Total pages in book: 94
Estimated words: 89934 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 450(@200wpm)___ 360(@250wpm)___ 300(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 89934 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 450(@200wpm)___ 360(@250wpm)___ 300(@300wpm)
Honey laced with arsenic.
“Yeah.” Harper blinked with an innocent grin. She was the only one he’d have believed if she pleaded ignorance. “We’re just here for a lady’s lunch.”
Too bad she sucked as an actor.
Traitor.
Though he deserved far more from her than a grilling, hell, he should probably let her haul off and smack him across the face a few times. Not that she ever would. Harper was too damn sweet.
“Lemonade?” Liv held out a full glass so icy condensation dripped onto the counter.
Lock eyed it as though it’d poison him. “Thanks…” He took the glass but didn’t sip. They all continued to stare at him with varying levels of poorly hidden curiosity. His gaze bounced from one to another before he finally sighed. “All right, fine.” He rolled his eyes. “Let’s get this over with. Who’s firs—”
“How’s Brenna?”
Liv, of course.
“I imagine you know how she is since you meet with her at the shelter almost daily.” Three weeks had passed since they’d slept together, and things were good. Crazy good. They woke up together most mornings, spent free days playing with Caleb on the beach, ate dinners together, and fell into bed together for long, hot, steamy Florida nights.
“You know what I mean. Don’t play dumb, mister.”
“Yeah,” Rachel, the youngest of the group, piped up. “We wanna know how she is… in bed.” Her giggles set off the others who, by the smell of it, had something a little more than lemonade in their glasses.
“Are you even old enough to know what sex is, Rach?”
She flipped him off. “I sure am. Old enough to know what it is and old enough to excel at it.” Her smug grin made him cringe.
Walked right into that one, dipshit.
“Get it, girl.” Jo held her hand for a high-five, which Rachel smacked with too much enthusiasm. “Oww,” Jo muttered.
“All right, all right.” Brooke sat Caleb in the little seat she’d bought him when he’d stayed there. It hooked onto the counter’s edge so he could be part of the group. She set a sippy cup of milk in front of him and then handed him a baby biscuit, which he immediately shoved into his mouth. “Lock isn’t one to kiss and tell, so let’s not harass the poor man.”
“Thank you, Brooke.” Even though she was the one who’d invited this gaggle of insane women to her house when she knew he’d be there. Finally, he relaxed enough to take a sip of his lemonade and actually taste it.
“But what are you guys?” she asked, tilting her head. “I mean, are you casual? Are you dating? Do you love her?”
He choked as the tart liquid flew down his trachea. “Love? Are you crazy?”
Brooke shrugged. “Just checking.”
Fucking love. No, he didn’t love her. They were friends, for Christ’s sake. Friends who fucked occasionally.
Or almost every night.
Whatever. There wasn’t any love.
“Neither of us is interested in anything more complicated than what we’ve got going, so you five hens can stop clucking about us.”
Jo frowned. “I’m pretty sure calling us hens is super sexist.”
Harper watched him in that sweet way that always flared his guilt. “I think you’re fooling yourselves.”
She did? “What do you mean?”
“I mean, I think you have it bad for each other, but you’re too afraid to reach out and grab what’s right in front of you.”
His frown felt deep enough to be visible from space. “And what’s right in front of me?”
She rolled her eyes as the rest of the women scoffed.
“What?” He glanced between them. This was way too damn cryptic for him. “What am I missing?”
“Uh… a remarkable relationship. A lifetime of happiness. A woman who was made for you.” Jo tsked.
Was she made for him? What did that even mean?
“Men are so dumb,” Liv muttered.
“Hey!” This was getting malicious.
“What?” She shrugged. “I speak the truth.”
“She does,” Jo confirmed with a nod.
“Y’all are a buncha bullies.” Lock rubbed the center of his forehead, where an ache bloomed. “Where the fuck are y’alls’ ol’ men? They need to collect your tipsy asses and teach you how to mind your own damn business.”
“They’ll be back to collect us sooner or later.” Harper held her empty lemonade glass out. “More, please.”
“I need to get the fuck outta here,” Lock muttered. “Brooke, you sure you wanna keep Caleb overnight?”
“Do you have plans with Brenna?”
Trap. It’s a trap.
“Yes…”
“Then, of course, I want him. You two need a night alone. And while you’re enjoying yourselves, lean into it if you feel the urge to confess your love.” She smoothed a hand over Caleb’s head. The little guy was lost to a world that included only him and his snack.
“For chrissake.” Lock pinched the bridge of his nose. He needed to get the fuck out of there before he started considering their asinine ideas.
“Are you ladies torturing the poor man?” Curly’s voice came from the front of the house.