Total pages in book: 121
Estimated words: 113812 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 569(@200wpm)___ 455(@250wpm)___ 379(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 113812 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 569(@200wpm)___ 455(@250wpm)___ 379(@300wpm)
“Not to hurt you.” He lifts his hat and holds it against his chest. “Not to rock the family dynamic. Your family means a lot to me. They feel like my own.” They, as in my brothers and my parents. Not me. He says, “I don’t want to piss off Baylor or your dad.”
“Maybe they don’t get a say in who I kiss in rivers or have sex in barns with or date at all. It’s not their decision to make for me. I’m not a kid anymore. It’s my decision. Mine alone.”
His brow furrows, and he narrows his eyes at mine as he puts the hat back on his head. Staring at me, he seems to have lost the words on his tongue.
I ask, “What?”
“Who are you having sex in barns with?”
I thought it was when he called me babe the first time, but it wasn’t. It was right now. Right here in Whiskey’s. The jealousy seeped into his tone against his permission, and although he shed that expression for indifference, I caught it clear as a bell.
Tagger Grange has a jealousy streak when it comes to me.
And this time, I’m no fool. That random comment about sex in a barn bothered him.
I grin like an idiot because this victory tastes better than being called babe ever could. I straighten my shoulders and try not to strut, but yeah, it’s impossible. I’m a freaking peacock with my feathers on full display as I walk past him. With a poke to the chest, I say, “Wouldn’t you like to know?”
He catches up next to me, and replies, “I would actually.”
“Why?” I work my way around the corner with barstools full of the regulars who are always here and toward Lauralee, who has beat me to the bar and is ordering.
“So I can kick their ass.”
Stopping abruptly, I face him with my jaw hanging and my mouth ready to catch some flies. “Really?”
A smirk lifts steadily on the right side of his stupidly handsome face, and he shakes his head. “No. My fighting days are over, but I’m not opposed to having a word or two with them.”
My gaze deviates from him to the long line of people sitting at the bar. “You’re in luck. There’s one now.”
“Where?”
“Right there. Joey Melvin.”
“What the fuck?” he mutters as he slowly turns to see him seated only a few stools away from us. A deep line cuts between his brows when he returns his eyes to mine. “Are you serious? You had sex with Joey?”
I playfully push him away and laugh. “God, no. That you believe I would is really disturbing. No way would I have sex with him.” The relief that washes over him changes the tension engulfing us since I walked in. “He’s old,” I tease just to push a few more of Tag’s buttons, hoping one day he’ll be pushing mine . . . God, so naughty. And now I can’t stop thinking about it.
“Old?” His voice clogs at the end. He clears his throat. “He’s my age.”
It was way too easy to rile him up. I laugh, grabbing his bicep. “I’m just kidding. I mean, not in the sense of he is your age because he is, but he’s not old.” I give him a wink. I feel someone like Tagger would appreciate that kind of detail to cap off this conversation.
“I need a beer. If I weren’t driving, I’d drink something heavier. You’re a handful.” His gaze dips to my mouth when I lick my lips. He looks up to the heavens like he’s asking for help before shaking his head. “Listen, Pris.”
Why is it so hot when he seems like he’s out of options and handling me like he probably shouldn’t—not as careful as if I’ll break like a dish?
“Yes?” I ask boldly, looking into his eyes as he searches for the words he wants to say.
A heavy sigh eases his chest, and his shoulders fall just enough to relax. “I don’t know what’s going on here—”
“What’s going on here?” Lauralee asks, shoving a bottle of beer in my direction.
I take the beer and a quick sip before I answer, “I don’t know. He was just getting to that part.”
“Oh, perfect timing, then,” she says with a laugh as we share a wicked exchange. Yep, she knows I got him riled up. Whether I can reel him in, though, is a whole other scenario. And more importantly, do I want to?
Should I really forgive him that quickly?
Make him pay a little longer?
Forget it ever happened, and we go on living our lives separately?
As much fun as it can be teasing him, I can tell by the regret in his eyes that this might not be the time to continue doing it. I touch Lauralee’s arm. “Do you mind giving us a few minutes?”