Total pages in book: 94
Estimated words: 91286 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 456(@200wpm)___ 365(@250wpm)___ 304(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 91286 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 456(@200wpm)___ 365(@250wpm)___ 304(@300wpm)
“Yeah, that was Belinda.” May as well give credit where credit’s due.
“I know y’all are swimming in money with your mermaid tanks and thousand-dollar-a-night rooms, but for local folk that Wolf is screwing, a five-hundred-dollar fine isn’t chump change. That’s groceries.”
I let out a whistle. Fucking Belinda. I’m feeling less and less guilty about the dick move I pulled in her office.
“So glad I didn’t pitch these.” Sloane stretches on her tiptoes, her little yellow sundress climbing high, her calf muscles straining.
“Careful,” Rebel warns, stalling on her task, her brow furrowed with worry as she watches her boss. Skye’s face doesn’t look much happier.
The crazy woman is going to fall.
“Need any help?” I ask, moving in closer.
“Nope,” Sloane declares curtly, while Skye and Rebel chirp, “Yes!” in unison. Even in the poor lighting, I don’t miss the pleading look in their eyes, the way their heads bob.
They’ve strung three signs up already. I shine my phone flashlight on the closest one. “‘Wolf Empire Tainted by Death and Scandal.’ It’s a little broad if you ask me.”
“If you’re here to convince me to not do this, you’re wasting your breath. You may as well go home to your beach mansion.”
“I’m not here to convince you of anything.” Other than to get off that ladder. “I figured another set of hands will make it go faster.” I’m vibrating with energy. It could be the tension, or it could simply be seeing Sloane again.
She pivots on the ladder rung to face me. I wish those eyes weren’t hidden by the dark so I could read them. “You want to help me put all my signs back up?”
“I can think of other things I’d rather be doing, but sure.”
There’s just enough light to make out the corners of her mouth twitch before she returns to tying her knot.
Skye and Rebel share a private glance. They’ve been roped into this insanity against their will.
I nod toward the house and the trailers.
Skye’s head bobs in understanding. “Oh, you know what? I forgot my water. I’m just going to grab it back at my place—”
“Same! And more string!” Rebel adds.
I take over holding the ladder, and with a mouthed “good luck” from Rebel, the two girls trot off through the trees, stumbling in the dark.
“You abandoning me too, Frank?” Sloane asks.
“Yup. You got it from here?” Frank’s big, bushy brows climb halfway up his forehead. They seem to say so much.
You won’t let her fall?
You’ll talk her off the ledge?
You’ll take good care of her?
“I’ve got her.”
With one last furtive look at Sloane, he ambles back the way he came.
“Aim this on the branch for me?” Sloane tosses her flashlight down. I have to move fast to catch it, the beam of light inadvertently shining upward, showing off white panties beneath her skirt.
“Not exactly dressed for climbing trees.”
“It’s not what I expected to be doing tonight.”
“That makes two of us.” I’d so much rather be peeling those off her in bed. My dick jumps at the thought.
“You don’t have to stay.”
“There’s nowhere else I’d rather be.” Even if I’m catering to this insanity.
“I think that one’s good.” With her last knot tightened, she climbs down. “You can let go now.”
“Not a chance. The ground here is uneven.”
“Suit yourself.” She keeps moving, her ass bumping my face on her way down.
The urge to pin her body and bury my tongue between her legs is overwhelming, but I can read the room—or dark, gnarly treed area—and her mood does not say Enter, so I resist, instead getting some enjoyment from the way her body rubs against mine as she continues until her feet touch the ground.
“You can move the ladder over—”
“Hey.” Gruffness laces that single word as I dip down to kiss her neck.
Her body shudders with a soft sigh, and after a beat, she tips her head to give me better access.
I greedily take it, inhaling her scent as I nip at her skin. “I’m sorry,” I whisper.
“It’s not your fault.”
Taking a step back, I seize her hip, guiding her body around to face me. “It was a shit thing for Belinda to do.”
Sloane’s gaze drifts in the darkness toward the beach. “Gigi built that fire pit when she first moved here. Sea Witch staff has sat around it every night during the season for decades. There are so many good memories, and it’s never been an issue until now. Why couldn’t she just let us be?” She sounds so defeated.
“She’s jealous.”
“Of what?”
“Of you.” Was Belinda planning on reporting Sloane’s fire anyway? Probably, but I helped solidify that decision for her. I hesitate. “She propositioned me yesterday, and I turned her down, then showed up with you at dinner.”
Her jaw drops. “She hit on you? She’s your boss. That’s harassment. You can go to HR. You can have her fired—”