Total pages in book: 39
Estimated words: 35875 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 179(@200wpm)___ 144(@250wpm)___ 120(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 35875 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 179(@200wpm)___ 144(@250wpm)___ 120(@300wpm)
I avert my gaze, my stomach fluttering like crazy.
If Jack Whitlock knows me, it's not because he remembers the awkward, chubby girl with a massive crush I was the last time we were in a room together. I was seventeen. He was in his late twenties. I wasn't on his radar when we weren't even in the same stratosphere.
No, if he knows me, it's because…
"Madison Laurent," he says, satisfaction thrumming in his deep voice. "The missing heiress."
That's how he knows me. It's the only way anyone in this town knows me—as the poor little rich girl who mysteriously disappeared. Except…there is no mystery here, not really.
My father was planning to kill me to get my money and company, so I ran to save my own life. Mystery officially solved.
I pull away from him.
"Baby, let me see your head."
His soft command sends a jolt through my system, shocking me back into the here and now…where my hands and knees sting and I'm staring at the man I crushed on for years. One who doesn't know he's been housing me for the last few days.
In no reality is this good.
"My head is fine. My freaking heart is in danger of exploding though." I shoot him a look rife with annoyance. "You couldn't have announced yourself to spare me the heart attack?"
"I thought you were a fucking ghost."
"Ironic."
"Why?"
"Because everyone else thinks I'm a ghost too."
"Huh. Maybe you are concussed. Let me check you over, baby." His strong hands wrap around my waist, gently hauling me off the floor and onto his lap. He tilts my head this way and that, meticulously looking me over before grunting as if satisfied.
"Told you my head was fine." I keep my hands curled into fists to hide my scraped palms.
"Why are you hiding out in my pool house?"
"I don't have anywhere to go."
His brows furrow. "Your dad lives half a mile from here."
"I can't go there."
"Why not?"
I bite my bottom lip, refusing to talk.
"So you're going to be stubborn, huh?" he asks, amusement filtering through his gorgeous eyes.
"Yes."
"Well, I've got bad news for you. You just met the most stubborn motherfucker you'll ever meet, and I want to know why you can't go home. So you can either tell me what you don't want me to know all by yourself, or I can tie you to that bed right there and you can tell me when the sheriff gets here to arrest you." He pauses. "In the morning."
"You are not tying me to that bed, Jack Whitlock." I squirm, trying to get off his lap, but he just hauls me closer, his arms a freaking prison around me. They're…honestly kind of nice, actually. Not that I'll be telling him that anytime soon.
The last thing I need this man to know is just how many years I spent obsessing over him. He'd probably be horrified. And I'd definitely end up in handcuffs.
"You sure? Could be fun." He grins at me, a devilish, unrepentant smirk that has my stomach doing flips. Good Lord. He's way too handsome for his own good.
And I'm sure every woman in town probably still thinks the same thing. They certainly did seven years ago. Everyone wanted a piece of Jack though he never gave them the time of day. I doubt that's changed much.
And that is not the kind of attention I need right now.
"I came back to haunt my father, not move back in with him," I mutter, giving in gracelessly. "I need to stay invisible until my birthday."
"You turn twenty-five on February 3rd, right?"
I blink wide eyes at him, startled that he knows how old I am, let alone my birthday.
"Your picture is posted on fliers all over town." He notices my expression and shrugs. "Has been for years. Everyone probably knows your details by now."
Somehow, I doubt that. Most people in this town aren't certified geniuses. In fact, I only know of one other genius in this town. Weird how they're both super-hot. Maybe there is something in the water around here like everyone claims.
"Why do you want to haunt Gerald?"
"That's my business."
Jack glances at the room around us. "Funny because I could have sworn this pool house belonged to me."
"I didn't think you'd be home."
He chuckles, shaking his head. "You know damn well that doesn't sound any better, Madison. Breaking and entering is breaking and entering."
"It doesn't sound better because it is better. If you had been home, it'd be a whole different crime. Home invasion is way worse on the bad crimes scale, don't you think?"
He eyes me levelly, clearly not buying my very convincing argument. "You've been squatting in my pool house. How long?"
"Three days."
"You've been squatting here for three days. Your business is officially my fucking business. Start talking."
"Um, no thanks." I squirm again, trying to get free, but he just arches a brow. I scowl at him. "You know this is kidnapping, right?"