Total pages in book: 32
Estimated words: 29460 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 147(@200wpm)___ 118(@250wpm)___ 98(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 29460 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 147(@200wpm)___ 118(@250wpm)___ 98(@300wpm)
When my gaze returned to Jenna’s face, she raised an eyebrow. “Are you ready to listen?”
“Watch it, sunshine. You’re on perilously thin ice.”
Jenna sighed and crossed one shapely leg over the other, diverting my attention for a moment. Then I shook the effect off.
“Okay,” I ground out through a clenched jaw. “Explain to me why I found you out with your sister and the two pricks when I expressly told you no dates.”
“She—”
“Shut up, Dani,” Jenna seethed. “If he’s going to be pigheaded, then he can—“
“Baby,” I growled, interrupting her. “I might have to wait until Friday, but don’t think I won’t turn your ass cherry red.”
Jenna’s eyes flared with heat, even as she gasped in shock.
Dani giggled, drawing our attention. “What? That’s hot? Also, Jenna, I’m super pissed at you for lying to me.”
Jenna double blinked. “What?”
“You said you weren’t doing the horizontal mambo with Dr. Dreamy.”
“Stop calling him that! And who he does what with is none of your business, so stop thinking about it.”
As mad as I was, I couldn’t help smirking at the jealous steam coming out of her ears.
“Stop looking so smug, Chase,” Jenna snarked. “For your information, and only because I’m tired and want all of this over with, I went to the restaurant to get Dani.”
“Go on.”
“I told her the reservation was canceled, but she left me a message that Comden made other arrangements and told me where to meet her. I tried to call her back, but she must have been on the subway because it went straight to voicemail. Then”—she stopped and glared at her sister—“as I was walking home, I saw some of Comden and Awstynn’s friends hanging at a park. They didn’t notice me, so they just kept talking about their bet.”
“Bet?” I had a feeling I knew where this was going, and if so, Linus had better be prepared to post bail.
“About whether Comden or Awstynn would be able to close the deal with Dani or me.”
My hands clenched into fists so tight my knuckles cracked.
“You should have called me, sunshine.”
“I was afraid you’d arrive, cause a scene, and my dad would find out,” she muttered.
“You think I give a fuck about your dad when it comes to your safety?”
Jenna sighed and quickly shifted across the car to sit beside me. She placed a hand over one of mine and laid her head on my shoulder.
“I’m fine. But if you do what I know you’re thinking about, I won’t be.”
I clenched my jaw and raised an eyebrow.
“If you go to jail, I’ll be all alone. I don’t want to have to live without you.”
Something inside me cracked, and warmth spread through my chest. I didn’t want to be without her either.
“Besides, we know someone who can do far more damage to those idiots,” Jenna muttered.
“Yeah, killing them is too easy,” Dani agreed with a wicked smirk. “Tucker will make their lives a living hell.”
“Tucker Carrington?” I clarified. “Jonah’s eldest?”
Jenna nodded.
That made me feel a fuck of a lot better. Tucker took after his father, and he would run the business someday. He was as talented of a hacker as his dad, and he was just as protective.
“Fine,” I agreed grudgingly. “I’ll let him handle it. This time. But if one of those little fuckers even looks at you after this…”
“Don’t worry,” Jenna said with a grin. “Dad made sure we knew how to defend ourselves. We’ll let Tucker have ’em this time, but if they put a toe out of line again, Dani and I will make them bleed.”
With a shake of my head and a little smile, I hauled Jenna onto my lap so she straddled me. Then I cupped her face. “I’m not sure what to think about this blood-thirsty side of you, sunshine.”
“Well, if you decide you like it, please wait until I’m no longer in the car to show her how much,” Dani deadpanned.
I chuckled and touched my nose to Jenna’s for just a second, then murmured, “I love you, sunshine.”
Jenna beamed and whispered, “I love you, too.” Then she wiggled off my lap and moved back over to sit by her sister.
A smart move because if she’d stayed where she was for much longer, Dani would not have been happy with what happened next.
10
CHASE
Me:
I forgot to warn you that I’m going to talk to your dad.
Sunshine:
Are you NUTS?
Me:
Nuts about you.
It was corny, but I knew it would make her smile.
Sunshine:
Stop being cute. Obviously, you’ve lost your mind. You can’t talk to my dad before Friday.
Me:
You think I’m cute, huh?
Sunshine:
Stop changing the subject! He will literally kill you, Chase. I love my dad, but when it comes to my mom and his daughters, he’s…well, overzealous.
Me:
Relax, sunshine. Everything will be fine.
Sunshine:
If you die, I’m going to kill you. Actually, no. You know what I’ll do?
I started to type a smart-ass response when her next message popped up.