Total pages in book: 165
Estimated words: 166103 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 831(@200wpm)___ 664(@250wpm)___ 554(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 166103 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 831(@200wpm)___ 664(@250wpm)___ 554(@300wpm)
And it wasn’t something she should entertain or encourage.
“I wouldn’t say that at all,” he replied. “They seemed unusually interested in your welfare.”
“I’m sure they’d be like that with anyone. They feel responsibility for both of us since they’re charged with keeping us safe.”
“But they seem almost zealous in their attempts to keep you safe. I doubt they’d feel the same way about me.” He gave her a genial smile. He probably thought he was being reassuring or charming or something. “No, I think they are interested in you.”
That knot in her stomach wouldn’t dissipate.
“I’ll stay away from them as much as I can,” she promised. No idea how she would manage that. But she’d do what she could. “And I promise, I wasn’t encouraging any, uh, interest. And I really think they don’t care about me any more than they would another client.”
Judd stared at her like she was a nuisance. Beck had this insufferably calm demeanor that she thought hid his real feelings. Hux was hot and cold. One minute bossing her around like he cared, the next snatching his hand away like he couldn’t stand to touch her.
And Owen? Well, who knew? He was extremely difficult to read.
“No, you know what . . . I don’t think you should do that.” Jonathan moved over to sit on the sofa.
“Shouldn’t do what?” she asked, confused.
“Push them away.”
Okay, she wasn’t following. “You want me to keep them close?”
“Yes, dear. They seem quite taken with you and it means they’ll pay less attention to me. Having them around is quite stifling.”
This wasn’t what she’d expected him to say.
And she wasn’t sure what he was wanting from her.
“Do you want . . . are you saying you want me to sleep with them?”
Because that was a hard pass. She wasn’t ever going to do that. Not . . . no . . .
She swallowed heavily, feeling the bile rising in her throat.
He stood suddenly and she took a step back.
Shit.
His face grew frozen. “Are you scared of me, Chloe? Do you seriously believe that I would sell you out like that? That I would want you to whore yourself?”
Don’t move.
Clearly, that hadn’t been what he’d meant.
“I’m sorry,” she whispered.
“I would never ask you to do that. You know that.”
She sucked in a slow breath. “I really do apologize.”
“I’ll forgive you, my dear. I know you’re not thinking properly. All I want is for you to maybe encourage this interest they have in you. Keep their attention on you and away from me. Understand?”
Not really.
But she found herself nodding anyway. Because asking questions would likely just annoy him and she seemed to have dodged a bullet.
How was she going to grab and keep the attention of men who she was pretty certain couldn’t stand her?
6
“What the hell was that?” Judd turned on Hux.
“What the hell was what?” Hux scowled at the other man.
“What just happened? Why does she look like death warmed up? What went on? Why’d you send an SOS?” Judd was winding himself up.
Owen stayed in the ATV. He didn’t have anything to add and he preferred to stick to the background. The shadows were his home.
Besides, Judd getting wound up tighter than a jack-in-the-box was nothing new. Or interesting.
There wasn’t a lot that was interesting in his life . . . not compared to his earlier years. And he told himself he preferred it that way. He no longer had to beg, steal, or kill just to survive. He didn’t have to struggle each day.
A roof over his head, three meals a day, men that he trusted by his side . . . that should all be a relief. It should be paradise.
But sometimes he missed that feeling of living on the edge. It had helped him feel alive. Living here . . . it was almost like a cop out. A fake kind of paradise.
Not that the place was fake or the people in it. But the peacefulness of it all felt all wrong.
Because he knew he didn’t deserve it.
But he stayed. Because these men did deserve some peace. They’d lived through hell of their own. And he wouldn’t take this away from them. Nor did he want to live without them.
So here he was . . . living a life less interesting.
At least, he had been until she came along.
He didn’t trust her. Nope. He hadn’t trusted Ester either.
No, he’d always had his suspicions. And he regretted that he’d never voiced them.
But when you’d been raised to believe your voice didn’t matter . . . it was difficult to find it, even when something was really important. He’d been taught that being silent was better. It meant that he could go unnoticed.
Because he belonged in the shadows.
Then along she came.
What was it about her that had caught his attention?