Total pages in book: 118
Estimated words: 120838 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 604(@200wpm)___ 483(@250wpm)___ 403(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 120838 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 604(@200wpm)___ 483(@250wpm)___ 403(@300wpm)
She nibbled her croissant, looking away, and after she swallowed, said, “I did do that.”
“You all right?” he asked.
She returned to him. “Yes. Why wouldn’t I be?’
“Ye smacked the shite out of your own mother,” he pointed out.
She waved her croissant around. “You’d think I’d be conflicted. And I am, just not detrimentally. Do I wish I hadn’t done it? Yes. It was unhinged. Not a good look.” She sipped her coffee and then, “I guess I had some pent-up shit to get out.”
“That was lost on no one.”
She pulled a face.
And he was again fucking smiling.
Her tone was different, gentler, when she said, “I think this breakfast should just be for the Wallaces.”
He slid against the back of the couch closer to her and said in the same tone, “I ken it’s asking a lot, but I think Mum should have what she wants to have right now, Blake.”
“Blech. You’re right,” she said into her cup.
He knew he was.
He was just thrilled she was the kind of woman who knew it too.
Signe was a long time ago, but he’d learned a great deal from her. Lessons hard earned that he never forgot.
In this scenario, she would be gleeful she had something to sell to the gossip rags and dish about with her sister-competitors. His mother’s feelings, or his for that matter, wouldn’t factor.
Bottom line, a whisky wouldn’t have been waiting for him after he got back from the car park.
Instead, Signe would have found a way to rescue her mobile from phone jail and be gabbing to anyone who would listen about what she just learned.
Time to move on.
“I called your dad and told him ye were good and with me.”
She choked on her coffee and turned to him. “What?”
“Last time he saw ye, ye were pissed out of your brain and flirting with ten firemen.”
“I wasn’t flirting.”
“All right. They were flirting with ye.”
She smirked. “They were doing that.”
He was the jealous type. He just was.
But it was hard to get jealous when a woman was hanging on you while ten men flirted with her, and she didn’t give that first fuck.
“He invited me to dinner. You’re cooking,” he told her.
Another choke, this time on croissant.
“So ye ken, I dinnae like celery or squash of any kind,” he kept fucking with her.
With that, she chomped down on her croissant while glaring at him.
What she didn’t do was say she wasn’t cooking for him.
With her in the right frame of mind to buck up against his next, he shared, “He’s also worried your mother is going to make this mess messier.”
She washed the croissant down with coffee and stated blithely, “Oh, she’ll do that. Mum walked away from that scene humiliated. By you. Dad. Even Bally obviously picked the wife he’d been cheating on over Mum right in front of her face. She’s totally going to be on the warpath.” With that, she shot straight and exclaimed, “Oh shit!”
“What?”
She didn’t explain.
She jumped up, put her coffee cup down, and raced to the bathroom.
Through the door, he saw her sweet, heart-shaped ass lovingly molded by the clingy jumper material of her pants because she was bent over, pawing through her tote.
She came out with her phone and scurried back into the room, saying, “I think I have enough charge.”
She then poked at it, put it to her ear and started pacing.
Dair knew she connected with voicemail when she said, “Rix, it’s Blake. If you haven’t thought to do this already, get Alex’s phone. Block Mum. She’s sure to try to drag her into all this crazy. And if Mum’s already texted or phoned, delete them. I’ll explain everything to her when you guys get back.” She took a breath and finished, “I won’t call again. Have lots of fun. Bye.”
She stabbed the phone screen, came to the couch and plopped down on it again.
“My mother,” she groused.
“And my mother is expecting us about now,” he replied.
Her shoulders fell.
“It’ll be all right,” he assured.
She was visibly unconvinced.
“Can I use your phone charger while we go see your mum?” she requested.
“Be my guest. It’s on the nightstand.”
She pushed up and went to plug in her phone.
When she came back, he had his keycard and his coffee.
She grabbed her coffee.
He grabbed her hand.
As he led her out of the room and down the hall, she didn’t pull away.
And…
Aye.
No matter her cheek, fire and attitude, they were on the same page.
Completely.
Chapter 6
Find the One
Blake
* * *
He’d put my bouquet in a bath of water in the basin.
Alasdair Wallace, the usually filthy, always rambunctious boy who’d turned into the bantering, life-consuming man, thought to put a bunch of pretty flowers in water.
My flowers.
The ones my sister gave to me.
This whole thing with him and me was crazy. Totally.
But I could not get that out of my head.