Total pages in book: 47
Estimated words: 45045 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 225(@200wpm)___ 180(@250wpm)___ 150(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 45045 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 225(@200wpm)___ 180(@250wpm)___ 150(@300wpm)
My toys didn’t answer. Turning around, I looked at them, biting my lip. I could tell that Lemur had an idea, but Eden seemed to be shaking her head at me. Her eyes had opened wider than usual, and I realized she was afraid.
She thought Eli might hurt her and Lemur.
My tummy flipped, and I felt sick.
I could see why Eden was afraid. Eli had already broken one of my teacups, and nobody but me knew that Eden and Lemur weren’t just toys. They were alive. Not only living, but the best friends a girl could ever have.
Suddenly, this wasn’t just about my room.
This was about protecting my best friends.
“Don’t worry, I’ll hide you,” I told them, swallowing hard. “Before I do anything else, I’ll hide you. And then I’ll go find some spiders and put them in his bed. Or maybe a snake. I’ll keep us safe from him. No matter what it takes, I’ll get rid of Eli King. I promise.”
Chapter One
Starkwood Saloon
Washington State
Present day
~Peaches~
“What do you think those bikers are talking about?” Megan asked, leaning next to me against the railing.
“Which ones?” I said, locking eyes with a man sitting across the room.
Eli King.
The only guy on Earth with the power to drive me absolutely crazy just by existing. Not the good kind of crazy, either. More of a plotting-vengeance-at-four-in-the-morning-because-you-can’t-unhear-him-fucking-his-girlfriend-through-a-wall kind of crazy.
My nemesis sat enjoying a beer with three of the five Reapers who’d sauntered into the bar thirty minutes earlier. They’d taken over one of the far tables, settling in for the duration while the other two disappeared into the back with Gus.
Eli had abandoned his post to join them—apparently, club membership came before his job, which shouldn’t have surprised me. His uncle always put the club first, too. That annoyed me, but what’d annoyed me more was the way Eli had asked for a beer when I took their order. Like I was his serving wench, and he wasn’t the damned bartender who was supposed to be pouring those beers instead of drinking them.
Now, he leaned back in his chair, all relaxed and smug. Watching me. Probably pretending he was a king for real. Maybe I should start a rumor that he needs to wear a plastic crown to get it up…
Eli cocked a brow as I narrowed my eyes. Then he raised his bottle in salute as if to say, “Hey, Peaches, having fun working while I sit on my ass drinking?”
God, I loathed him. I hated his stupid long legs and his dumb arm muscles, and his hair. He’d gotten it cut, I realized. Had to have been that morning because it’d still been all shaggy last night. Definitely hadn’t shaved, though. Just a hint of stubble around his chin… Shit.
Eli was being all sexy today, and that was the worst.
He lifted his bottle, flicking his tongue across his bottom lip right before taking a sip. I found my breath faltering because it reminded me of—
No. Not going there. Never going there. Didn’t matter how attractive he was, didn’t matter that Gus said he’d always seen us together. And it really didn’t matter that Eli’s ass looked absolutely fucking fantastic in a pair of faded jeans.
The man was a force of pure destruction, something I knew all too well, and the fact that he’d come back from prison even more pumped up and ripped than before, well…that was just God’s sick joke on women everywhere. Under all those muscles, Eli was still the asshole who’d taken Lemur hostage when I was five.
The torment hadn’t stopped there, either.
When I was sixteen, he’d beaten up my first boyfriend, Mark McDougal. Mark had dumped me after that. Said I wasn’t worth getting an ass-kicking. Not even when I wore my black bikini. Just thinking about it made my jaw clench. Ugh.
I forced myself to take a nice, deep, refreshing yoga breath, repeating a peaceful mantra as I refused to notice how Eli’s throat moved when he swallowed.
Inhale the goodness and love. Exhale the negativity and darkness.
He lowered the beer, still holding my eyes. Crap. He’d gotten into my head again, and he knew it. Not only that, he knew that I knew, which meant we weren’t just catching each other’s gaze across the room by accident. Nope. This was now the latest battle in our little war. My fingers tightened around the lemon I’d been slicing, sending juice squirting across the counter.
Yet another mess I’d have to clean up because of Gus’s stupid nephew.
“The two guys in the office with Gus,” Megan said, breaking through my thoughts. I hadn’t even remembered she was standing next to me, let alone what we’d been talking about.
“What?” I asked, trying not to blink because Eli wasn’t blinking.
“What do you think they’re talking about?”
“Doesn’t matter. You shouldn’t be curious about them,” I replied absently, my eyes starting to burn.