Total pages in book: 77
Estimated words: 72647 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 363(@200wpm)___ 291(@250wpm)___ 242(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 72647 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 363(@200wpm)___ 291(@250wpm)___ 242(@300wpm)
“Then why does Liam talk like Aidan doesn’t have a brain in his head and you’re some kind of saint?” Nate asked.
Daisy let her head fall back against the seat. “I don’t know. It’s not like I lie to him. I sometimes think it’s because he feels bad about how I turned out.” She knew her da loved her, but she wondered if he wanted to know her. The Daisy she truly was. “I’ve been told I can be a handful. I don’t try to be. It’s hard to compete with a golden boy. I mean in a regular family the whole I’m going to share my wife with another dude thing would have helped me out. But no, I had to be born into a kink-friendly family. I know they worry about me. A lot.”
“Well, if half the stories I’ve heard are true, I can’t blame them for worrying.” He turned at the light. “So you’re going to hang around the office?”
She sat beside him, though there was plenty of space in the big cab. His truck was definitely Nate sized. “I’m going to be working there for a while.”
But not forever because she was going to figure out her life. Hearing Nate tell her he understood why her parents worried made her feel perfectly secure in her decision to not tell him she was Dee. He would be horrified.
“And you’re going to be staying at Aidan’s?” He asked the question like he was worried about the response.
At least she could ease his mind about one thing. They wouldn’t be stuck together. No forced proximity for them. “Nope. I’m going home tonight. I bought my house a couple of months ago, and I’m working on renovating it.”
“All right, I have to ask. How did you afford a house? You’re barely twenty-five, and from what I can tell you haven’t had a steady job since you left college.”
What had he heard about her? She might have to rethink the belief her brother actually liked her. “I’ve always had a job. It’s just I hopped around a lot.”
“Did your parents give you the down payment?”
It was another one of those stories she probably shouldn’t share with him. But it wasn’t like they were dating. “No, they didn’t. I came into some money a while back when I happened to stumble on a sex trafficking operation. I saved a couple of young ladies, and their families insisted on giving me a reward. I used it for a down payment on my house, but I still have a mortgage.”
Nate’s head turned, his jaw dropping. “You did what?”
“It wasn’t a big deal. I was dating this guy who turned out to be in the business, so to speak, but I always carry around some strips to test drinks. When he drugged me, I only pretended to be out, and he didn’t realize I was carrying one of the twins’ phones because they needed to show up as partying downtown to fool some foreign spy agency, so I called and the police raided.” She thought about it for a moment. “You know, it’s kind of a theme for me.”
“I’m sorry. So what you’re telling me is the guy you were dating was going to traffick you?”
“I think they called it an auction,” she explained. “I didn’t get very far into it. Sometimes I wonder what my opening bid would have been.”
He shuddered, and his hands tightened on the wheel. “You need a keeper, girl.”
She got that a lot. “Anyway, everyone freaked, but I made a couple of friends and I got to give Aunt Serena a good idea for a book, so it all worked out. But I do need a paycheck. I couldn’t go home last night because my bodyguard was on vacation. He came back early so he could start the job.”
Nate huffed. “So you’re making some bloke with a family stay with you twenty-four seven because you refuse to stay with your family?”
She was starting to get the feeling Nate didn’t like her very much. “No. My father is making some bloke stay with me. I would be fine on my own. I have a security system. I have had some self-defense training. My father is being overly protective.”
“Or you aren’t taking the threat seriously enough,” Nate replied.
“We don’t even know there is a threat. I might not have to testify. We know very little about…” She sighed. “I don’t want to argue. I can be quiet until we get to the office. I’ll be working on another floor, so you won’t have to see me.”
He was quiet for a moment. “Why wouldn’t I want to see you?”
“I don’t know since I thought we were kind of friends. Your parents are pretty much family.”
“We’re not family, Daisy,” he said quickly. “I wouldn’t call us old friends either. We don’t know each other. Aidan and I kept up. He’s come to Australia a couple of times. The one time I visited here, you were out of town.”