Total pages in book: 112
Estimated words: 113272 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 566(@200wpm)___ 453(@250wpm)___ 378(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 113272 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 566(@200wpm)___ 453(@250wpm)___ 378(@300wpm)
Walking into the diner, Eli glanced around for a free table. There were several since it was still so early.
As they walked over to a booth, he stilled.
There she was.
Sitting in a booth, calmly sipping on a coffee.
Thank God. Relief hit him hard. Then it quickly morphed into anger. Why hadn’t she replied to his messages?
“Eli,” Kellan warned as he stormed toward her.
“What’s going on?” Shaw asked.
“Eli is about to lose his mind,” Kellan said with a sigh.
“He is? Why?” Shaw asked.
Eli ignored them both and placed his hands gently down on the table, leaning over. Arabella glanced up, looking startled.
The fatigue on her face was quickly replaced by a haughty mask. Her eyebrows rose slowly as though she was asking him what his problem was.
“You.”
“Um. Me?” she asked, now looking confused.
“Why haven’t you been answering my messages?” he demanded. “Or my calls?”
“I texted you back.”
“All you said was, ‘I’m fine.’ That’s not a proper reply.”
“I’m sorry, are you giving me lessons in messaging etiquette?”
“Yes, I am! Since you don’t seem to have any idea how to have a proper conversation. If someone calls, you answer. If someone texts and says where are you? Then you tell them.”
“Um, not if you hardly know them, they’re kinda bossy, and think they are in charge. Oh, and they skip out on a date that you had . . . not a date-date,” she added hastily. “But you told me to be there and then you weren’t! And now you’re mad at me for not answering your messages and calls.”
Fuck. She wasn’t wrong.
He ran his hand over his face, feeling exhausted. How did he explain the mess that was the last twenty-four hours without giving away Shaw’s secrets?
“Actually, that would be my fault,” Shaw said.
Surprise filled her face. “Shaw?”
Eli blinked down at her for a moment. She knew his brother? Then he turned to look at Shaw. How?
“Hi, darlin’,” he said with a tired smile.
“Are you all right?” she asked immediately, worry filling her face.
“I’ve been better, won’t lie. You think we could sit?” Shaw asked.
She eyed Eli and Kellan for a long moment and he braced himself for her rejection. To his surprise, she nodded and moved over. She might have expected Shaw to sit next to her, but Eli took that spot. No way did he want her trying to leave before he talked to her.
Besides, he wanted to sit next to her.
Eli was . . . drawn to her. He wasn’t sure why. She wasn’t the type of woman he was usually interested in. Mostly, he went for extroverts. Women with lots of energy and confidence.
Kellan didn’t really have a type. In fact, he’d never dated a woman on his own. They’d shared women before and that seemed to work better for Kellan.
But nothing long-term.
It had only been about play and sex.
Nothing more.
Women tended to find Kellan’s cold demeanour . . . off-putting. Although plenty of them were interested in changing him.
Fuck that.
Kellan didn’t need to be improved. He just needed someone who would understand him.
Arabella shot Eli a questioning look, moving over even further until she hit the wall at the other end of the bench seat.
Eli spread out until he was touching her. Shaw raised his eyebrows, but he just shrugged.
“Must you take up the whole seat?” she asked dryly.
“I’m a big guy.”
She snorted. “With a big head.”
He grinned and winked at her. “I could make a rude observation right now, but I won’t.”
She sighed, shaking her head. “I said Shaw could sit here. I didn’t agree to you two sitting here. I’m not sure I want to have breakfast with either of you since you stood me up for the last one.”
Eli winced.
“Eli messaged you when he could,” Kellan told her.
“Yes, he did. You didn’t.”
Kellan watched her with interest. “You wanted me to message as well? Why? That doesn’t seem logical when I would have just said the same thing.”
“Feelings aren’t always logical, brother,” Shaw told him.
Kellan nodded. “Oh, I know. My life would be far easier if they were.”
“How do the two of you know each other?” Eli asked.
“Yes,” Kellan said. “How could you have met her? I thought you hadn’t left Duncan’s in days?”
“Oh, we met years ago. Had a wild night in a bar together. There were drinks, bad dancing, and threats of spankings,” Shaw said, with a small smile.
Eli gaped at his brother in shock. “What the hell?”
“Why would you threaten to spank her?” Kellan asked Shaw. “What did she do?”
“Hey!” Arabella said. “Maybe you should be asking him what he did.”
Both Eli and Kellan were now gaping at her. She’d threatened to spank Shaw? Was she a Domme?
No. She couldn’t be, could she? She certainly didn’t give off that vibe. But maybe his instincts were off.
But, no. He didn’t think they were.
And Shaw might not be a Dom, but he also wasn’t a sub. Unless he was keeping it quiet, Eli didn’t think that his brother had ever been interested in BDSM.