Total pages in book: 141
Estimated words: 132657 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 663(@200wpm)___ 531(@250wpm)___ 442(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 132657 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 663(@200wpm)___ 531(@250wpm)___ 442(@300wpm)
She chuckled. “I don’t know that would have worked. I probably would have told you to pound sand and kicked you out. I definitely wouldn’t have allowed you in my club. In this case, Jensen was probably right about how to approach me. When you first showed up, I wasn’t in a place to even talk about Jensen. I was licking my wounds.”
He brushed back her hair and breathed in her scent. It felt so good to be sitting here with her. “And I was simply trying to get through the days because I think in the back of my head I’ve been waiting for the call. Waiting for someone to tell me he was dead and then I would be alone in the world. Then I was lost in the club and all these new friends I was making. I felt like I belonged somewhere for the first time in a long time.”
She was quiet for a moment. “I want to stay mad.”
He felt so much for her. What he’d done wasn’t fair, but he wanted to make up for all of it. He loved her and that meant giving her space and time to decide what she wanted. “It’s okay. You can stay that way for a while. You can sit and stew on all of the crap we put you through, and we’ll talk when you’re ready.”
“What if Jack can’t close this case in the next couple of weeks? What are you going to do? Who’s even opening the gym?”
“I have employees,” he replied with a chuckle, letting his hand stroke the curve of her hip. “Before we had that long talk with Taggart, I texted my assistant manager. He’s going to run the place for another few days. He and a couple of the trainers will keep it open.”
“And after? If this goes on for weeks or months?”
He shrugged. Strangely, he wasn’t worried. If he lost it all, he would start over. He didn’t feel the same way about her. “We’ll deal with it as it comes. You’re more important.”
“You know you weren’t included in that assassination order,” she pointed out. “You should be able to go back to your normal life. Hamilton doesn’t know how you’re involved. I can call Big Tag and have him assign you a bodyguard. You don’t have to give everything up.”
“Or you could convince Gabe to not hate my ass and find a couple of my fellow club members who’ll fill in for a while. Like we all do when someone’s sick or needs help.” He’d worked in a bakery for a couple of days when a sub had her wisdom teeth out and couldn’t keep up with her work. Some of The Hideout members had worked shifts for her and gotten her back on her feet. It was what they did. The Hideout was their community. If there was one thing he was afraid of losing beyond Harlow, it was his place in that beautiful found family.
“I’ll talk to him,” she promised. “I won’t let him kick you out. He’s being an overprotective big brother. Or he’s showing off for Gigi. I can’t tell what’s happening with those two. But I’m serious. You should think about this. I don’t know what’s going to happen with Jensen. I think Jack will work a deal out with him, but I don’t know how long it’s going to take. I also don’t know how bad it got after he pushed me out.”
“I know he wouldn’t physically hurt anyone.”
“Do you? Because I watched him get pretty rough with some of the guys in the organization. He had to in order to move his way up. They don’t let you hang out and refuse jobs. He’s had to run drugs and knock heads together and likely some other things I don’t want to know about.”
She was giving him exactly the opening he needed. “And he didn’t want that for you.”
“I know,” she agreed. “I know why he did what he did. Personally, I think I could have manipulated the situation in a way that got me out of any rough stuff, but he didn’t give me a chance. He didn’t even talk it out with me.”
“I was scared you wouldn’t listen so I didn’t even try, and that was my bad call,” a deep voice said. “If you did the same thing to me, I would be so angry, Harlow. I was playing a role in my head with you. I was martyring myself to save you from something you might have been able to handle. Or at least you could have understood why I wanted you out. Sorry. I woke up and y’all weren’t there.”
She frowned. “So you thought we were out here cheating or something?”
Oh, she was prickly. “No, princess. He thought we might be dead.”