Total pages in book: 118
Estimated words: 110278 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 551(@200wpm)___ 441(@250wpm)___ 368(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 110278 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 551(@200wpm)___ 441(@250wpm)___ 368(@300wpm)
“Slade.” I snap my fingers to get him out of his dazed look.
“You ready?” His tone is more abrasive than ever before.
“I have a few more things to gather. Give me five more minutes?” He nods before turning around to leave. I take my time gathering everything I need out of my bedroom before heading to the kitchen. There’s one thing that will be a necessity to get me through this weird limbo that I’ll be calling life.
“I’m ready.” I’m rolling my suitcase behind me, my laptop bag is on my shoulder, and my purse is on the crook of my arm when I walk out of the kitchen.
“All right, I turned everything off.” He quirks his eyebrow.
“Oh, you mean my wax warmer? Pshh, that stays on twenty-four-seven.” I wave his thought away.
“It’s still a fire hazard,” Slade grunts, those luscious locks of hair he’s fisting at the nape of his neck. I want that those hands to be mine combing through them.
“I highly doubt that, but okay.” He grabs my suitcase out of my hand, and instead of wheeling it around like normal people, picks it up. I follow his lead as we walk out to the breezeway and he locks my apartment, even double checking to make sure it’s locked.
“Come on. You’ll have to follow me to my place. Once we’re there, I’ll program my number in your phone, along with my address, and the other guys’ info as well.”
“Okay.” I follow him to my car, then to his house, wondering what the hell will happen next.
FIVE
SLADE
“I didn’t expect you to have a home though. If I’m being honest, I figured you lived at the office,” Taylor says as we walk up the front steps of my bungalow style house. It has a huge front porch and the backyard leads to a river, giving me a scenic view of the trees and water.
The way Taylor has no filter, it’s causing me to smile more than I have the past three years, and I’ve only been around her for a few hours.
“No, I need a place of my own and away from Nighthawk. Drake is the one who sleeps there more than any of us.”
“Well, it’s gorgeous.” I allow her to walk ahead of me. Taylor’s hips sway in the tight as sin skirt she’s wearing. Her heart shaped ass, and the way her calves arch in her legs as she takes a step in her high heels cause my jaw to tick.
If Travis knew the fucking thoughts running through my head, he’d kick my ass. No, he’d do more than that. He’d bury me up to my neck in a desert and let the vultures peck away at my body.
“Thank you. I’ll show you around. Drop your stuff wherever.” I motion with my hands. My house is meant to be a home, nothing pretentious or stiff. If I wanted that, I would have done what my family expected of me instead of joining the Navy as soon as I graduated high school. The family empire isn’t what I wanted. When I told my parents that I’d spoken to a recruiter and signed the papers, I basically signed the papers to be disowned. Leaving that day, it didn’t hurt like it should have. Instead, it left me feeling free for the first time in my life.
Taylor places her bags on the couch, and then I show her the kitchen, the back porch, where the laundry room is, and my bedroom. That made her voice hitch, finally concluding the tour with the bedroom she’ll be staying in, that’s right next to mine. The two rooms share a wall, it’s not lost on me that both beds back up to one another with only a few pieces of wood along with some drywall separating the two. Sleep will be next to impossible.
“Slade, thank you again for helping me. I know Travis asked, but I knew if it got worse, I would have sucked up my pride and come to you.”
“Finally, you admit this shit is more than a prank.” A piece of her hair has come loose, my fingers unknowingly move it out of her face without thinking. My fingertips trace the slope of her neck. When she sways toward me, I know I have to back off.
“I’ll go grab your bags. Take your time, and then we’ll figure out dinner.” I kiss her forehead before leaving the bedroom. If I don’t step away, I’ll strip her bare, throw her on the bed, and make her mine, consequences be damned.
I head downstairs, walk into the kitchen and grab the menus before clutching her luggage so when Taylor comes down, she can help figure out what to order. Bridger wasn’t kidding when he said she likes to shop for lingerie. Seeing the lace and satin spilling out of her bag, it took everything I had to control my hard-on from showing, not to mention my desire to see her wearing those for me and only me.