Total pages in book: 40
Estimated words: 37734 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 189(@200wpm)___ 151(@250wpm)___ 126(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 37734 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 189(@200wpm)___ 151(@250wpm)___ 126(@300wpm)
“Never intended on it. I take a woman, it’s the real thing. We figure out how to make it work, because you will be my biggest confidante. My friend as well as my woman. We can start out with mutual respect. Go from there.”
“No cheating.”
“For either of us.”
She seemed to think about that for a while, biting her lip as she turned back to her plate, taking one slow bite after another. Once she’d finished all the fries and most of her burger, she turned her attention back to me. “OK. If you promise you won’t embarrass me or disrespect me.” She shook her head. “I couldn’t take being humiliated in any way.”
“I swear it, Talia. No one will ever disrespect you, and I’ll protect your body and your heart.”
“What about Caroline? She’ll probably object to me moving in on her mother.”
Laughter bubbled up inside me. This girl truly had no idea of her self-worth. “Linnie is pushing us together. Surely you saw that when she did. She set you up good and proper from the second she stepped out of your car. Might not have thought she’d get a chance to disappear into the back, but I guarantee you she’ll stay back there until we send for her. She’s gonna to be good with this. You’ll be good with it, too. Give me a chance.”
“What happens to me if your club doesn’t approve this?”
“You’ll go back to your daddy. I have no doubt he’d prefer it, but he’s trying to do right by both you and his club. It might not seem like it right now, but I promise you this is for the best.”
“Seems like it puts you out more than anything else. Why would you agree to this?”
“A few reasons. You intrigued me the first time I heard you play. Not only were you passionate about it, but you were exceptionally good. You threw your whole heart into it. You also took care of my daughter even though you knew you’d be in trouble with your father. You’re young, but I see a level-headed, determined young woman with a keen mind and gentle soul. When Linnie introduced us, once I figured out you weren’t her girlfriend, I knew I was going to pursue you, even if you were a friend of my daughter’s.”
That got a giggle from her. “Even if I were attracted to women, your daughter’s too young for me.” She ducked her head, but I could see she needed to hear this. She seemed eager for acceptance but unsure how to go about it. God, I could see a pleading in her eyes. Something that told me she wanted this but was too afraid to believe there could be a good outcome with this arrangement.
“You’re my daughter’s choice, Lia. If there is any way to give her what she wants, I’ll do it. But understand me. This is not only because of my daughter or the situation your dad pushed us into. I was going after you for my own reasons.”
“You actually wanted to… what? Date me? You don’t seem like the type of man to date.” She gave me a half grin, like she was trying to inject humor into the situation but couldn’t quite commit.
“Honey, if the club approves this, it will be much more than me simply datin’ you. In the eyes of the club, we’d be married. Since I believe in protecting my woman to the best of my ability, I’ll actually be marryin’ you. That way you’ll have a claim on everything I own, as long as you take care of my daughter until she’s grown. I’ll have Wrath put that in my will. Trix will likely fight you for it, but Wrath will take care of it.”
“What? Are you kidding me?”
“I can see this is going to require more conversation than we have time for here. Let’s get you settled. I assume you have things at Grim Road you’ll want to get?”
“Yes. Everything.” Her voice was soft but she seemed to be thinking rather than fretting so I didn’t push her. She had to be overwhelmed.
“I can’t take Linnie with us when we go get your things. Not until there’s an official agreement between our clubs. I’ll have to get the ol’ ladies to grab you a few things until we can go get your stuff tomorrow. Shouldn’t be hard. Once we get settled, you and I will sit down and have a long talk about what each of us wants out of this relationship. You think we can do that? Just… discuss things.”
“Yes. Seems like that’s going to be important in making this work.”
“Now you’ve got it. You finished or do you need more?”
“No. That’s all I want.” She peeked at me under her lashes, and her face and neck got red again. Yeah. Her mind was going places she wasn’t comfortable with. At least, not yet. I was pretty sure we had a good attraction to build on. God knew why I was agreeing to this, but I knew the second I agreed to take Talia to Tito’s I was keeping her. I wasn’t sure how until I saw the cunning in Rocket’s eyes.