Total pages in book: 120
Estimated words: 112850 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 564(@200wpm)___ 451(@250wpm)___ 376(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 112850 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 564(@200wpm)___ 451(@250wpm)___ 376(@300wpm)
Mace nodded in agreement.
I was living an actor’s worst nightmare of not being recognized, but all I could do was watch the heat flush his neck. How long had it been since anyone gave a genuine blush over a simple, obvious statement?
After a few seconds, Mace tried to remove his hand from mine. I held on tighter until our gazes collided again. Yeah, that was exactly where I wanted those pretty eyes to remain.
A dramatic clearing of a throat forced me to remember the others. Wyatt and Bryce were grinning annoyingly. Gray and Scout seemed to not understand the moment. I finally released Mace and hooked a thumb toward my annoying friends.
“These are buddies of mine from our school days. Wyatt and Scout you met earlier. Bryce and Gray got here about an hour ago.”
“It’s a pleasure. Nice to see you again, Mace,” Wyatt cooed.
For the second time in a matter of minutes, I wanted to punch Wyatt for that overly bright smile, especially after Mace acknowledged him with the tilt of his chin when I was barely able to steal a glance.
“We have the chairs in the truck. We don’t want to disturb you more than we have. I’ll put them on the porch and get out of here.” The more words Mace used, the more I liked the husky, breathy quality of his voice. I realized my reaction was extreme when goose bumps sprang forward to prickle across my skin. The only real problem with this moment was that Mace was still staring at Wyatt and not at me.
“We’ll help.” Wyatt eagerly started forward as Mace turned toward the door. My hand reached out, grabbing Wyatt’s forearm, stopping him in his tracks. The frustrated stare I gave Wyatt had Gray laughing as he passed by to help.
“I win,” Gray said over his shoulder to Bryce in some unknown bet. “That laser death ray Slade gave Wyatt would’ve drawn blood if it could’ve.”
“No. We need physical evidence of actual blood,” Bryce countered, following Gray out the door.
“Our host is having boundary issues. I’m Gray Bryant. This is my brother Bryce. We’ll grab the chairs. Are they out there?”
Mace was already down the steps, racing to his truck’s bed.
“Yeah. Max tied them down. He’ll have to release them. His knots don’t make sense to anyone else,” Lori said.
“It’s still so fucking hot outside,” Gray said, trotting down the steps. “Why do we camp this time of year?”
“I’m just messin’ with you,” Wyatt whispered, twisting his arm until I was forced to let go.
“Off limits. Swear,” I growled, my finger back in Wyatt’s face.
“You’re off your rocker or need meds,” Wyatt said, leaving me there to watch all Wyatt’s swagger as he went to help with the delivery.
Chapter 5
Mace
Completely out of my element, a rarity in my mundane life, I decided avoiding eye contact and staying silent were my best courses of actions.
Poseidon. What did that even mean besides the obvious?
Slade was an actor, a subject I knew dick about. I hadn’t owned a television for most of my adult life. I didn’t watch TV and didn’t care to. Life happened outside the box, or screen, or whichever Slade was on.
Now, with him standing a few feet away, all confident and movie-star hot, I wanted to know more.
And I didn’t like that one bit.
Of course, I’d thought about the actor for most of the day. What a ridiculous fool I’d been.
So Poseidon was here in south Texas… Doing what? Killing time?
But why?
Resisting the urge to reach for my cell phone to google this guy, I leaped from the first step to the ground, following Lori.
My brain scrambled in disappointment. All the flirting this morning meant nothing. I wasn’t Hollywood material.
What else had I missed?
Slade was one of the best-looking men I’d ever seen. Jeez. My body betrayed me again, turning hard and needy, embarrassingly aware of Slade. Heat flooded my face. How many people in Slade’s life threw themselves at him like I wanted to?
I watched my brother-in-law lower the tailgate and leap into the bed. To think I actually thought this guy was interested in me. No wonder he could spend so much money on the chairs. If the world would swallow me up right that minute, I’d still die from mortification.
“They’re beautiful chairs. Do you really make them yourself?” Slade’s voice was so close, puffs of his breath zipped over the skin of my neck. I jerked away, spinning around in overreaction. I rolled the knots in my shoulders, shaking out my arms, doing my best to keep my thumping heart inside my chest.
“You scared the shit out of me.”
“I’m sorry,” he murmured, still close, causing me to retreat another step. This time stumbling over my feet again.
Still, the world didn’t swallow me whole.
“I’m sorry,” I finally said, ducking my head.