Total pages in book: 98
Estimated words: 92899 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 464(@200wpm)___ 372(@250wpm)___ 310(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 92899 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 464(@200wpm)___ 372(@250wpm)___ 310(@300wpm)
“Don’t be ridiculous. Let’s go.” He tossed Chickie’s leash handle at me before striding off—a neat trick that forced me to follow rather than turn back to find another ride.
I silently fumed as I fell in line behind him, pulling the pup along. She trotted happily beside me, taking quick sniffs at interesting things. Every time she leaned down, her ears dragged the ground in a way too cute to ignore. It softened my mood’s sharp edges so that when we reached Foster’s Sheriff’s vehicle, I wasn’t quite as homicidal as I’d been after my sister’s teasing.
Until Foster opened his mouth to speak.
7
FOSTER
I’d regretted coming to dinner the moment I’d arrived and seen Tommy Marian sitting at one end of the table, looking like angels themselves had laid the man gently on earth to tempt me.
The setting sun had brushed warm golden stripes across his hair and face, creating shadows that sharpened his jawline and defined the muscles under his shirt.
But then he’d looked up at me, and I’d caught the flash of hurt and confusion on his face before his eyes had skittered away again.
Tommy’s expression made me both angry and guilty. Angry because I hadn’t been the one to withhold critical information before kissing the man. And guilty because I also hadn’t been the one who’d remained professional when realizing we were going to be working at SERA together.
But now, I was even angrier for an entirely different reason. “What the fuck kind of sister calls her brother Nimrod?” I snapped as we approached the truck. “Your family is a bunch of assholes.”
Tommy’s eyes widened in surprise before his jaw clenched, and he shoved Chick’s leash into my sternum, hard. The breath punched out of me as I caught the leash out of reflex.
“Fuck you.” He turned on his heel to leave. I quickly reached out and grabbed his biceps.
“You running away again? Seems about right.”
“Leaving isn’t the same thing as running away.” He turned and shoved me off him before backing me up against my vehicle with forefinger pokes to the chest. “You don’t know shit about me, and you don’t know shit about my family. So back the fuck off.”
Tommy’s entire body leaned toward mine. His face was close enough for me to make out warm amber striations in his irises. To smell the scent of red wine on his breath.
I carefully clasped my hand around the wrist of his poking hand and lowered my voice. “Your body isn’t asking me to back off, Dr. Marian.”
I’d meant it as a tease, to provoke him and remind him of his blatant lack of self-control in Hawaii, but it came out sounding sultry and intimate. It came out sounding like pure, unadulterated want. Desire that sounded way more real and intense than I’d wanted to reveal to him. Or even admit to myself.
Tommy’s cheeks darkened. For a split second, he looked… tired. Exhausted, really. Like he’d been carrying the weight of several small planets on his shoulders.
I had a momentary flash fantasy of him stepping into my chest and simply resting there. Letting me wrap my arms around him and be a safe space for him while he gathered his strength—
But then I remembered this wasn’t a fantasy. I wasn’t heading back to SERA hand in hand with my happy boyfriend. I was facing off against my angry enemy slash reluctant obsession.
Even so, when his tongue came out to wet his bottom lip, I almost, almost leaned in to taste it. We’d done it before, after all. Hell, he’d even thanked me for it.
It was a good thing I didn’t because he might have bit my tongue clean off.
“Just because my body wants to fuck yours,” he said in a low growl, “doesn’t mean I want to hear your ignorant opinions about my family.”
The admission sent heat straight through me, swelling my dick and stealing my breath… but it was immediately followed by a cold wash of reality.
I might still want Tommy Marian, despite my better judgment. Despite his mixed-up sexuality. And despite the fact that he lived in New York…
But he was married to someone else, and no matter how much I wanted him, that was the ultimate dealbreaker.
The thought made my jaw clench.
“Forgive me for thinking you deserve better than a sister who calls you hurtful names,” I hissed.
He let out a breath and seemed to deflate. “It’s a term of affection.”
I scoffed. “That’s a shitty way to show someone affection.”
Tommy’s eyes met mine again. “Don’t tell me Anna never calls you names.”
My eyes flashed to his. He remembered my sister’s name?
I didn’t want to interpret it as anything meaningful, like him caring enough to remember. A man who’d succeeded at medical school probably had a crack-shot memory. That was all.
“She’s been known to throw an asshat my way a time or two,” I admitted before stepping back, if only to keep myself from forgetting what the word “dealbreaker” meant and doing something stupid. “But Anna would never have called me a derogatory name in public.”