Total pages in book: 55
Estimated words: 53212 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 266(@200wpm)___ 213(@250wpm)___ 177(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 53212 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 266(@200wpm)___ 213(@250wpm)___ 177(@300wpm)
He’s soft and I’m hard, he’s nice and I’m short-tempered, he’s rich and I’m poor. Anything to stack the deck in his favor.
“You sure?” he asks her. “Ten minutes seems like an eternity when you’re freezing in the cold. It wouldn’t be a problem at all to give you a lift, Kylie. Really. I’d be happy to do it.”
“I said I’ve got it,” I repeat. “If she’s cold, she can wait in the car or the rink.”
For a split second, something sharp flashes in his eyes, but just as quick as it came, it disappears, relegating me to the category of a simple nuisance. He doesn’t see me as a real threat, and that’s his biggest mistake of all.
Kylie blinks between us until her eyes settle on me. She doesn’t understand why, but she trusts me more than him, regardless of the seemingly numerous reasons not to.
“Well…thank you, Rook. The spare would be great. Much more convenient in the end, I think. And thanks for the offer, Holland. Truly. It’s kind of you.”
I’m fucking proud of her for following her intuition.
Holland rocks back on his heels, glancing briefly at his guys before looking at me again. An inaudible sneer escapes his throat, but I ignore it.
“Well, Kylie,” he says, his voice light now, “keep me in mind for Friday, okay?”
She nods. “Oh yeah. Of course. I’ll let you know.”
“See you around.”
His buddies stare at me as they back away, their wordless expressions meant to put me on edge. Joke’s on them, though. If anyone should be on edge right now, it’s them.
There’s no telling what I’d do to put myself between them and Kylie at this point, whether I’m ready for the commitment or not.
I wait until Holland and his cronies are gone before grabbing a jack from my truck.
Kylie crouches beside me, arms wrapped around herself against the cold when I kneel down to change her tire.
“I swear I’m not this helpless,” she mutters. I don’t know if it’s more for her or for me, but the statement is emphatically loaded. Being something other than a damsel is important to her—in her eyes or mine, I’m not sure.
“You’re not helpless,” I confirm as kindly as I can manage while working on the flat.
It’s only when she gasps in surprise at the ease with which I remove the tire without even using my fucking jack that I realize how mindlessly I’m going through the motions.
Idiot.
“So, you’re, like, really strong.”
I don’t answer again because there isn’t a good one. Not when she’s vulnerable here, not when a simple explanation on my end would flip her entire world upside down.
Instead, I keep working, and muscle memory takes over while my mind tracks the lot. I don’t miss that Holland and his lapdogs are still nearby in their sedan—just out of eyeshot but close enough to smell them—and I also don’t miss the dark SUV idling across the street.
They’re rushing because they need to. I fucking hate that I know why.
Kylie doesn’t have a fucking clue what future is soon to befall her. She doesn’t know what we are—what we’re capable of. She doesn’t know that she’s valuable.
She doesn’t know anything at all.
They must be desperate to lock her in before it’s too late, because I know for a fact the main event isn’t due to start for a few more weeks. With a woman who knows the rules? They can take it down to the wire.
With Kylie? They can’t chance it.
“So…why do you…hate me?”
Her question comes out of thin fucking air and renders me temporarily motionless. I hold the spare up in front of the lugs, floating in frozen repose.
“What?”
“I know you don’t like me. I mean, it’s pretty obvious, you know? The part I can’t seem to figure out is the why.”
I can feel the intensity in my eyes as my head jerks toward hers. Nervously, she looks away and down at the pavement between us. And for the first time since every fucked-up cell inside my body decided to pick her, I wish she wouldn’t.
“You always look like you’re mad when I’m around,” she adds quietly. “Doesn’t take a genius to figure out I’m not your favorite person, but it might help if I knew why. If I offended you at some point or…I don’t know…maybe you just find me annoying or something.”
For an instant, my brain stings in revolt. To have the other half of my whole believing I hate her is an assault against every one of my senses.
I straighten slowly, turning back to the work to revive some of her comfort and putting the spare tire in place—this time remembering to use the jack for show. “I don’t hate you, Kylie.” My voice is raw with earnestness.
Fuck me, if you only knew what I actually feel for you, you’d be frightened for a whole other reason.