Total pages in book: 179
Estimated words: 170878 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 854(@200wpm)___ 684(@250wpm)___ 570(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 170878 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 854(@200wpm)___ 684(@250wpm)___ 570(@300wpm)
He did, however, brief people upon their arrival of the precautions to take to preserve Clara’s health, quizzing them on whether they’d had any illnesses in the past week and inquiring into their vaccination history.
All attendees took this in stride. Most of them were already familiar with all of the protocols in place to keep Clara safe.
There was Clara’s grandfather, for starters. He’d been a constant visitor since the moment I moved in, doing whatever it took to keep Clara safe with a love shining in his eyes that made my chest hurt.
He was always warm to me, greeting me with a hug as if I were part of the family instead of the woman hired to watch his granddaughter. He looked me in the eyes, asked questions that were personal but not too probing, remembered small details about my life—the scant amount I gave him—and made an effort to include me in conversation.
Every time I saw him, I wondered how such a warm and affable man produced such an asshole. Especially when Beau’s brother was the diametric opposite.
Elliot was always smiling, warm, amiable. He was also hot as hell, and he’d only recently recovered from an accident that happened while he was working as a volunteer firefighter, injuries he sustained while literally saving a kitten.
A kitten who Clara was in love with and had me knit a sweater for. The kitten lived with Elliot’s girlfriend Calliope, but she brought it over for visits often.
I marveled over his girlfriend, who was a stunning badass and made me almost pee my pants when talking to her. Although Calliope was never anything but pleasant to me, she scared the crap out of me. She was so put together, so confident, like no one would ever best her, no man capable of hurting her. I idolized her while wondering if she noticed my cheap clothes or my lack of backbone and found me lacking.
Not that she betrayed those thoughts. Even though she was no-nonsense, swore like a sailor, and was scary as hell, she was kind to me. And Clara adored her. Even more after she bought her a pile of extremely expensive presents, including a pair of Gucci sneakers.
“Gucci fucking sneakers?” Beau snapped at Calliope, surprising me by knowing what Gucci was. “That’s fucking insane.”
She didn’t so much as blink at Beau’s tone nor his curses, merely smiling. “Says you. I say a girl should get a designer pair of shoes for every birthday. Or every second Tuesday of the month, if she needs retail therapy. I’ll be ensuring she gets her share of that.”
“No, you’re fucking not. ” Beau was seething.
She tilted her head, arching a brow. “You’re not the boss of me. And this whole routine doesn’t work on me either.” She waved her hand at Beau’s large frame. “Be gone.” She shooed him as if he were an annoying gnat.
It amused and amazed me, the casual way she reacted to Beau, as though he wasn’t at all scary. And the two of them enjoyed a kind of banter that told me they were friends. Or something close to it. She was his sister-in-law, adored his daughter, and was generally impossible not to like.
Then came the rest of the “Jupiter Crew,” as Calliope called them. First were Avery, Kane, and their daughter. I wasn’t into extreme sports, but even I knew who Kane “The Devil” Rhodes was. He was super rich and famous and yes … extremely hot.
His easy nature, the way he remembered my name and said hi to me made me blush and trip over my words. Even though he was very married, very in love with his wife, and I wasn’t actually attracted to him beyond what anyone with a heartbeat would be. He was magnetic. Covered in tattoos, dressed as one might expect an extreme sports star to be dressed but also like a rock star. I’d never been in the presence of someone like that, who looked like an utter badass but was as friendly as could be.
Avery was more reserved but no less pleasant. I learned that she’d been some kind of fancy chef in New York City before moving here. She brought food that was so impressive and delicious it made me a little self-conscious of my cake. Though she complimented me sincerely and asked questions about my “techniques,” which both flattered and flustered me.
The other members of the crew were Fiona, Kip, and their rambunctious toddler, whom Clara loved just as much as Nora and Rowan’s girls. I’d met all of them on our trips to the bakery, though in passing. Clara still hadn’t been cleared to socialize at the time, and they’d known so kept their distance. They were all extremely friendly, genuine. Kip was playful, perpetually smiling and joking. Rowan reminded me a little of Beau, with his more serious demeanor and gruff exterior. Though he was much more polite to me than Beau ever was and melted for his wife and daughter.