me a moron?”
“No. I said oxymoron.”
“Sorry. I’m a little traumatized from the mean comments on my post yesterday. Someone actually did call me a moron.”
“How are you posting when they took away our phones?”
“I snuck in a second one. I haven’t been checking it, only posting once a day. I can’t go dark. My followers will think I’m dead.”
Morgan wrapped Brock’s shirt around her shoulders, which caused a sudden rush of adrenaline as jealousy shot through me again. I definitely needed mental help. Good thing I was in the right place.
***
Thankfully, I got George the maintenance guy to put my escape route back that evening, because I had to sneak out to the bar to return Brock’s shirt.
I made my way down to the ground successfully, but after the mile-long trek to the bar, I discovered that Brock was nowhere to be found.
“What’s got you down, pretty lady?” a man who looked to be in his seventies asked me.
“Oh…” I shook my head. “Nothing. I was looking to return something to the bartender from last night, but he doesn’t seem to be here.”
“Brock Hawkins, you mean?”
“Yeah. He owns the bar, too, right?”
“Yep. He owns half the town.”
“So I’ve heard.”
The man stuck out his hand. “Name’s Hank. I’m not working today, but I bartend a few nights a week.”
I took it. “February.”
He narrowed his eyes. “What about February?”
“That’s my name. February.”
“No kidding. That’s different!”
If I had a nickel for every strange reaction to my name…
The man sipped his beer. “So what’s your interest in Brock? You said you’re returning something to him?”
“His shirt.” My face felt flush as soon as I said it. His shirt. I realized how that sounded and quickly added, “He gave it to me because I was cold. And, anyway, I’m just returning it.”
I needed a drink.
“Well, if you have romantic interest in Brock Hawkins, you certainly wouldn’t be alone. Not only is he quite respected in this town, but many of the single gals have their sights set on him. Not just because he’s a good-looking dude, but as you can imagine, they see dollar signs. Can’t blame him for shying away from all of ’em.”
I hated the idea of women trying to use Brock for his money. I mean…using him for that hot body, maybe. But gold diggers? No. They had to go. “What do you mean when you say Brock shies away from women?”
“Not my place to tell Brock’s business…” He looked over his shoulder and lowered his voice. “He turns all offers down, if you know what I mean. But let’s just say he has good reason to be wary of women lately. His last woman left him high and dry.”
“Left him? What happened?”
“Rumor has it his ex wanted a life outside of this small town. Didn’t want to be stuck here. She knew Brock couldn’t leave, with all his businesses and brothers and such. So she left him. Brock hasn’t been seen with anyone since. Brokenhearted, I guess.”