Total pages in book: 89
Estimated words: 82949 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 415(@200wpm)___ 332(@250wpm)___ 276(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 82949 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 415(@200wpm)___ 332(@250wpm)___ 276(@300wpm)
I stand there nervously when he finishes and watch as the muscles on his arms flex and tense as he moves around the edge of the boat like he’s done this a million times. He probably has. The moon isn’t full, but it’s enough to let off enough light to show his body and what he’s wearing. Jeans and a plain white tee that fit him in all the right places.
When he finally rolls to a stand, his eyes collide with mine, and I hold my breath. His features are sharp. His eyes, though I can’t make out the color right now, slant slightly in an almond shape, or kind of like he’s too lazy to really pay enough attention to look at you. His square jaw and straight nose somehow seem symmetrically perfect, and I wonder if I’m staring back at, quite possibly, the most handsome man I have ever seen. Big Boy aside. I mean…Big Boy is hot too. Wait. No, he is not. He kidnapped me and—
“Get a long enough stare, Poppet?” His words snap me out of my thoughts, and I realize I did all of that thinking while looking directly at the deep-set bow in his top lip. It curves upward in a sly smirk and heat rushes to my cheeks.
Shit.
“You have a package for me?”
His tongue sneaks out and dampens his bottom lip. “Yeah. I do.” He reaches out for me, and I catch the glint of his diamond ring hitting the moonlight. “Come with me.”
I look between his outstretched hand and his eyes. I wonder if he ever stops smirking, and why does it both terrify and excite me?
When I don’t take his hand, he kneels to come level with me as the boat rocks against the waves, hitting the jetty. “What? You don’t trust a stranger?”
I tilt my head to the side. “I don’t know. Are you someone I should trust?”
His eyes fall down my body, stopping where the hoodie ends and exposes my thighs. “That depends.” He leans forward, popping open a compartment between us and pulling out a pair of flip-flops. He drops them on the jetty. “Do you want me to lie?”
My phone vibrates again, and I quickly reach into my pocket, desperate for a distraction, even for a second while I figure out my options. Admittedly, I’m well aware I have none, but for some reason, I assumed I would be collecting something, and then taking it back to Big Boy.
I swipe the phone unlocked and hit speaker, since I already recognize the number.
“Get your ass off the boat, Shiloh.”
I keep my eyes on the guy in front of me. “What’s your name?” I’m asking the one on the phone, but the one in front of me deepens his grin, flicking the corner of his mouth with the edge of his thumb as he steps backward, leaning against a pillar. He looks amused, as if he’s waiting for the answer just as much as I am.
“Sparrow. Now get off the boat.”
The one in front of me slips from his position, his smirk falling slightly.
Hitting the red button, I push my phone back into my pocket and climb out of the boat, slipping my feet into the flip-flops. My feet sit snug inside them, and somehow, it’s a perfect fit.
“Ready to go?” The smirk is back, and I try my best to ignore him when he closes the distance between us. “Follow me.”
I stay close behind him, while remaining a safe distance away so that I’ll at least have a shot of running if I need to. When the jetty turns into dirt, a small RVR idles to the side, with headlights beaming into a dirt track ahead of us.
I turn over my shoulder slightly, taking one last glance at the boat that waits on the jetty, before squeezing the door handle and hopping into the passenger seat.
“Do you trust me now?” he asks, and I turn in my seat to face him.
“What’s your name?”
He chuckles, tapping the accelerator a few times to rev the engine. “Is this how you figure out whether or not you trust someone? Because I hate to tell you this, baby girl, but that’s a shit system.” He drives us forward, and trees whip around the metal of the car as the wind braids my hair.
“I didn’t say that. I just want to know your name.”
“Well, it’s going to be a lot harder to get that out of me than what Row just did.”
I push into the chair, watching as the shadows from the trees and dark night dance around us. He speeds up when the road becomes bumpier, tossing me up into the air every few seconds. “Should my other question be where are you taking me? I feel like it should be.”
He doesn’t answer, and I breathe out a sigh as I quit asking questions. What was the appeal to Cooper for wanting to play this ridiculous game to begin with, or anyone who was interested? A cold chill wraps around the base of my neck and I wrap my arms around myself, looking up ahead of us. The headlights beam bright, and the only reason I know that we’re still on an actual road is the worn tire tracks from years of being driven through, otherwise it would look like we were driving through the forest.