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)
“But you just said you’re not loopy.” Steele walked forward and sat on the sofa, facing them both. Then he grasped her chin. “She’s definitely taken something. Maybe they were different pills.”
“Would they be in her handbag?” Nate asked.
Steele looked from him to the handbag he was holding. He took it with a nod of thanks.
“You best get back out there, but before you do, you need to explain who the fuck touched our girl,” Steele demanded.
“Our girl?” Nate repeated.
“Our girl,” Steele said firmly.
He knew he’d agreed to take things slow, and he wouldn’t rush Effie. But he didn’t like everyone not knowing that he was making a claim.
So he was going to fix that by making a claim.
Grady would just have to deal. And considering Grady always did, Steele knew he would this time too.
Nate moved his gaze back and forth between them. “I’m gonna say something that might get me fired. But I figure that Effie doesn’t have many people watching out for her.”
“Might be best you don’t say it then,” Grady suggested, his eyes narrowing.
Fuck. Nate didn’t want to get on Grady’s bad side.
“Might be. However, I’ve still gotta look in the mirror at myself after tonight and like what I see. So I’m gonna say it. Effie isn’t a girl looking for a good time. She’s not the type you fuck and leave. She’s the type you hold on tight to. And you don’t let go.”
Yep, that really fucked him off. No matter if he did admire that Nate was saying it to the two men who could fire him.
Steele stood, unable to curb the anger.
“Are you really going to stand there and insult us like that?” Grady asked in a low, deadly whisper.
Oh fuck. Things were bad if Grady was close to the edge.
“I like Effie,” Nate defended. “Someone has to look out for her.”
“No one has to look out for me. I can look out for myself.” She pointed at her face. Except she moved her finger too much and managed to poke herself in the eye.
“Ow! Owie!”
“Did you hurt yourself?” Grady asked, sounding alarmed. “Let me see.”
“It hurts,” she sobbed, holding her hand over her eye.
“It’s all right,” Grady soothed. “Just let me see, sweetheart.”
Steele moved back to her. He knew this wasn’t Grady’s strong suit.
Loyalty, he had in spades. Intelligence, definitely.
But empathy. Not so much.
“You . . . you won’t touch my eye? I don’ts like things touching my eyeball. Those sorts of balls should never be touched. Other balls, yes. Eyeballs, no.”
“All right, Twinkletoes. I won’t touch your eyeball.” She removed her hand slowly and Grady checked her eye. “It looks okay.”
“It doesn’t feel okay.”
Grady stared up at him, clearly looking for guidance.
Steele felt an unusual warmth unfurl in his chest. Was this the way it could be? The two of them feeding off each other? Using their strengths to help their girl?
He sat beside them, the coffee table creaking.
“Maybe we should move.” Grady carried her to the sofa, sitting again with her on his lap.
It was telling that he didn’t want to let her go. Steele leaned forward to grasp Effie’s chin.
“Do you want the good news or the good news?” he asked.
“Hmm, let me think about that for a moment. I don’ts want to make the wrong decision.”
Steele grinned.
“I want . . . the good news!”
“Good news is that your eyeball is still in your eye socket.”
She heaved out a breath. “Whew. That is a big relief to me.”
“Thought it might be,” he said dryly. Damn, she was funny. Usually, she tried to keep her true thoughts and feelings tamped down. But he’d seen her let go of that control a few times.
And he preferred this Effie. The one who felt safe enough to be herself.
“The other good news is that I have a way to fix your eyeball.”
“You do?” She stared at him in wonder.
He wanted that for the rest of his life. Her, staring at him like he could fix everything.
“I do. Close your eyes.”
She eyed him suspiciously. “You’re not gonna do something gross, are you?”
“Never.”
“Okay, I trusts you.”
Surprise filled him and he glanced at Grady. To his shock, Grady was staring at her with something like softness in his face.
She closed her eyes and waited.
Steele leaned forward and lightly kissed her closed eye. “Better, baby girl?”
“All better.” She opened her eyes and stared up at him.
“Good girl. Now, you just rest, understand me? I’m not even sure why you are still here this late.”
“Vanessa bailed,” Grady told him in a grim voice. “Effie decided it was her job to fill in for her.”
“We’ll be making sure she knows better once she feels more like herself,” Steele dictated. What the fuck was she thinking? She’d already worked a full day. She didn’t need to be serving drinks on top of that.