Total pages in book: 89
Estimated words: 83598 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 418(@200wpm)___ 334(@250wpm)___ 279(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 83598 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 418(@200wpm)___ 334(@250wpm)___ 279(@300wpm)
“I will. Just probably not with Saxon. Especially since he’s Trev’s best friend and … well, there’s the chance that Trev might end up being my stepbrother.”
I let out a laugh that was more forced than anything. I didn’t dare consider if that was something Garrett would want. He wanted me. He wasn’t in love with me.
“Don’t get carried away. We are just getting to know each other. That man could have any woman he wanted. I don’t think he’d give a woman like me his last name. But for now, I’m gonna live it up and have the best time. Make memories—”
“Of the best times so you can daydream during the bad,” she said, finishing my favorite motto.
I winked at her, then squeezed her hand. “I’d better get back to my hot date, and you try and enjoy the cutie you’re with.”
She smiled, but I didn’t see real enjoyment in her eyes. Maybe Saxon could heal her. Draw her out again.
I glanced over at Trev, glad that she seemed to be keeping him at arm’s length.
“That Trev gets around, doesn’t he? There was a redhead with him in the winner’s circle, who he was kissing and groping. Now, he’s got a blonde pressed up beside him, and I think that other girl is trying to get his attention too.” I was testing her. Seeing her reaction.
The slightest disappointment was there—same as what I thought I had seen earlier when she was looking at him with the other girls.
Don’t pick the bad boys, like your momma, baby girl. Saxon is the good guy. Pick him. I didn’t say it though.
“Yeah, he is a player. He and Saxon couldn’t be more different,” she admitted.
At least she realized it.
I felt like she was saying what I wanted to hear. My responsible girl.
“Yeah, but then it’s the bad boys who can be irresistible,” I told her and watched her reaction.
“Maybe to some, but not me. At least not anymore,” she informed me, but the glint in her eyes told me she wasn’t being honest. Not with me or herself.
I led her back over to Garrett and Saxon. Garrett asked Gypsi if she was enjoying herself and made sure that Saxon was being a good escort. When he seemed appeased by my daughter’s half-truths, they walked away, leaving the party.
“They appear to be hitting it off,” Garrett said. “Saxon seems very taken with her.”
I sighed. “Gypsi has some pain in her very recent past. I’m not sure even Saxon’s charm can get past that protective wall she’s put up. But I can hope.”
Thirty-Two
Fawn
When we walked back into our suite, my curiosity was at an all-time high. Garrett’s promise to answer any questions I had was too tempting. I wanted to ask things that, deep down, I wasn’t sure I wanted to know the answers to. Especially after tonight. I’d heard things, little small comments that, if said by themselves, wouldn’t cause any concern. However, hearing them spread out in one evening among different people, they did. Where my imagination was going with it, was starting to turn into something comical. I’d somehow managed to turn Garrett’s life into one worthy of Hollywood.
“Saxon assured me that he took Gypsi to her suite, made sure she was locked in and safe before leaving her this evening,” Garrett informed me.
I appreciated how he considered my worries about Gypsi and made sure I was aware of her safety. He’d done it so thoroughly on this trip that I was able to enjoy myself. I assumed that was the purpose, but it also felt as if he was taking care of me by doing so.
“She seemed to be having a good time,” I told him.
I had known when we first arrived that she’d be unimpressed and distant with Garrett. I had hoped she’d realize he wasn’t some man I’d decided to have a wild adventure with, then toss.
“Saxon is a good boy. Trustworthy, levelheaded, a talented horseman. I couldn’t be more pleased that the two of them seem to have made a connection,” Garrett replied.
I hoped he was right. I wanted that to be the case, but the glances she’d made toward Trev concerned me. Trev was not the relationship type. He was the love ’em and leave ’em kind. He reminded me of a young Micah. Beautiful, charming, and unable to love one woman. He would love them all.
“Yes, he impressed me. I think Gypsi needs that kind of friendship. She’s had very few in her life. We moved around so much. She is my best friend, and I’m hers. We’ve had each other, and we didn’t seem to need others. Until the past year or so. She’s growing up. I want her to have the life I didn’t.” I smiled at Garrett. “Don’t misunderstand. I wouldn’t go back and do things differently. Being Gypsi’s mom is my greatest gift in this world. But it wasn’t easy to raise her alone. I loved chasing the adventure, but it’s growing weary. I think mostly because she doesn’t have that need to see something new in her blood. She wants roots. I want her to have that.”