Total pages in book: 99
Estimated words: 101872 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 509(@200wpm)___ 407(@250wpm)___ 340(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 101872 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 509(@200wpm)___ 407(@250wpm)___ 340(@300wpm)
She’d felt that before
“I’m not sure why you care whether someone insults me,” she told him huffily.
“Hmm. Not sure of that myself. Just know that I do. And I’m not one to ignore my needs.”
“You need to defend me?”
“Seems that I do. And your job is to let me. And, by the way, you’d be gorgeous no matter what you wear. But, baby, those clothes . . . fucking hot.”
The guy was nuts. Gorgeous, sexy, but completely insane.
He started driving toward her place again and for the first time in her life, she really didn’t know what to say.
Was this him trying to get in her pants?
And if he wanted that would she let him? He was gorgeous. And she wouldn’t mind some fun. But Opal was trying to break old habits. She didn’t need to enter another unhealthy relationship. Doctor Susie said being on your own was healthy.
Might be healthier for her, but she was fucking lonely.
Although, to be fair, she’d been lonely when she’d had a man.
The only time she hadn’t felt lonely was when she’d been on the run with Ryleigh, Kye, and Lilac. But then she’d been too stressed to feel much else.
Living with the Malones, she shouldn’t have felt lonely. But she had.
Maybe that was just her destiny. To always be on the outside looking in.
To never quite fit in.
Stop the pity party.
Sheesh. She’d never been one to go all ‘woe is me.’ Probably because she’d always been fighting to survive.
And maybe that’s why she was so tired all the time.
Well, that and the fucking nightmares that kept waking her up.
They pulled up outside her house and he turned to her. “You’re gonna fight me on this, aren’t you?”
“Fighting is what I do,” she replied glibly as she undid her belt and reached for her door handle.
“That’s all right. I can handle a fight.”
She froze at those words.
Most men would back off, would say that she was too much work.
However, everything she said to him seemed to be like waving a red flag in front of a bull.
A very stubborn, tenacious bull.
“Stay where you are until I open your door,” he barked as he got out.
Nope.
She opened the door and climbed out. He had to learn that he couldn’t boss her around.
And she had to show him that she was more trouble than she was worth. He would figure it out sooner or later and better to be sooner, right?
But when he appeared in front of her, he was smiling. She couldn’t call it a reassuring smile.
More hungry.
Shit.
Maybe she was making a mistake. Perhaps she should be doing everything he said without argument.
So change her personality? That would be tricky.
“Don’t give me that look,” she told him, drilling a finger into his chest. “This is not some sort of mating dance that we’re involved in.”
“You don’t find me attractive?”
“A sack of rocks would find you fucking attractive,” she told him. “And you know it.”
He folded his arms over his chest, highlighting his thick biceps as they stretched against his shirt.
Lord.
He was killing her and she had to make him back off. Because she was finding it hard to resist him.
She opened her mouth to blast him. To prove to him that she wasn’t worth putting in the time.
But she found she couldn’t do it. Because she didn’t want him to leave.
“What is wrong with me? Why do I want to let you help me?”
“It’s this town,” he told her.
“Huh?”
“Out there in the real world, you have to fight every day to survive. Here in Haven, it’s like they think life is worth living. That you should relax and do things that you find fun and fulfilling. Or some bullshit like that. I don’t know. I’ve been blocking it all for years, but it gets to you. Seeps into your pores.”
“That’s it.” Finally, someone who got it.
He nodded solemnly as he opened up the back door of his truck and grabbed out a toolbox and the new light.
“Yep. It can really get to you. Watch out or you’ll start shitting daisies and spewing out rainbows. That’s when you really know you’re in trouble.”
“Well, I never!”
Fucking great.
Would this woman never leave her alone?
Opal glared over at Mrs. Grackle where she stood at the end of her driveway with Barney.
Barney was glaring at Renard for some reason, but Mrs. Grackle only had eyes for her.
Fucking fantastic.
“I’m starting to think that I need to talk to the sheriff,” Opal told her. “Because it seems like I have a stalker.”
“What? Who?” Barney asked.
“Your aunt. She always seems to be over here. It’s becoming quite the nuisance.”
And Opal was nearly at the edge of her control. She’d tried being nice, she’d tried being patient. But enough was enough.
“Me? Stalk you? I don’t think so! I’m just trying to look after the people in this neighborhood. Quiet, decent people who wouldn’t appreciate the vulgarity coming from this man.” The Grackle waved her hand toward Renard.