Total pages in book: 95
Estimated words: 90085 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 450(@200wpm)___ 360(@250wpm)___ 300(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 90085 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 450(@200wpm)___ 360(@250wpm)___ 300(@300wpm)
He nodded. “Of course. Tell me what you need, and I’m on it, little momma.”
“Tan!” the boy called out and slapped his head.
“Hawkins,” the girl said, “don’t hit Than.”
Than chuckled. “I can take it. Besides, he’s aggressive. It’s in his blood. Makes him a force.”
The girl rolled her eyes and smiled, then turned to me. “Hello, I’m Halo. I’m sorry I just came barging in and interrupting,” she said, walking up to the counter.
I shook my head. “I, uh…no, it’s fine. I’m—I don’t—”
“This is Montana Carrigan. She’s a friend of mine, and she’s helping out behind the desk. Montana, this is Halo Cash and Hawkins.”
I’d stammered all over my words like an idiot. Wanting to redeem myself, I tried talking again. “It’s nice to meet you, Halo,” I told her.
The friendly smile on her face was genuine, and I might like her if she wasn’t dating Than. That was still yet to be determined.
“You too.” She nodded her head toward Than. “Is this one behaving at the cabin? It’s not big enough for so much personality.”
Okay, so she did know who I was and that we were staying at the cabin together.
“We’ve had our moments,” I replied honestly, and her musical laughter gave me yet another reason to envy her.
“I can imagine. It’s less lively at the house without him there.”
Wait…did they live together? I didn’t respond. Was she why he’d left last night? To go see her? Had he been missing her? Why was this making me so unhappy?
“Than,” she said, her tone sounding scolding, “have you talked with her at all, or do y’all sit quietly in that tiny space? She doesn’t have a clue who I am, does she?”
No, I didn’t. And I wasn’t sure I wanted to know.
Than shrugged. “We talk. I think I mentioned you at some point.”
Halo looked back at me. “I’m sorry. Let’s try this introduction thing again. I’m Halo Cash. I’m married to Bane. This one”—she pointed at Than with her thumb—“along with his brother, Ransom, as well as Oz and Forge Savelle—they all live with us,” she said, then gave me an amused look. “That’s still confusing, isn’t it? Okay, so Bane owns a big house, and before I came along, they all lived there, along with Bane’s brother, Crosby. It was a bachelor pad when I first moved in.”
“And you came along, little momma, and shot that right to he—”
“Don’t you dare say that in front of him. I’ve still not gotten him to stop saying gadamn every time he drops his toy,” Halo told him, whispering the bad word. “It’s been an adventure, living with all of them.”
The relief that she was married to his friend and this baby wasn’t Than’s sent a smile stretching across my face that was one hundred percent real.
“Wow.” I blew out a breath. “That’s a lot of testosterone.”
She nodded her head. “Yep!”
“She would be lost without us. Hawks has all his uncles to teach him the ways of life.”
Halo scrunched her nose. “That’s what concerns me.”
I laughed, and Than glanced at me, and then a smile spread across his face. My stomach did that wild, fluttery little thing.
“All right, well, we need to be heading to the stables. Bane is waiting on us,” she said.
I jerked my gaze off Than to look back at her. My cheeks felt warm, and I was a little frazzled. We’d been staring at each other.
“I’ll walk y’all out to the car,” Than told her. “You can tell me what you need exactly.”
“All right,” she replied, and then her eyes twinkled with amusement when she looked at me…or was it something else? “Have him bring you to the house. I could use some female company.”
“You have Saylor,” he said defensively as if she’d insulted him.
“Fine. I could use more female company.”
I’d enjoy that, but with Than, I never knew what mood I was going to get.
“I’ll bring her over some time,” he said.
My eyes swung back to him, but he was walking to the door with Hawkins pulling his earlobe. With a small wave, Halo followed behind him.
“See you soon!” she told me just before the door closed behind them.
Twenty
Than
This had been a bad idea. I couldn’t concentrate. Getting things done when I kept finding reasons to go to the front desk, just to check on Montana, was an issue. But every damn time I heard the front door open, I’d jump up and go see who it was and to make sure she was being left alone. After the third time I’d gone out there, only to find it was Ransom—again—he’d rolled his eyes at me. Jackass.
By eleven forty-five, I’d managed to fill an order, call back a vendor who had shorted us, and look through the mail that Ransom had piled up on my desk. Lunch wasn’t being delivered for another thirty minutes, and I decided this was a good time to give Montana that tour. She had to be tired of schoolwork by now anyway and in need of a break.