Total pages in book: 85
Estimated words: 79938 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 400(@200wpm)___ 320(@250wpm)___ 266(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 79938 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 400(@200wpm)___ 320(@250wpm)___ 266(@300wpm)
“I still think it’s a mistake.”
She huffed out a breath. “Your complaint has been heard and registered. Trust me when I say he needs this.” Maybe they all did. The magical night two weeks ago seemed a small lifetime away, and she wanted to reclaim it for herself and Galen as much as she wanted to for Theo. “Come on, Galen. What’s going to happen is going to happen, and sitting here in misery in anticipation for it isn’t doing us any favors.”
He finally allowed her to pull him to his feet. “Did you read that in a book? Because if ever there was someone who obsesses about all the things they can’t control, I’m looking at her.”
“Ha ha. You’re hilarious.” She rolled her eyes. “Yes, I had my life planned down to the barest detail. Didn’t make a damn bit of difference, did it? I still ended up along for one hell of a ride.” Life was messy. She knew it better than most.
But then, so did both of these men.
Meg released his hand and walked to the sliding glass door that opened to the back patio. The sun had lost its battle with the moon, though it took its time sinking low in the sky, begrudging missing out on even a second of its evening. It painted the sky in pinks and oranges and indigo, transforming a beautiful view into something otherworldly.
The man sitting on the patio, glaring at the sea, only made the sensation all that more acute. Theo was pretty enough to be a fallen angel, but being in his presence was like bargaining with a crossroads demon. It felt good—so good that it made her ache sweetly—but in the end, it would take something vital when he walked away.
Her breath. Her heart.
Her very soul.
Stop it. You told Galen that brooding didn’t help, so take your own advice. You have this moment.
It has to be enough.
Meg didn’t look back to see if Galen was following. He was. He might not know what to do to help Theo out of this moment, and he might give her shit about her methods, but in his heart of hearts, he trusted her to see them through. This time she held the reins.
Theo didn’t appear to notice that he was no longer alone. Just as well. He was just as stubborn as they were—more so in his own way—and if she came at him head on, he might snap. Whatever that looked like for a man like Theo. She was usually pretty good at reading people, but Theo flipped through masks the way women flipped through lipstick shades. He was so good at offering the safe, careful version of himself. The jokes. The ambition. The politically savvy future king.
But she’d been around him enough to see the flickers beneath. The man who’d lost his mother, lost his father, lost his purpose when he’d lost his kingdom. Galen might be the warrior, but Theo was a wolf cut off from his pack. Had he even had a chance to mourn his father’s death?
She didn’t think so.
She also doubted that he’d thought too hard about what came after he succeeded. Oh, he’d trained for this his entire life. It wasn’t the running the country that she worried about—it was the fear that he’d become brittle when everything crashed down on him at once. A marathoner who made it through excruciating obstacles, only to have their body fail them two feet past the finish line.
Galen will take care of him. The fallout isn’t for you to worry about.
Too bad she couldn’t control her feelings any more than she could control everything else going on in her life at that moment.
Meg pulled off her shirt, leaving her naked. She dropped it onto the chair on the opposite end of the pool from where Theo sat. He didn’t look over. Broody McBrooderson. She stretched her arms over her head and turned to face the sunset. This place was a perfect flavor of paradise, and she let herself soak it up for a few seconds.
She turned to find Galen standing next to the stairs into the pool. He still wore his jeans and customary white T-shirt, but there was nothing relaxed about the way he watched her. Mmmm, yeah. Not quite as good as sex, but it’s up there. She gave him a saucy grin and walked toward him, putting a little swing with each step. “How deep is this pool?”
“Five feet.” His gaze flicked to her bandaged arm. “Do you think that’s wise?”
“I’m healing up fine.” And if she could soak in a tub, she could soak in a pool. She stopped in front of him and ran her hands up his chest. “Galen?”
He let her inch closer, his eyes going so dark they seemed to swallow up the light of the sunset. “Yeah?”