Total pages in book: 26
Estimated words: 24331 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 122(@200wpm)___ 97(@250wpm)___ 81(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 24331 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 122(@200wpm)___ 97(@250wpm)___ 81(@300wpm)
I don’t even care. What I got is infinitely more valuable to me than all the money in the world.
“Did you get paid?” I ask her.
She nods. “One million dollars. I already sent it to my family, for… you know.”
I squeeze her hand and give her a warm smile. “I’m sure that’s going to go a long way in helping them forgive you.”
She smiles back at me in gratitude. “I hope so.”
We head to the house and when I’m sure the coast is clear, I let out Snoops and let him run around. He falls in love with Daisy immediately and will barely leave her side.
I leave the two of them to get to know each other as I head in and make some breakfast. It’s a beautiful summer morning, so we eat on the porch and talk and laugh. If the rest of my life is like the past ten hours, then I’m going to die a very happy man.
“Where did you live?” I ask her when I realize that I have no idea where she’s from.
“My family is from Arizona, but I moved to Silicon Valley for work. I never want to go back there.”
“Where do you want to live?”
She smiles to herself as she watches Snoops smelling everything in the distance. The dog is going nuts running around the valley, smelling all the unusual scents from last night.
“This place is kinda nice,” she says in a shy tone. “I’ve always loved the mountains.”
She looks so hopeful and vulnerable when she turns to me.
“What do you think of that?”
“I wouldn’t let you leave if you tried,” I say with a grin. “You’re staying here with me forever. We’ll fill this big house full of cute babies. What do you think of that?”
She smiles as her cheeks turn an adorable shade of pink. “That sounds like fun…”
We stare at each other for a long moment, both of us unable to wipe the goofy smiles off our faces. The sound of a jet flying in the air ruins it.
I hear it first.
“Snoops!” I call out with a whistle. He darts across the valley and returns to the porch with his tongue hanging out.
“What is it?” Daisy asks, but then she sees the jet approaching. “Oh.”
“They’re coming to take me back?” Daisy asks with a nervous quiver in her voice as the jet lands on the dirt runway.
I pull off my shirt and flex my arms, waking my bear up. “I won’t let them.”
My grizzly bounds to the surface with a snarl. Not yet, I tell him. But be ready.
He growls inside as the jet slows to a stop.
“Go hide inside,” I tell Daisy. I knew I shouldn’t have brought her here. What was I thinking?
“No,” she says as she puts a hand on my flexed shoulder. “I want to stay with you. We can work this out together.”
I look at the fierce determination in her blue eyes and nod. “Stay behind me.”
The door opens on the plane and the stairs slowly lower to the dirt as we make our way over. Snoops stays close to me.
My fists tighten and my bear growls when Lincoln McCormick walks down the steps.
If he thinks he’s going to come close to my mate, he’s going to learn a nasty truth. This possessive bear shifter doesn’t fuck around when it comes to his girl.
Coco St. James walks out next, followed by the three lion shifters in their human forms. Not these guys again…
My bear snarls and paces around angrily inside when he sees them. He wants to get out and take care of them for good.
“Mr. Hensley,” Coco says as she charges forward with her business face on. “You have one of my products.”
“Call my mate a product again and we’re going to have a major problem,” I say flatly.
She grimaces while slowing to a stop a few yards in front of us. Her guards flank her along with McCormick.
“She can’t be your mate,” the billionaire says. “She’s my wife. I bought her fair and square.”
“And if you call her your wife again, I’ll rip your throat out.”
“She agreed to the marriage!”
“You forced me!” Daisy snaps. “I never said the words.”
“I have your signature on the marriage certificate,” he says as he pulls out the crisp white papers and waves them around.
There’s no way that certificate was filed yet. The registration office hasn’t been open since it was signed.
Snoops’ alert brown eyes are locked on the white paper. I lean down and whisper into his ear. “Go get it, boy. Go!”
My dog bounds forward, sprints across the grass between us, and leaps on McCormick. The billionaire gasps as Snoops snatches the contract out of his hand and takes off with it in his mouth.
“Get that mutt!” he shouts as Snoops tears it to pieces.
Nobody moves. They’re all staring at me.