Total pages in book: 118
Estimated words: 111986 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 560(@200wpm)___ 448(@250wpm)___ 373(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 111986 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 560(@200wpm)___ 448(@250wpm)___ 373(@300wpm)
Khloë nodded. “We can’t be the ones to bring this fucker down, Grams. We can help find who hired the hunters, but then we have to tell Harper and Knox what we know.”
Jolene hissed. “All right.”
“You promise?” asked Harper. Her grandmother was a terrific liar, but she wouldn’t break a promise to someone she cared for.
Exhaling a put-out sigh, Jolene said, “I promise that I won’t overstep by killing the person behind the attack if I find them first.”
Harper smiled. “Thank you.”
“But I won’t hide that I’m looking for them. If I didn’t seek to avenge my own granddaughter, it would make me look weak.”
That was true. “Fine.”
Jolene kissed her cheek. “You take care. And get some sleep. You look like crap.”
“You make me feel so loved, Grams.”
“I do, don’t I?”
As Knox entered the studio later that day, he saw a yawning Harper do a long, languid stretch. His jaw clenched at the sight. He should have insisted on her staying home. Not that it would have achieved anything. His mate did her own thing. It was something he respected, but it also frustrated him at times.
His demon cheered up a little now that she was close. It had pushed Knox all damn day to go to her; check on her; stay with her.
Spotting him, Harper smiled as she put on her jacket. “Hey. How was your day?”
“Boring.” He crossed to her and breezed his thumb along the black smudge beneath her eye. “You’re tired again.”
“A little.”
Tanner snorted at the understatement, and she shot him a narrow-eyed look.
Raini ushered them all toward the door. “I need to lock up.”
After the studio was secure and the girls said their goodbyes and headed off, Harper looked up at Knox. “So, where are we going?”
Since Knox would rather she got some rest, he was about to suggest they go straight home when she spoke again.
“I hope it’s a place with food. I’m hungry.”
“You’re hungry?” Well, that made a nice change. If taking her somewhere meant she’d eat a little, then that was what he’d do. “Where do you want to go?”
“You’re asking me to choose what we do?”
He sifted his hand through her hair. “I like surprising you, but you’re too tired for the surprise I had in mind. You pick what we do.”
“You’re not going to be pleased about it,” she warned.
Knox stilled. “You don’t want to go back to the rodeo, do you?” Because that would be a big no.
She gave a soft chuckle. “Nothing as wild as that. I just really feel like ice cream.”
“Ice cream?”
“Yeah. And you’re more of a ‘Five Star restaurant’ kind of guy than a simple ice cream parlor person.”
“I know a good place to get ice cream.”
Her brow furrowed. “There’s a parlor on the corner.”
“I know somewhere better.”
“Really? Well, I don’t care where we go as long as there’s ice cream. Lead the way.”
Tanner and Levi flanked them as Knox led her down the strip to one of his hotels. While some places were closing, others were being opened and street vendors were setting up. The Underground would only get busier as the hours went on.
When they finally arrived at the luxury hotel and the automatic doors swished open, the cool air conditioning slid over them. As usual, some of the employees rushed to him with questions. Hiding his impatience, Knox answered them quickly and directly without breaking stride. He then guided Harper to the rear of the hotel and through a glass door. The quiet chatter of the lobby was quickly replaced by the sounds of children’s laughter, spoons scraping bowls, and the whir of a blender. “Well, here we are.”
Harper’s eyebrows flew up. It was nothing like your standard ice cream parlor, she thought. It was more like a cute, chic restaurant. The décor was white and gold, and had an almost royal look about it.
There were glass-covered cases with several tubs of different colored – and, according to the sign, award-winning – ice creams. But instead of customers lining up at the counter, they sat comfortably while waiters took their orders.
“I had no idea this was here.” Then again, she’d had no reason to come to these places before meeting Knox.
Harper plucked the menu from the stand. Damn, there were so many choices – so many different flavors, so many different toppings, and so many different syrups. They had everything, from typical flavors like vanilla and chocolate to others such as cotton candy and piña colada.
When the host appeared, she ordered a waffle cone of salted caramel covered in butterscotch syrup and little chunks of honeycomb. When the waiter walked away, she frowned at Knox. “You’re not ordering anything?”
“There’s no point,” he said.
“Why?”
“Because I’ll get so distracted watching you eat that my ice cream would end up melting all over my hand.”
Chuckling, she returned the menu to the stand and then rubbed her chilled hands together. It was a lot colder than the hotel lobby, but Harper supposed it had to be or the ice cream would easily melt. It was only right then that she noticed that Levi and Tanner hadn’t followed them inside. “Where are the sentinels?”