Total pages in book: 155
Estimated words: 154379 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 772(@200wpm)___ 618(@250wpm)___ 515(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 154379 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 772(@200wpm)___ 618(@250wpm)___ 515(@300wpm)
Turning from him, I wound through the crowd and headed for the round table where I’d left my purse and coat.
Theo somehow made it there before me, and he unclasped the hook on the rope to let me through.
I slipped into my coat while he moved over to the booth and slung into his leather jacket. He shared a couple words with Cash that I couldn’t make out before he came striding back my way.
Dark thunder rolled beneath my feet.
“You ready?” he asked, that casual confidence gliding back into his demeanor, as if what had happened on the dance floor hadn’t affected him at all.
“Sure.”
He grabbed my hand. I should have yanked it away, but instead, I let him lead me through the throng that was packed shoulder to shoulder in the club.
His palm a current against mine.
Energy pulsed through the connection. A buzz that burned through my body as he cut a path through Kane’s.
I thought every person there must feel the same danger oozing from him that I’d sensed the first time I’d seen him.
Because the sea parted and allowed us to pass.
When the bouncer manning the door saw us coming, he opened it, and the giant of a man dipped his head as he said, “Goodnight, Theo. Be careful out there.”
“I always am,” Theo returned. He hauled me through the door and out into the wintry bite.
I shuddered against it, and Theo tucked me against his side to shelter me from the freezing wind that cut through the trees.
“Another storm is supposed to be comin’,” he rumbled low as he hurried us toward the parking lot that ran the side of the club.
He clicked the fob on his keys, and the lights flashed as we approached his truck. He kept one arm bound around me as he used the other to open the passenger door.
I gasped a surprised sound when he moved behind me and grabbed me by the waist so he could hoist me up into the high cab.
A long groan left him as he stalled midway, just as one of my knees hit the seat and my body bent over a fraction.
“Fuck me, Piper. This ass could do a man in. The things I would do to it.”
I realized it was basically in his face, the skirt of my dress so short he was likely getting a peek at my white satin underwear.
I hurried to shift around and plopped onto the seat.
I sent him a glower. “Is that why you wanted to give me a ride, Theo Mallin? So you could steal a peep at my panties?”
His thumb came out and stroked along my jaw. “No, Piper. I needed to give you a ride so I could see to it that you make it home safe.”
Then wickedness hooked at the edge of his mouth. “That peek at your delicious ass was just a bonus.”
He backed out and shut the door before I could form a rebuttal, and he rounded the front of the truck and climbed in on his side. He pushed the button for the ignition, and his truck rumbled to life. He shifted into gear, and his arm came up to the back of the seat as he peered behind him to back out.
Severity rolled off him in waves.
The man a dichotomy.
Razor sharp and ridiculously sweet.
I didn’t know which was the true exterior.
Which was the front covering for the other.
He made a left at Culberry Street, and he kept our speed slow as we drove through the main part of the sleeping town.
I could feel him working up to something, and he finally glanced over at me as his big, tattooed hands clenched and flexed on the steering wheel. “So, you got a job at Ivy Threads?”
There was a question woven in the obvious.
Blowing out a sigh, I fiddled with the hem of my coat that I hadn’t bothered to zip. “We decided to stay for a bit.”
His sharp brow arched. “A bit? Meaning you’re moving here?”
My eyes were glued to my lap. “Temporarily.”
Because I had no idea how long we could stay before we had to run. How long I could sit idle when it felt like the only thing I was doing was making us targets.
“And where are you moving from?” he pushed.
Panic bubbled up from the depths.
There it was.
He was digging into the places I was pretty sure he could already see. As if he’d already come to his own conclusion, and he wanted me to confirm it.
I hefted a casual shoulder. “We move around quite a lot.”
“Yeah, figured that. But where is home?” Those eyes flashed to me for a beat.
A gusty sigh blew between my lips. “I don’t have one of those, Theo.”
God, was I really admitting this to him?
Agitation burned through my veins, my nerves firing with reticence.