Total pages in book: 149
Estimated words: 147967 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 740(@200wpm)___ 592(@250wpm)___ 493(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 147967 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 740(@200wpm)___ 592(@250wpm)___ 493(@300wpm)
“That’s not happening, mister!” All right, she sounded ridiculous calling him mister and poking her finger into his chest.
But that’s exactly what she found herself doing. She even cocked a hip.
Her attitude was back. Which was kind of a relief because she’d thought she was going to act like an idiot in front of him for the entire time she was stuck with him.
Stuck with him?
Seriously. You are acting like you don’t want to be stuck with him? Like he’s not your every fantasy come to life.
She waited for him to get irritated at her.
“It’s exactly what’s happening,” he countered. “Say, I am doing a good job.”
She blew out a breath. “Fine. I am doing a good job.”
“That wasn’t so bad was it? Now, I need to meet Tank and Big Berry and then we need to get some food into you, have our chat, and then you can go to bed.”
“It’s only five,” she pointed out.
“And you’re exhausted,” he told her. “You fell asleep in a car being driven by a virtual stranger.”
“I thought I could trust you,” she protested. Could she not? She stepped back, away from him.
Well, she tried to step away from him, but he simply tightened his hold on her.
“You can trust me. With anything. But you don’t know that yet. And I don’t think you would have let down your shields enough to sleep while I drove you if you weren’t exhausted.”
That was likely true.
But another thought just occurred to her.
“How did you know where I lived?”
“I know everything.”
She doubted that was true. And wow he was arrogant.
“There’s no way you can know everything.”
“Sure I can. Now, introduce me to Tank.”
Maya realized that she was procrastinating. What if Tank didn’t like him? What was she going to do? She didn’t want to be rude, but maybe this was for the best anyway.
“If he doesn’t like you, then you can’t stay.”
She waited for him to get angry at her. Or to tell her how ridiculous she was being. That an animal’s care and safety shouldn’t be put ahead of her own.
Instead, he squeezed the back of her neck again and it reassured her, grounded her.
Lord, that feeling was amazing. She wished she could feel like this all of the time.
“Stop stressing. Your dog will like me. And everything will be fine.”
How long had she waited for someone to tell her that? It was all she wanted. To be told that everything was going to be fine. That it would all be okay. So that she didn’t feel so alone.
Maya took in a deep breath and let it out slowly. Then she nodded. It would all be okay. Of course it would.
“Just come in easy. Don’t be too loud and don’t try to touch him. Let him come to you,” she bossed.
Shoot. Would he take offense to her telling him what to do?
“Of course. I’ll do whatever you tell me to do.”
“Wouldn’t that make me in charge?”
“Of this, not of anything else.”
Dear Lord.
She might just have to kill him. Or kiss him.
It was a fine line and she didn’t know exactly on which side she was going to land.
Taking a deep breath, she reached for the handle and opened the door, walking in.
A snort greeted her and Big B walked around the end of the bed.
“Hey, Big B,” she said to the pig, walking over to scratch her behind the ears. “You doing good? Need to go potty?”
The pig butted against her, snorting happily until she caught sight of Matthieu.
Then her snorts of greeting turned to ones of alarm.
“Hey, it’s all right, Big B. This is Matthieu.”
Maya stepped back and instinctively grabbed hold of Matthieu’s hand. Big Berry backed up too, watching them both.
“He’s a friend. Matthieu is friendly, see?”
To her surprise, Matthieu crouched down. “Hey Big Berry, aren’t you a pretty girl?”
Big B snorted at him.
“I promise you’re safe with me. Want to give me a smell? Wait, is that what pigs do? Do they smell you?” he asked.
“Well, Big Berry is really a pig who identifies as a dog so I think she might sniff you,” she explained.
Her headache was back and she was starting to feel woozy. She really needed to go to sleep. All of this stress was adding to her fatigue.
Matthieu held out his hand to Big Berry who walked cautiously forward and did give his hand a few sniffs. Big B was really a hoot. Then she made a snuffly noise and backed away again toward Tank who was watching them warily from the dog crate in the corner.
Maya had learned that Tank liked his crate. He felt more secure in it. His crate was his safe space. Maya got that. She wished she had a safe space. Sometimes she hid under the covers on her bed and pretended she was in a safe space but it didn’t really work.