Total pages in book: 68
Estimated words: 68735 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 344(@200wpm)___ 275(@250wpm)___ 229(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 68735 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 344(@200wpm)___ 275(@250wpm)___ 229(@300wpm)
Watching him watch us walk up felt like my stomach was sinking down between my toes.
“Come on,” he said as he took my hand.
I squeezed it for dear life, relishing the fact that he now felt like a lifeline for me whenever other men still gave me palpitations.
I walked two steps behind him as he led me to where Dr. Stoker was standing.
“Ahh, I was wondering when I’d see you again, Ms. Williams.” Dr. Stoker smiled.
It sent disgusted vibes racing through my veins.
“She’s here because she wants you to stop harassing her when she tries to switch to a new doctor,” Audric said. “She’s telling you this once, and once only.”
“And what is that?” Dr. Stoker asked.
“That you will stop whatever it is you are doing that is keeping her from finding another psychiatrist,” he said. “That’s not fair to her, and you know it. Next time, we’ll be filing a complaint with the medical board for your behavior.”
Dr. Stoker didn’t look worried.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about, but I’ll be sure to look into it.” He lied so smoothly I almost wondered if I’d imagined all the phone calls that had denied me treatment this week.
But then Audric snorted, and I was reminded he had a good bullshit meter and always had.
“One and only warning, doc,” he said. “Have a nice night.”
Audric tugged my hand, and we walked back to his bike, and I felt the doctor’s gaze on me the entire way.
He was handing me my helmet when I asked, “Do you think he gets off on women who are victims?”
His eyes flashed to mine. “For his sake, I hope not. Because if he does, I’ll be handling him appropriately.”
The resolute certainty in his voice had me breathing out a sigh of relief. “He gives me the creeps, Audric.”
Audric cupped my head for a long second, gaze taking me in, before he said, “You can move in tomorrow and I’ll be your knight in shining armor if you let me.”
“You live with your kind of little girl, and another man. I can’t move in.” I smiled.
His grin was slow when he said, “Says who?”
Dinner with his friends was amazing.
He sat me in the corner of the tables where there was a wall behind and beside me, leaving a table in between me and the closest man.
That closest man being Cakes, who was talking about his cakes and when he was cooking his next one for the group.
Apparently they were a big deal, and they didn’t happen very often.
That was also how he’d gotten his road name, and though I wasn’t a cake person, I found that I would love to taste his cake.
Cakes’s newfound daughter, Aella, was sitting next to him giving him shit about his lack of social life. Aella’s husband, Chevy, was beside her, and he was talking with his brother, Cutter, about their next family dinner that was set for next week.
I fell into the chaos, realizing that I’d shut myself out of life so completely that I hadn’t realized what I was missing until right then.
And the man at my side had given that to me.
He’d made sure that I felt safe.
And I was slowly falling in love with him.
An adult love this time that I didn’t think that I would ever be able to get out of.
Sixteen
I don’t care what the calendar says. It’s not fall until my butthole stops sweating.
—Audric’s secret thoughts
AUDRIC
I don’t know what I was expecting out of the flight to Hawaii, but it wasn’t a first-class ticket. It sure the hell wasn’t the first seat in first class, which gave me an excellent view of the woman that I couldn’t stop thinking about.
I loved watching her work.
I loved even more that she had gone out of her way to make sure that I was taken care of, even if she was working while she did it.
My drink never ran dry. I had multiple warm cookies that she gave me.
And even better, she’d saved me two meals—one meal was a joke. I needed more than just a small tray of lasagna that would barely feed a child.
She hooked me up, though.
Then she pulled out an Auntie Anne’s pretzel covered in cinnamon sugar for dessert.
Or was it after dessert, dessert?
Eating three of the surprisingly best cookies I’d had in a while should’ve been the end, but there was no way I was saying no to Auntie Anne’s.
Even better, I loved that she was thinking of me. I loved even more that she remembered my greatest weakness. Bread and sugar.
Once the dining service wound down, and people started to lean their seats back and get comfortable, Creole gestured to me to come into the galley kitchen.
I got up and leaned against the wall, my eyes taking everything in as she worked.
“I need to tell you a bit more about me and my situation before this goes any further,” she said quietly as she looked around. “And if you’re not okay with it, then we might have a problem.”