Total pages in book: 158
Estimated words: 160684 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 803(@200wpm)___ 643(@250wpm)___ 536(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 160684 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 803(@200wpm)___ 643(@250wpm)___ 536(@300wpm)
He picked it up and saw it was the same toy sloth that he’d seen in her handbag.
So it was likely hers.
Interesting.
“Here they are!” She held up a small bag of jelly beans triumphantly. As though she was holding a child she’d just given birth to.
He glanced around the back of the car. There was stuff everywhere. A hairbrush lay on the seat between them, as well as a pack of gum. On the floor, he spotted a compact mirror, three pens, two hair ties, and four tampons.
“Open, damn you, open.”
He continued to gape at her as she tugged at the packet of jelly beans, her frustration clear.
Then the bag burst open and jelly beans rained down, filling the backseat of the car.
“Oh no.”
“Effie,” he said in a low voice, needing to head things off before she totally lost it.
Unfortunately, as she completely lost it, he realized that he’d reacted too late.
“They’re everywhere! I l-lost all my j-jellybeans.” Her lower lip started trembling.
Shit.
This was . . . unexpected. She was always so darn cheerful. Well, except when she was being bossy. Even then, that made him smile because she was so adorable.
Time you took control.
She might not appreciate it later, but this was what she needed right now.
“Effie, look at me.”
“Oh no. I m-made a huge m-mess of your car. I’m s-sorry. So sorry.” She bent down to pick up about fifty thousand jelly beans.
“Effie.”
Jesus. She was going to make herself ill, bending over like that. He pushed the stuff off the seat and then leaned over to undo her seatbelt. Then he slid her across the seat toward him.
He quickly put the middle belt around her.
“Steele, what are you doing? I’ve got to tidy all of this mess up.”
“Look at me.”
She continued to ignore him. What the fuck? No one ignored him. Not even Grady.
“Effie. Look. At. Me.”
To ensure that she did and that he didn’t start losing his goddamned mind, he reached out and cupped the side of her face, turning her to look up at him.
“All the mess—”
“Stop.” He placed his thumb over her mouth and her eyes widened. “You’re going to stop talking now and listen to me, baby girl. Understand?”
Her eyes went even wider as he called her baby girl. Shit. Grady was going to kill him.
But he didn’t care.
It was worth it to see the warmth in her eyes, the way she slid against him.
“I don’t give a shit about the state of my car. That can be tidied up. I do give a shit about the state of you. You need to calm down, baby.”
She shook her head, her eyes moving away.
“I didn’t say you could move your eyes away,” he warned in a low rumble. “Eyes back on me.”
Her gaze shot back to him.
Good. So she could follow directions. Steele decided to try something else.
“That’s a good girl.”
Oh yeah. More softening. He liked that too.
He moved his thumb away from her mouth. “Now, you’re going to listen to me. Give me your hand.”
“W-what?”
“Give me your hand. You asked for it before and I was too slow to give it to you. So give me your hand.”
He got impatient when she didn’t move and reached out to grab her hand.
“Jesus, you’re freezing. Why didn’t you say something?” He bent down and adjusted the heat for her.
“Oh, it’s okay. Just poor circulation.”
He shot her a look. “Why haven’t you told me about this before?”
She gave him a confused look. “Why would I?”
“Part of working for me, Effie.”
“Does everyone who works for you tell you every little thing about them?”
“You’re not everyone. And I spend more time with you than any of them. If you are feeling cold, I need to know. You don’t do a good enough job of taking care of yourself.”
She gasped, long and loud.
So dramatic.
He fought back a grin. Dramatic and cute.
“I see that you’re not looking after yourself, then I have to step in.”
“You’re nuts.”
“Call it what you like, baby girl. But it is what it is.” He wrapped his hands around one of hers and started rubbing it briskly. “Does this have anything to do with your dizziness earlier?”
“My old back injury means that sometimes I have low-blood pressure and poor circulation.”
“Then you should be wearing your gloves all the time.”
“It would be hard to type while wearing my gloves. I really need to pick this stuff up.”
“Effie, look at me.”
She raised her gaze to him.
“Don’t go borrowing trouble before it’s happened.”
“Right. You’re right.” She nodded. “There’s no way they can suspend Brooks. Or take his scholarship. He’s amazing. The principal will be reasonable. He’s a school principal. I’m sure he’s a very nice man.”
16
“You are not a very nice man.”
Yeah, she probably shouldn’t have said it like that. Now instead of thirty-five, she sounded as if she was five.