Total pages in book: 103
Estimated words: 105089 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 525(@200wpm)___ 420(@250wpm)___ 350(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 105089 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 525(@200wpm)___ 420(@250wpm)___ 350(@300wpm)
She took off running in bare feet. She jumped and landed on the wall, sticking to it with a giggle.
Okay, that was a lot of fun. She wanted to go again.
Only . . . how the heck did she get down from this thing?
She tried to wriggle free. Pumpernickel!
This was bad. How was she going to get down? What if she needed to pee?
“Doomy? I need help!”
Shit. Fuck. He must have left already.
Uh. Oh.
Alejandro probably wouldn’t be home for another hour, as he’d gone to pick up Rafael and then they were supposed to be going to his office at The Circus of the Dark.
Suddenly, she heard the elevator doors open.
“What. The. Hell.”
Crap.
She turned her head to grin down at Alejandro as he walked up next to her. “Oh, hi, Papi. I wasn’t expecting you home so soon.”
“And I wasn’t expecting to come home and find my girl velcroed to an inflatable wall.”
“Well, you know. I’m just full of surprises.”
He snorted. “That you are.”
“This is your wife?” a strange voice asked.
Shoot. That must be Rafael.
Please let him have a sense of humor.
“That’s our Little Queen,” The Scot said, sounding amused. “That looks like fun. How much weight can it take?”
“I reckon it could handle your body but not your giant head,” Cairn said.
“The two of you can go,” Alejandro said.
He wasn’t truly angry, was he? This was just a bit of fun.
She tried to turn her head around farther to be able to see him. He wasn’t purple, so that was a good sign.
Had to be careful of his blood pressure.
And his eyes weren’t burnt caramel. Another good sign.
“Careful you don’t strain your neck. Are you going to get down from there, Pequeña?”
“Slight problem.”
“What’s that?”
“I seem to be a bit stuck.”
“Are you just?” he murmured. Reaching up, he gave her bottom a heavy pat. “Too bad this doesn’t have a dropseat, huh?”
Uhh.
She thought that it was an excellent idea that it didn’t.
Reaching up, he drew her off slowly, standing her in front of him. He held her shoulders as she swayed slightly.
“That was so much fun!” she said.
“Fun?”
She glanced at the man who spoke. He was standing behind Alejandro, looking down at her disapprovingly.
This guy was huge and covered in tattoos. His dark hair was cut short. She swallowed heavily. There was a darkness in his eyes.
This was who Alejandro wanted to be her bodyguard?
Was he nuts?
“Why don’t we all go to my office,” Alejandro suggested.
“But I wanted to have another turn.”
“It doesn’t look safe,” Rafael said.
She frowned. Great. He wasn’t going to be a party pooper, was he?
“You’re not getting back on there again,” Alejandro decreed.
Her mouth dropped open. Okay, she knew he probably wouldn’t be happy about a giant blow-up wall in his foyer. But it wasn’t actually dangerous.
Rafael nodded in agreement.
A bad feeling developed in her stomach.
She didn’t think she and Rafael were gonna be best buds and have tea parties.
“Not until you get some safety pads on the floor. Although I’m glad to see Bernard packed away everything that could possibly get in your way. I take it he’s hiding somewhere.”
Rafael shot Alejandro a shocked look as she grinned, relief filling her. “Yeah, he doesn’t want to risk you blaming him.”
Alejandro took her hand. “Come along. We’ll have a chat so the two of you can get to know each other.”
She skipped as he held her hand.
Alejandro’s phone rang as they stepped into his office. “Take a seat. I’ll just answer this, then I’ll be back.”
She sat on the sofa while Rafael stood at attention.
“Um, you can sit.”
“While the Boss is out, you’re my responsibility.”
“Um, but you don’t have to worry about me while we’re in the house.”
He just shot her a look of disbelief.
Oh hell.
“Sooo . . . what do you like to do? Watch movies? Play mini-golf?” Eat small children for breakfast? She managed not to ask that last question.
“I like to do my job. And as long as you obey me when I’m watching you, then that’s all I need from you.”
Ouch.
She took a deep breath, searching for patience.
Give him a chance. He’s new.
How bad can he really be?
11
Urgh, Rafael was the worst.
“Pequeña? Where are you?”
Couldn’t he have waited until Alejandro got home to tattle on her?
Nope. He had to call him.
“Pequeña!”
She winced and placed her hand over her mouth.
She put her other hand over Roger’s mouth so he wouldn’t make any noise either.
“Cat? Where are you?”
Uh-oh. The fact that he was calling her Cat was not a good sign.
He sounded really mad.
The thing is, she couldn’t blame him.
But it wasn’t entirely her fault. She’d just wanted some ice cream. And that jerk Rafael wouldn’t take her.
So she’d thought she’d go get some on her own.
The worst part? She hadn’t even gotten the ice cream.
Now, that was the real issue here. Not the fact that she might have attempted to slip out of the house. She hadn’t even managed to get outside before she’d been caught. So was it really that big of a deal?