Total pages in book: 90
Estimated words: 84982 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 425(@200wpm)___ 340(@250wpm)___ 283(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 84982 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 425(@200wpm)___ 340(@250wpm)___ 283(@300wpm)
“I don’t understand the fascination everyone has with him or the others. They’re not special. So, they have money. I’m a dentist.” Haines sounded defensive, as if he needed to remind us that he was here and we should be paying attention to him.
“Years ago,” Jaiden whispered, looking at Haines, “that dude who walked in with the black cowboy hat had killed a guy. In the parking lot of the pizza place. Snapped his neck, then lit a cigarette and leaned up against the car beside the guy, waiting on the cops to show up. It was crazy. And he didn’t go to prison. Now, explain that if they’re not some kind of crime lords. They have important folks at their disposal.”
I’d never actually heard the details of the supposed killing Thatcher had done. We had been kids, and I hadn’t paid attention. I had my own problems back then. I seriously doubted that Thatcher had actually broken a guy’s neck, then smoked a cigarette beside the body, waiting on the cops. That was someone making stuff up. This town was good at that.
“Don’t talk about it with them here,” Esther hissed. “I don’t want to die today.”
Jaiden nodded as if that made sense.
“Y’all, seriously,” I sighed. “Can we talk about something that isn’t made-up tales that have become more elaborate over time by the town gossips?”
“I agree,” Haines said, smiling at me.
Perfect. Now, he was going to start regaling us with more stories from his dental practice again.
• Eleven •
Why did I love how fucking awkward she could be?
Thatcher
His record was clean. So fucking squeaky that it was nauseating. I’d already had him checked out when I saw her talking to him in town a month ago. He’d been looking at her like he wanted in her pants. It hadn’t taken him long to get her on a goddamn date.
I picked up a fry and tossed it into my mouth. He’d probably be good to her. No cheating or sluts in hotel rooms on the side. He’d show up for dates. I should be fine with it.
“I swear to God, if you do something I gotta clean up,” King warned as he sat across from me. “We got a race this week.”
As if I needed reminding. Capri was leaving for New York on Wednesday. I had chosen not to go. Sebastian had left with Bloodline today. One of us always travels with the horse and crew. The urge to go had been there, bugging the fuck out of me. It was best for her if I stayed away. Well, at least from her actual life. I didn’t think I could stop watching her. That was an obsession I couldn’t seem to let go of.
“You got that crazy gleam in your eye,” King muttered, picking up his beer.
I flicked my gaze to him and tossed another fry into my mouth. Not looking in her direction might be helpful. Didn’t seem to matter that the boring-ass dentist was no threat to her. I didn’t like him. My annoyance spiked every time he leaned close to her or spoke to her.
“Do we need to get this to go?” King asked me.
Unable to help myself, I shifted my gaze to the booth Capri was sitting in. She was so close to the edge of the fucking booth that it almost made me smile. It didn’t seem like she wanted to be there. Sitting beside the prick. It was possible that was the only reason I had been able to keep from going to her. There was no threat. I might not need to dig too deep to figure out what that meant exactly.
“Thatch,” King said, and I shifted my gaze back to him.
“No,” I replied, knowing he’d been waiting for a response. “I’m not going to do anything.”
His shoulders relaxed slightly.
“It’d be more work to cover up why the dentist had been beaten to shit and tortured than it was JB,” he pointed out.
I sneered. I hadn’t planned on doing anything to the fucking dentist. Well, as long as he behaved, didn’t hurt Capri in any way, he was safe. JB had asked for it.
“I don’t care if she’s dating the dentist,” I replied, then picked up my burger and took a bite.
“I find that hard to believe, considering how I found JB,” he shot back at me.
My eyes went back to Capri. She’d liked that fucker, and he’d led her on. I’d just made sure he didn’t get a chance to do any real damage. If he had, then I’d have killed him. It was a reaction I couldn’t seem to control.
“He was lying to her. Stringing her along,” I said.
“Yeah, well, you beat him within an inch of his life because he was fucking some woman he’d picked up in a bar. That still makes no fucking sense.”