Total pages in book: 88
Estimated words: 87573 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 438(@200wpm)___ 350(@250wpm)___ 292(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 87573 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 438(@200wpm)___ 350(@250wpm)___ 292(@300wpm)
Congratulations, sir. You have one-upped my Daisy Dukes.
“Well, it’s not the battery,” he said.
He brushed his hands back and forth as he straightened and faced me. Then, his jaw unhinged. His eyes slid down my long, tan legs to the boots on my feet and back up.
Then, he cleared his throat. “I think it’s a timing belt.”
“What?” I asked, shaken back to the moment. “No. That’s bad.”
“Yeah.”
I passed him the bottle of water, which he downed before continuing, “I wouldn’t recommend driving it even if we could get it to turn over. It’d be a more costly repair the more damage it takes. You’ll probably need a tow.”
I deflated. Fuck. A tow and a timing belt repair. How the hell was I going to afford that? I loved my 4Runner to pieces, but it was probably time to replace her. I just didn’t have the available funds, and she was so old that no one was going to give me more than pennies for her.
“I know a guy,” Whitt assured me. “I’ll give him a call and see if he’ll do the tow as a favor.”
“What? Really? Someone would do that?”
“Sure.” He already had his phone in his hand and was shooting off a text. “I collect friends like that.”
“Must be nice,” I said before I could think better of it.
He arched an eyebrow in my direction. “You’re doing all right in the friend department.”
“For sure. But no one who will tow my car for me,” I said with a self-deprecating laugh.
“You do now. I can take care of you.”
I smirked at him. “I’m a big girl. I can take care of myself.”
“Hmm,” he murmured. “Well, he said he’ll be here in twenty. I told him to take you to a shop where I know the owner. He’ll give you a fair price and not try to upsell you.”
“You didn’t have to do that.”
Whitt took a step toward me. “I wanted to.”
A breath lingered between us. I could lean into it. I could let him work his Wright magic and be my knight in shining armor. But this wasn’t a fairy tale. I wasn’t going to be swept off of my feet. Men didn’t act like that in real life.
At best, a man was an accessory. He looked good on my arm, but he wasn’t necessary for me to shine.
I wanted to fuck Whitton Wright, but he’d made it clear that he wanted more. So, I took my step back. Decided to keep it professional and to leave the thirsting for my daydreams.
“Well, thanks. You don’t have to wait for the tow truck. I’ve already monopolized enough of your time.”
He nodded and took another sip of water. Already, he’d responded to my distance with his own. “All right. I’ll see you tomorrow?”
“Yeah, I’ll be there.”
His eyes snapped back to mine. “Let me know if you need a ride.”
I wet my lips. Fuck, did I ever need a ride. “Sure.”
He disconnected the cables, pulled his clothes back on, and then tipped his head at me before going back to the office. My heart stuttered as he drove away.
Had I made the right decision? Should I have gone for it? I didn’t normally back down from a guy, especially someone that hot, but I could see all the signs that this would crash and burn. When it inevitably ended, where would that leave me?
Would all my shiny, new friends pick me over a Wright? Or would I lose everything again?
It wasn’t worth the risk.
5
Whitton
“Did you have to wear a suit?” Weston asked me.
Of course he’d shown up to Jensen’s mayoral event as casual as ever. I rarely saw my brother in anything but band attire. Even today, he was in torn black jeans and a distressed Cosmere T-shirt.
“You’re wearing your own merch,” I pointed out.
“Thank you!” his girlfriend, Nora, said. “I said the same damn thing before we left.”
He fisted his shirt and looked down at it. “I had this before I was in the band. Does it still count?”
“It counts,” Nora and I said at the same time.
West pressed a kiss to her lips. “Traitor. You’re not supposed to agree with my brother.”
She giggled and kissed him again. I rolled my eyes and turned my attention to the rest of the Wrights in attendance. There were a lot of us. Something that I wasn’t accustomed to. I was used to it being me, West, and Harley against the world. Now, Harley was in Seattle until the end of the summer, and we had two new brothers and five cousins we’d never known about.
I never would have believed we’d be welcomed with open arms until it happened. West had always been certain that they’d want to know the truth, but I certainly hadn’t. Who wanted to know their family’s dirty deed? But this family was a blessing I never could have seen coming.