Total pages in book: 95
Estimated words: 92519 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 463(@200wpm)___ 370(@250wpm)___ 308(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 92519 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 463(@200wpm)___ 370(@250wpm)___ 308(@300wpm)
Staring at Rosalie now, he found himself enjoying her. This started a week ago when his mom invited her over for dinner. He’d watched her, seeing the happiness in her eyes at the laughter coming from her mother. She loved her mother more than anything. She was loyal to that woman.
Rosalie finished off the half-piece of burger. “There, I’m done. I’ve eaten. Happy?”
“Nope, you’ve got another half.”
She eye-rolled him again, but rather than seeing it as insolent, he found it utterly adorable, and in fact blew her a kiss for his trouble. Her cheeks heated and she looked away from him.
Ox and Myth had been silent throughout the whole meal. Rosalie took the burger from him and continued to eat without making a sound. She kept staring around the diner, looking anywhere and everywhere but at him. He didn’t mind. She could look wherever she wanted. It gave him the perfect opportunity to look at her, and he adored what he saw. She was fucking stunning. When he wasn’t pissed off that he’d married the enemy, and wasn’t thinking about her relation to Daemon, he was attracted to her.
A few months ago, when he first saw her in the dungarees, she’d had some gorgeous curves on her. They’d faded in the last couple of months, which he hated. She clearly wasn’t eating enough.
Rosalie swallowed the last bite and held up her hands. “Done.”
“No, you’re not.” He held out the coffee he’d also ordered.
She took a deep breath.
“I’m simply taking care of my wife. It’s the gentlemanly thing to do.” He winked at her.
She shook her head. “You’re being a dick on purpose.”
“Being nice to you means I’m being a dick.”
“What are you up to?” Rosalie asked.
“I’m not up to anything.”
She took several drinks of his coffee and then put the mug back in front of him. “I’m not an idiot, Colt. I know you’re up to something. You don’t change overnight because you suddenly feel like doing husbandly things.” She got to her feet. “May I now go?”
“Sure.” He picked up his mug and took a sip, watching her go.
“Do you want to tell us what that’s about?” Ox asked.
“Just taking care of my wife.”
“Hate to break it to you, buddy, but you’ve been hating on her for a long time. What gives?” Myth asked.
“Can a guy not take care of his woman?” Colt asked.
Myth and Ox shared a look.
“She’s still Daemon’s kid.”
“True, but don’t you think that makes her even more precious?” Colt said.
Myth smiled. “You want her on your side.”
Daemon was up to something and he didn’t for a second believe he’d tell Rosalie what his plans were. However, if Rosalie was loyal to him and the club, then there was no way Daemon could use her to get to the club. Once he had Rosalie on his side, his family were already taking care of Gabrielle, which would then leave Petal.
He needed to make sure someone was with Petal at all times. The two were inseparable so it wouldn’t be difficult to find someone who would enjoy spending time with Petal.
Colt finished his coffee and while they headed outside, he made his way toward the kitchen where Al was cooking up some burgers.
“Hey, Al,” he said.
The moment he entered the kitchen, Al lost his confidence, seeming to withdraw into himself, and he got smaller within seconds.
“Colt, was everything okay?” he asked.
“Don’t give Rosalie any kind of shit,” he said.
“I’m sorry.”
“When I come in here to feed my wife, I don’t expect you to make her life hard.” He moved forward putting his hand out on Al’s shoulder, giving it a squeeze, not enough to do any kind of damage. Just enough to make it a warning.
Al smiled. “Of course not. Rosalie’s a hard worker.”
“That she is.”
He left the kitchen only to come face to face with Petal.
“What are you doing?” she asked.
“In case you hadn’t noticed, your friend looks sick. She’s sick and I’m taking care of my wife.”
“My warning still stands. I don’t trust this nice guy routine.”
“You don’t have to trust it. What you’ve got to do is take care of her,” he said.
With that, he took one last lingering look at Rosalie, and then turned on his heel and left.
****
“I can’t trust him, Petal.” Rosalie nibbled her lip several nights later as she sat in Petal’s car.
It was Friday. Her friend was meant to be dropping her off at Colt’s, but it was that time of the month, so she was supposed to go home. Her mother wasn’t home, though. No, Kim had taken her and they were enjoying another crafting day at her mom’s workplace.
Gabrielle loved to craft but she hated going to those things alone. Rosalie had tried to get into the whole crafting gig, but it hadn’t worked. She didn’t have the skills or the patience or inclination to learn them. So, if she went home tonight, she’d be on her own.