Total pages in book: 100
Estimated words: 94513 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 473(@200wpm)___ 378(@250wpm)___ 315(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 94513 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 473(@200wpm)___ 378(@250wpm)___ 315(@300wpm)
Bane reached for a bottle of shampoo and opened it. His nostrils flared slightly as he held it to his nose. He nodded, closing it, then handed it back to the woman. “All of it.”
Her eyes flickered to me momentarily, then back to him. “One of each?” she asked for clarification.
“Yes,” he replied.
She beamed at that and began taking the items off the shelf. “I’ll go get this all packaged up for you.”
Bane pulled his wallet out of his pocket, then slid a black card from the worn leather. When he handed it to her, I saw her eyes widen slightly as she took it.
With a quick glance down at his name, she looked back up at him. “I’ll be right back, Mr. Cash.”
How likely was it that he’d bought that for someone else? My mind was whirling. If that was for me, why had he chosen strawberry? How had he known that my shampoo was strawberry?
“Stop frowning,” he told me. “You’ll smell just as good with the added cream scent.”
My eyes darted back up to him. “So, this is for me?”
He smirked. “Did you think it was for me?”
I ran my bottom lip through my teeth, thinking about asking him why he’d chosen strawberry or how he had known.
“What is it?” he prodded.
“My shampoo that I get can be purchased for a tenth of what the bar of soap here costs.”
He chuckled. “You didn’t even pick it up to look at the price.”
“I’m guessing.”
“This will be better for your hair and skin,” he told me.
The strawberry thing was bothering me still.
“Why strawberry?” I blurted before I talked myself out of it.
He raised his eyebrows. “That’s the shampoo scent you use, isn’t it?”
Yes, but how had he known that?
I stared at him, trying to read his expression. But the amused gleam in his eyes wasn’t helping me.
“You realize that your eyes hide nothing. Every thought you have is right there on display,” he said with a curl of his lips. Then, he leaned down close to my ear. “I’ve carried you, Halo. I know how you smell.”
Oh. I wasn’t sure if that was relief or disappointment as I let out a breath. Perhaps it was a mix of both.
The saleslady returned with his card and a white bag with gold printing on the front and pink tissue paper inside, as if it were packed to give as a gift.
Bane took the card and the bag. “Thank you,” he replied, then signed his name on the iPad screen before turning back to me. “Ready?”
I nodded and headed toward the exit as he followed me.
Bane had just bought me expensive products for my hair and body. Why? Was this just part of his taking care of me because I was carrying his brother’s baby, or was it something more? The time we’d spent together, mixed with my dreams of him at night, was getting it all confused in my head. And I was afraid for my heart too. It was easy to protect myself from the rude, angry man who hated me. But this Bane? He was too much like the one who had held me at night. I wasn’t sure I could protect my heart from him.
He opened the truck door for me. “Library next?” he asked me.
I’d mentioned this morning that I’d like to find a library nearby so I could get some new books to read. He hadn’t responded, only nodded.
I sat down and looked up at him. “Yes, if you don’t mind.”
His cocky smirk no longer grated on me. Instead, I found it endearing.
Thirty-Three
Halo
The guys were back early. I knew it before we returned to the house because Bane had gotten a text, but I wasn’t prepared for the change in him once we walked inside. The guy from the past two days was gone.
After he’d let me spend two hours in a library, gotten a library card in his name for me to check out books, taken me to his favorite Mexican restaurant—where we’d talked, laughed, and had a good time—he left my bag of books on the sofa, along with my bag of expensive bath products, then walked off without a word. Not even a backward glance.
My chest felt heavy as I carried my things up to the bedroom. Taking some time to regroup, I sat on the bed and stared out the small window. The way his eyes crinkled at the corners when he laughed, the teasing tone in his voice, his hand on my back, as if I were his—I hadn’t imagined it all. Sure, the sex dreams were all in my head, but I had experienced the other things. Spent time with him.
A knock on my door sent my heart fluttering. I swung my gaze toward it.
“Come in,” I called as my eyes watched with expectancy. Hoping it was Bane coming to explain his change.