Total pages in book: 81
Estimated words: 75734 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 379(@200wpm)___ 303(@250wpm)___ 252(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 75734 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 379(@200wpm)___ 303(@250wpm)___ 252(@300wpm)
It was Gage who noticed me first. Although Gage was ex-military, something about him made me feel as if he were harmless. There was a boyish look to his features, especially when he smiled. The others, not so much.
He flashed me a grin, then looked at Blaise before nodding his head in my direction.
Blaise put his cup down and turned to look at me. His gaze lingered on the robe for a moment, and then he motioned for me to come to him. I walked into the room slowly and wished I were dressed in actual clothes. That way, I could ask to leave. I didn’t know these people. Waking up and coming out of Blaise’s cave in a robe that his women wore made me feel as if they were all judging me. Comparing me to the other females who had slept over with him. I had to stop thinking about that. The more I thought about it, the more it bothered me.
Remain detached, I reminded myself.
“Fix her a plate,” Blaise said without looking away from me.
I glanced around, confused as to who he was talking to, when I saw Gina over by the coffeepot, pouring a cup. She’d been with Gage last night. I wondered who she was to him. At the pool party, he’d not appeared to have a girlfriend. Yet she seemed comfortable here, and Blaise was ordering her around.
“Sleep good?” Blaise asked me.
I nodded and felt as if everyone in the room was looking at me. I kept my eyes on Blaise. Oddly enough, he was my only safe spot here. I never thought I’d think of him as anything remotely safe. Doing so now was stupid, but I had put myself in this position.
I kept a casual distance between us until Blaise reached out and grabbed the collar of the robe, pulling me closer to him.
When he had me against him, he bent his head and whispered near my ear, “Relax.”
I wanted to laugh. As if I could relax. That was the absolute last thing I would be able to do this morning. Blaise tucked a strand of hair behind my ear and grinned down at me, as if I’d said that aloud.
Someone cleared their throat, and Blaise’s eyes left mine to look toward the sound of it. I knew it was one of the rodeo squad at the table, but I didn’t know which one.
“Should we be expecting Melanie to show up, pitching a damn fit?” Huck asked.
I recognized his drawl. His accent was so similar to a Texan’s that I wondered if he’d always lived in Florida or if he had spent the first part of his life in Texas.
Blaise shook his head, and then his eyes came back to mine. There was a flutter in my stomach this morning when he looked at me. Sure, I’d felt something before, but today, it was more. I was so going to regret this.
“Do you want jelly on your biscuit?” Gina asked.
She shouldn’t have to make me breakfast. I stepped back from Blaise to go take the plate she was holding and finish what she was doing.
“Whoa,” he said, reaching for my arm this time to pull me back to him. “Where are you going?”
I waved my free arm toward the stove, where breakfast was laid out. “To make myself a plate.”
He frowned. “I told Gina to.”
That annoyed me. Was Gina the hired help? And if so, did she have to wait on all the women he brought over here? I wasn’t like them. I didn’t require someone serving me. I was starting to feel cheaper by the minute.
“I am perfectly capable of doing it,” I told him, pulling my arm free, then turning to go take the plate Gina was holding.
She grinned at me like she wasn’t sure if I was crazy or not.
“Thanks,” I told her, then turned to the stove to see cheese grits, sausage links, scrambled eggs, bacon, white gravy, and biscuits. Did they eat like this every morning?
When Huck began talking about the bike he’d been discussing when I walked in, I was relieved that their attention was moved off me. I finished putting things on my plate, no longer sure I could eat. I should have just asked to go back to Moses Mile.
Taking the plate, I turned and found Blaise watching me. Pausing, I looked at him, waiting for him to say something. He smirked, then pushed off from the island he’d been leaning on to walk over to me.
“I’ll be in later today,” he said to Huck, who had just asked if he’d be by the shop. “I’ve got some things to handle first.” He led me over to the table and pulled out a chair for me to take, then sat at the one next to it.