Total pages in book: 159
Estimated words: 155775 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 779(@200wpm)___ 623(@250wpm)___ 519(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 155775 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 779(@200wpm)___ 623(@250wpm)___ 519(@300wpm)
She nibbled at her thumbnail, looking unsure.
“Why don’t you send your sisters a message telling them that you will meet them at the hotel?” Ralen suggested. “If we don’t hear from them in an hour, we’ll take you there and see if they’ve come back.”
“And if they haven’t, we’ll go from there,” Cash reassured her. “I know someone who might have an idea of how to find them.”
Ink would be thrilled to be woken in the middle of the night with this. Maybe Cash could just talk to Brody on his own. See if he had any ideas on how to find them.
“Why did you get into the back of Cash’s pickup?” Ralen asked. “Was it just because you were running away from the brawl?”
She looked worried again.
Hmm. It seemed it might not have been the brawl or she would have just nodded, right?
“Addie,” Cash said as he leaned forward to stare into her eyes. “Why did you hop into the back of my pickup and hide?”
He’d assumed, like Ralen, that it was due to the brawl. She did seem rather nervous and the type who would hide. Look at her right now. She was hiding under a blanket. But what if it wasn’t just the brawl? What if there was something else?
Had someone hurt her?
His temper stirred. Cash could be hot-headed sometimes. He was trying to control it, but it wasn’t always easy. And a woman being hurt was his biggest trigger.
Addie was pale and nibbling on her thumbnail. There was definitely something else.
“Addie,” he said in a low voice. “Tell us what it was.”
She shook her head and he shared a look with Ralen. They couldn’t force her to talk to them.
Unfortunately.
She sent messages to both of her sisters. They had to be worried about her. Why they’d all gone to that fucking shitty bar in the first place, he had no idea.
That was something else he’d like to ask them.
As well as why the hell they’d let themselves get separated from their vulnerable sister. It was clear that Addie needed someone to take care of her.
Cash shuddered as he thought about what could have happened to her if she’d climbed into the back of someone else’s vehicle.
Thank fuck she’d chosen his pickup. It had to be some sort of sign or fate.
He was meant to take care of her.
Until you find her sisters, right?
Because you’re not in a position to take on any responsibilities. And you don’t really need a girl. Especially not one who was so . . . delicate. Vulnerable.
It was clear that she’d need a lot of care and attention. Guidance. And he couldn’t provide any of that.
Not when his life wasn’t actually his own.
But he would get her safely back to her sisters. And talk to them about taking better fucking care of her.
After an hour had passed, they grabbed her things and got ready to leave. She placed the blanket on the sofa.
Cash took her hand in his and led her out of the townhouse. She was either too shocked to fight his hold or she liked holding his hand as much as he enjoyed holding hers, because she clung to him as they headed to his vehicle. A shiver ran through her and he frowned.
“You didn’t bring a jacket?” he asked, slipping his off and putting it around her shoulders.
She attempted to shrug it off, but he held it there. “Keep it on or you’ll catch a cold.”
“You don’t really catch a cold from being cold,” Ralen pointed out as he headed around to the passenger’s side of the cab.
Cash just shot him a look. He didn’t need his logic right now. She needed to wear the jacket.
And that was that.
He opened the door to the driver’s side. This was a single cab with a bench seat. It was an older-style pickup that didn’t have power steering or any sort of cameras.
Just the way he liked it.
Without warning her, he grasped hold of her hips and lifted her straight in. She let out a small squeal of shock. But he quickly let her go and she scooted along the seat so she was between them.
Christ.
That ass was a thing of beauty.
And he shouldn’t be staring at her this way.
Fuck. You need to stop.
“Belt on. You’re not riding without it,” he said in a gruff voice as he turned on the truck. Ralen shot him a look over her head as if asking him what his problem was.
Yeah, he didn’t want to know.
They were all quiet as he backed out of the driveway and headed toward the hotel.
He turned a corner too fast and she leaned into him.
Christ.
She smelled so damn good. And she felt even better pressed against him.
Cash was growing hard and he shifted around, trying to get more comfortable and hoping like hell she didn’t notice.