Total pages in book: 54
Estimated words: 48700 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 244(@200wpm)___ 195(@250wpm)___ 162(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 48700 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 244(@200wpm)___ 195(@250wpm)___ 162(@300wpm)
"Understood," he wheezes.
As I step back, Slim clears his throat. "Guess we're square now," he says, his gaze lingering on Phantom's prone figure.
"Not quite. That was for Kylie. He still owes me for the damage he did to my bar." I look out at the row of bikes. "Which one is his?"
Phantom actually whimpers this time, a pitiful, broken sound.
"You goin' to take his bike, Memphis?" Slim asks, dry amusement in his voice. "That's stone fucking cold."
"Nah, he can keep it. I don't need his shit. But I am going to leave it in the same goddamn condition he left my bar in," I growl, stomping down the porch. "So which is his?"
"Second from the end."
"Slim, please," Phantom groans like I just threatened his balls. "Not the fuckin' bike."
"Shut the fuck up, Phantom. Your ass is lucky he's leaving it at all. If it were me, I'd set the goddamn thing on fire and make you watch it burn," Slim snarls, spinning on Phantom with narrowed eyes. "You went in his house and touched his woman. You're lucky he left you breathing, you dumb son of a bitch. If it were me, they wouldn't even know where to start looking for your body."
Phantom's bloody face pales, but he shuts the fuck up.
Slim is right, though. He is getting off easy. In another life, I would have killed him. It's what I want to do now. But I'm not that man anymore. I have Kylie to think about now. And I can't fucking kill him when it means I risk being dragged from her side. That, I won't do.
She may think there is no us, but she's wrong about that. There is nothing but us, no future except for us.
One goddamn way or another, I intend to prove it to her.
Chapter Six
Kylie
"Memphis!"
I glance up from the table I'm wiping down to see a raven-haired beauty in a pin-up dress fling her arms around Memphis at the side of the bar. Jealousy churns through me, threatening to eat me alive.
Whoever she is, she's gorgeous. Her black hair is pinned up on top of her head, pieces of it curled around her face. Her dress fits her like a glove, showing off her curves.
Memphis leans close to say something to her, grinning from ear to ear. He's been at the bar most of the night, talking to a hot Viking with incredible gray eyes and a gorgeous man in a suit who looks like he could be a businessman, except the darkness in his eyes makes him seem a little dangerous. But Memphis, the businessman, and the Viking seem to know each other well. But he hasn't smiled like that since I ran out of his office last night.
Guilt whispers through me at the reminder.
I've been miserable. I haven't been able to shake the memory of his touch, the way he brought me to climax with an intensity I know no one else will ever make me feel.
I've been trying to keep my distance all night, knowing I need to tell him the truth about who I am. But it's hard when he looks like that—all tattoos and smoldering cobalt eyes.
Said cobalt eyes shift from the woman to the gorgeous behemoth standing between her and the hot Viking. Only then do I realize that she's here with the giant.
"Cash, good to see you, brother," Memphis says, grinning at the man as he holds his fist out for him to bump. His knuckles are scraped and bruised as if he hit something.
What the heck? When did that happen?
The giant inclines his head, bumping fists with him. "You too, Memphis. I told her not to come harassing you. She wouldn't listen."
"Does she ever?" Memphis grins.
"I do what I want, Cash Jamison." The woman hops up onto a barstool, scowling at both of them. "Besides, he skipped practice today. Someone needs to harass him, and Ronan isn't going to let Winter within a thousand feet of this place."
"I shouldn't let you that close either," Cash rumbles, glancing around as if he isn't so sure he should be here. Not that I can blame him. Memphis runs a tight ship, but the bar has a decidedly rough edge to it.
Even before the fight, it felt like the kind of place no one respectable should visit after dark. And these two have respectable written all over them. Unless I miss my guess, they come from money—and a lot it.
If Memphis is offended by Cash's comment, he doesn't show it. He just laughs, glancing at the woman again. "What are you drinking tonight, Riley?"
"Whatever you're paying for," she says pertly, smirking at him. "You skipped practice today. You owe me. Alcohol. Tears. Pain. Any of the three will suffice." She bats her lashes at him, a savage look on her face that makes me laugh.