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)
“Oh, that’s really kind. Thank you.” She hadn’t expected that. “I don’t. But if you wanted to stop by for cake and coffee, I’d love that.”
“Ooh, cake.” Laken clapped her hands. “Yummy, it’s a date. Shaw and I will be over on Saturday.”
“Awesome. Do you both work here?” she asked.
“I do not work here,” Shaw huffed. “I’m just here doing time.”
“Hey!” Laken complained. “Are you saying that being around me is doing time?”
Shaw stood with a smile and kissed the top of her head. “No. But a woman’s clothing store is not the sort of place I would normally choose to spend my time. Now, where is that box going?”
“Oh, everything needs to be steamed. Put it by the steamer, please. I’ll do it later. I don’t have the energy for steaming right now.”
“I can do it for you if you like,” Arabella offered as Shaw moved away. “I’m pretty good at steaming.”
“I couldn’t ask you to do that!” Laken said.
“Oh, but I’m offering. As payment for hiding me”
Laken grinned. “And I’m guessing not telling Eli and Kellan about this?”
“Yep. Please.”
“All right. I’ll even keep Shaw quiet. I have stuff on him.” Laken winked at her. “By the way, Eli and Kellan said we have you to thank for Shaw smiling again.”
“I really don’t think that’s true,” Arabella told her.
“Oh, I don’t know. I haven’t seen him smile since before he was injured. And now you’re here and he’s smiling and joking. I think you’ve given him something else to focus on.”
“Um. What’s that?” she asked.
“Getting you together with his brothers,” Laken said with a grin.
“Not happening. That’s not . . . we’re not . . . no.”
Laken giggled. “Oh, we’re going to be good friends. Come on, let me show you the steamer.”
An hour later, she left the shop with Horse with a smile on her face and only one burn from the steamer.
Oh, and a new friend.
She was going to take that as a win.
“Really? She ducked away from us?” Eli asked as Shaw told him about his encounter with Arabella that morning.
They were all at Duncan’s place. He was cooking them dinner on the grill. Remington was here as well.
Eli shared a look with Kellan. Why would she run from them?
“Relax, guys, I think it’s a good thing,” Shaw said. There was a flush of red on his cheeks and Eli felt something ease inside him. He’d been so stressed about losing Shaw.
“Yeah, I always consider it a good thing when women run from me,” Remington joked.
“I would think you’d be pretty used to it,” Kellan said.
Shaw and Remington turned to gape at Kellan. Even Duncan turned away from the grill to stare. And Duncan took his grilling seriously.
Laken was inside sitting with her feet up. Which Duncan had been very firm about.
Eli completely agreed. She looked exhausted. If she was his wife, he didn’t think he’d let her work at all while pregnant.
Suddenly an image of Arabella with a large belly filled his mind. Jeez. Did he want that?
Part of him did.
He needed to calm down. He could barely get her to talk to them. Hell, she’d just run from them today. And the other morning she wouldn’t have eaten breakfast with them if he hadn’t been so pushy about it.
“Did you just make a joke?” Remington asked. “He did, didn’t he? I didn’t imagine that.”
“I don’t joke,” Kellan said. “I just figured that most sensible women would run from you.”
“Asshole.” But Remington smiled.
“What are you going to do? Do you want to pursue this girl?” Duncan asked. “Because it sounds like she’s not so sure about that.”
“Oh, I wouldn’t say that,” Shaw said.
“Yeah?” Eli tried to sound casual. He still wasn’t completely sure how Kellan felt about this situation. But he seemed slightly intrigued by her.
“I would say proceed gently, but don’t stop. And whatever you do, don’t back away. Because she’s been hurt in the past and she will need to know that she’s worth fighting for,” Shaw told him.
Duncan turned to point at them both. “So make sure this is what you really want. Because you don’t mess with a Haven woman.”
Eli’s temper stirred. “You don’t need to tell us that. We know how the town works.”
“So,” Remington said. “Any news from Tucker?”
“Not yet. I’ve got someone tracking him down,” Kellan said. “He’ll find him.”
It was concerning that he hadn’t found him yet.
Eli knew he and Kellan would need to go home soon. Usually, Kellan would be pushing for them to go home after a day or so. But they kept finding reasons to stick around.
“I hope so,” Shaw said. “But he really doesn’t have to come home if he doesn’t want to. Same with the others.”
Ducan turned to point at him. “Wyatt and Carson will be here tomorrow or the day after. They’re visiting for a week. I’d like to see them even if you don’t. Joe’s coming as well. I’d appreciate it if you didn’t tell them to get lost straight away.”