Total pages in book: 99
Estimated words: 97724 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 489(@200wpm)___ 391(@250wpm)___ 326(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 97724 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 489(@200wpm)___ 391(@250wpm)___ 326(@300wpm)
“Uh, who’s your new date, Blake?” I ask him.
“I know this dog.” My brother looks defensive, which only makes me smirk. “He belongs to a patient of mine.”
“Where’s his owner?” Bridger asks.
“No idea, and that’s odd because this guy is a service dog.”
My humor leaves, and I frown at the dog. “That’s not a good sign.”
“No, it’s not,” Blake agrees, frowning with worry. “You’re a good boy, Riley. Where’s your mama, huh? Is she around here somewhere?”
“I ordered you a beer,” I inform my brother, who nods.
“Thanks.”
“How’s married life?” I ask Bridger. He married our longtime friend Dani over the holidays. “I figured you’d be rushing home to her.”
“She’ll be there when I get there.” He winks. “And married life is damn good. Dani and Birdie are decorating the house for spring tonight, so this was good timing.”
“What, you don’t want to help decorate?” Brooks asks, making us all smirk.
“I’ll leave that to my girls,” Bridger replies. “And I think they enjoy having something to do that’s just for them. They pretty much kicked me out of the house and told me it would be a surprise when I got home.”
Movement has me glancing to my right, and my breath catches in my lungs at the sight of her. The gorgeous redhead I saw in the bookstore all those months ago. She’s marching our way, and from the look on her stunning face, I’d say she’s good and pissed off. Then she opens her delectable little mouth and shocks the shit out of me.
“What in the bleeding hell is happening over here? You’ve broken my dog!”
Chapter Three
SKYLA
“There you are,” Blake Blackwell says with a charming smile. “I found Riley by himself, and I was worried.”
“I was training him.” I narrow my eyes and prop my hands on my hips. “It was an exercise for him.”
“Oops,” the one with the beard says, cringing. “You messed up, bro.”
“I apologize, Skyla,” Blake says, shaking his head.
“Did he just follow you over here?” I’m eyeing Riley, who won’t look me in the eyes because he knows he’s in deep shite.
“Yeah,” Blake says. “He did.”
“You and I are going to have a long conversation,” I inform the dog, who whines and lowers his head.
“He knows,” Beard says with a grin. “Hi, I’m Beckett.”
“Skyla,” I reply and accept his offered hand. A zing moves up my arm at the contact, and Beckett’s eyes narrow slightly as he examines me. He’s impressive, I’ll give him that. Even though he’s sitting, I can see that he’s tall and muscular with dark hair and eyes, and that beard isn’t too long, trimmed nicely, and would feel so good …
Whoa, we’re not going there.
“That’s Bridger,” Blake says, pointing at a man on the other side of the table wearing a Bitterroot Valley Fire Department shirt.
“Dani’s husband?” I ask.
“That’s me,” Bridger replies with a grin. “Dani talks about you all the time.”
“I’m so sorry I had to miss the wedding.” I frown when Beckett reaches out and pets Riley, and Riley lets him.
This dog is in trouble.
“The photos are beautiful, and it’s pleased I am for both of you. I’m sorry I couldn’t be there.”
“Thanks,” Bridger says with a smile. My friend’s right. Her husband is swoony.
“And I’m Brooks. The oldest and best looking.” Brooks stands and reaches over to shake my hand, making me smile.
“So connecting the dots, you’re Billie’s brothers, then?” I ask as I make Riley get off the bench. He still won’t look me in the eyes, but he sits dutifully at my side. These Blackwells have incredibly gorgeous genes to be sure. They all resemble each other, and the brothers are all handsome as sin.
When Beckett shifts in his chair to face me and give me his attention, it makes my lady bits take notice. They’re indeed all ridiculously good-looking, but this bearded man sets my body on fire.
“We are,” Beckett replies with that deep timbre that just begs for me to shiver.
“I’ve heard a few stories from Billie. She’s one of my very good mates here in Montana.”
“You’re welcome to join us.” Blake gestures to the empty seat between him and Beckett, but I shake my head. “We can call Billie and have her join us, too.”
“I won’t interrupt your brothers’ night out. It’s grateful I am that you broke my very expensive, supposedly trained dog.” I laugh as I pull away. “Good night to you.”
I spare Riley a glance.
“Heel,” I tell him, and he follows me dutifully out of the pub toward my car. “I can’t believe you went with Blake. You know better than that, Riley Gallagher. You can’t just follow handsome men around, you know. And we can’t tell Uncle Connor about it, or he’ll be surely good and pissed.”
He stops abruptly and turns, alerting me to footsteps behind me. He lets out a low growl as I turn to see Beckett approaching. Okay, so my dog is still doing his job.