Total pages in book: 87
Estimated words: 85888 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 429(@200wpm)___ 344(@250wpm)___ 286(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 85888 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 429(@200wpm)___ 344(@250wpm)___ 286(@300wpm)
“What are you looking at?” he asked, voice curious.
“You.”
The smile he gave me was all sorts of satisfied mixed with male pride. Swoon.
“What are you thinking about?” I asked.
“How you taste.”
“Huh.” My throat was a dry and barren desert. All of the moisture in me was heading south. “I have nothing clever to say to that.”
“Amazing. There’s a first time for everything.” He smiled. “I’ve been meaning to ask, do you have the third book in Naima Simone’s Rose Bend series?”
“No, but I can order it for you.”
“That’s all right. I’ll buy it. Here’s another question,” he said. “What do you think it means that you get such enjoyment out of driving me crazy asking me all of this shit?”
“I’m just trying to help. Do you want to get divorced? Is that what you want, Lars?”
“Wish it didn’t always come back to that damn certificate.”
“Yeah.” The less said about it the better. “Okay. No more first-date icebreaker questions. Though the point remains that your favorite song should be something from this century.”
“Led Zeppelin is classic,” he grumbled.
“As for your superpower being invisibility?” I screwed up my nose. “Ew. Pervert.”
“I didn’t mean it like that.” So much man pain in his groan. “I’m changing my answer to super strength.”
“Too late.”
“What? You changed your answer like five times. You went from flight, to speed, to... I don’t even know what.”
I smiled. “We’ve moved on. You’re too late. Deal with it.”
“This is rigged.”
“And how can you not even know what makes you happy? I will never understand why you menfolk are so repressed. Get in touch with your feelings, dude.”
“You’re in touch with your feelings?” he asked with a dubious glance.
“Sure. Mostly. Sort of.”
He grunted.
“Come on, Lars, what makes you happy?”
“Well, I thought being with you made me happy,” he said. “But then you kept asking me all these damn questions.”
“Aw. You say the sweetest things.”
He hooked an arm around my neck and drew me closer. “Susie, were you always this much trouble?”
“You mean did I give my other special male friends this much grief?” I thought it over. “No. Just you.”
“Interesting. Why do you think that is?”
“You want honesty?”
“Always.”
Insert big sigh here. “I don’t know that I felt safe enough to really be myself with them.”
“You didn’t feel safe?”
“No. I guess not.”
He stared at me for a moment. Then he stared past me at the front steps of the house. At the well-dressed man standing with his hand raised to knock on my door.
“Andrew?” I said, surprised.
“Your brother?” asked Lars in a low voice.
I nodded.
Lars’s hand slipped down my spine, resting in the small of my back. While I was grateful for the support, I could handle this on my own. “Andrew, why are you here?”
He frowned at Lars before turning to me and saying, “Just thought I’d stop by and say hello. It’s been a while.”
“Okay,” I said cautiously. “Hi.”
“I’ve been busy starting my own business.”
“Dad mentioned.”
He peered around him. “The old place is looking good. You’ve had some work done.”
“Yes.”
“Have you gotten an updated appraisal on what it’s worth?”
“For insurance purposes, yes.”
Andrew nodded. Then he shuffled his feet. He’d run out of conversation, apparently. “So...aren’t you going to invite me in? I’d love to see what you’ve done.”
“No, Andrew. You’re not coming into my home until you apologize for the way you behaved at Aunt Susan’s funeral. For the shitty way you talked to me. It was over six months ago now. I think you’ve delayed long enough.”
His brows snapped into place. “What?”
“You heard me.”
“Susan blatantly favored you. It was unfair,” he bitched. “I didn’t say anything that wasn’t true.”
“I loved her. You barely tolerated her. She owed you nothing and neither do I.”
“We’re family.”
“Family is about more than just finding people useful occasionally. Or so I’m told.”
Lars’s hand covered mine, holding it against his chest. Anchoring me. As much as I was used to handling my family, it was nice to have the support.
“Is that what you came here for?” I continued. “To see if I’d softened on the idea of selling my home and giving you half?”
Andrew drew himself up. “It would be the right thing to do.”
“No, it wouldn’t. Not that I expect you to understand.” I smiled sadly. “Go away, please.”
He blinked in disbelief. Though it’d been years since I’d fallen for his particular brand of bullshit, it still stunned him. “Susie—”
“She asked you to leave,” Lars ground out. “And she did it a hell of a lot nicer than I will if you’re still here in a minute.”
“Fuck you,” said Andrew. “I don’t even know who you are.”
“I’m the man who has your sister’s back. Now get the fuck out of here.”
Despite asking Lars to stay out of it, I had to admit, that was a pretty great line. No one of the male persuasion had ever been willing to put themselves between me and my problems before. And what a big handsome barricade he made. Though I could have handled it on my own. However, if I had, I’d have missed the sight of Lars drawn up to his full height with his jaw set and hands curled into fists.