Total pages in book: 39
Estimated words: 37793 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 189(@200wpm)___ 151(@250wpm)___ 126(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 37793 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 189(@200wpm)___ 151(@250wpm)___ 126(@300wpm)
When I glanced at her now, I knew what she saw—a radiant young woman step back and gaze at Kurt like he was dear to her, which he was. Hannah liked him as a person and as her doctor.
Whirling around, she wrapped both arms around my left bicep, and I groaned like I was dying, rolling my eyes for good measure. Kurt shot me a warning look, and Hannah tugged gently.
“What’re you doing?” I complained.
“I’m still hungry, so come on. I want to make sure you’re moving, because I have to tell Uncle Aaron more about a redevelopment opportunity in Old Town Scottsdale.”
“I’m sorry, what did you say?” Marcum asked brusquely, sounding almost angry. I remembered then that he lived there.
“Oh, just some opportunities in Arizona we’re looking at,” she told him, smiling.
“And you are?”
“I’m Hannah.” She let me go, moving like the dancer and athlete she was and offering Marcum her hand. “Hannah Kage.”
He didn’t take her hand, which I saw Sutter notice even though he’d gotten stuck talking to some people from other tables, shaking hands and nodding.
I wished I could have warned Marcum that snubbing Hannah was a really terrible, really life-changing decision. “Well, I don’t know what you think you’re going to do in my neck of the—”
“I’m also Aaron Sutter’s goddaughter,” she interrupted, still holding out her hand, long beats of time ticking by, like slow motion in a movie, before the man himself appeared beside her, putting his arm around her. His obvious display of both affection and pride, as Hannah looked down and then lifted her eyes, spoke volumes. Poor Marcum had thought he was in control. In reality, the power was hers. There was another noticeable silence from the table as Marcum finally took her hand.
“Nice to meet you all,” my boss lied, giving Hannah a last squeeze before he let her go, pointed at me and then the stairs. “Captain Hunt,” he announced, using my military credentials that time. “Let’s go.”
“Yessir,” I replied as Hannah darted after the billionaire real estate mogul.
“You’re in the military?” Nelson asked me, which was weird.
“I am.”
“And you’re the assistant director of corporate security for Aaron Sutter,” Marcum stated.
“I am, yes,” I said, taking hold of Kurt’s hand.
“You sort of buried the lead there.” Phillip was trying for jovial but didn’t quite make it.
I shook my head. “Not at all. I am a bodyguard, that’s it.”
“That’s not it,” Kurt said, and I could hear the swell of emotion in his voice. “You’re an Army Ranger and are called on again and again to serve your country. You’re a good man.”
As long as he thought so, I was happy.
I heard Marcum say Vanessa under his breath.
“Kurt,” his mother called over to him. “We would love to—”
“Please do give me a call next time you’re in town,” he told her. “Perhaps we can have dinner then.”
“I heard you say you’re getting married soon?” Addison rushed out.
As if, even if I became lobotomized and Kurt still wanted to marry me, any of them would ever be welcome at my nuptials.
“In the fall,” Kurt said with a sigh. “I can’t wait. We’re having a small intimate wedding.”
“But Mr. Sutter will be there?” Marcum asked.
“He’s my fiancé’s boss, and he agreed to be there as soon as we can pin down a damn venue,” he said, chuckling to himself. “I’m this close to having it in our backyard.”
“With the dogs?” I pretended to groan, tugging him after me.
“Thank you for the drink,” Kurt called back.
Vanessa got up then, and I was very pleased with her. She rushed around the table to reach him before I took him away.
I let go of his hand so he could hug her, as she’d stepped in close and wrapped him in her arms, her head on his shoulder.
It was nice, though shorter than I would have liked. But she reiterated that she would certainly return soon and they could sit down, just the two of them.
“That would be good,” he told her, and his smile was genuine and warm.
Once she let go of Kurt, she glanced at me, and I gave her a head tip. She nodded and then turned for her chair, and I took hold of Kurt’s hand again.
“You didn’t hug her,” he said as I led him across the floor.
“You can count more or less on one hand the number of people I hug,” I reminded him. “I have to really like you, and if me looking at you keeps you away…c’mon. That’s not gonna happen.”
“Yes, that death stare of yours is quite terrifying.”
I rounded on him, and he almost walked into me but stopped himself in time.
“That was abrupt.”
“Death stare?”
“It’s dark, inky blue,” he told me.
“What?”
“Your lovely eyes,” he whispered, staring at me. “Your fixed regard is not for the faint of heart.”