Total pages in book: 97
Estimated words: 91266 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 456(@200wpm)___ 365(@250wpm)___ 304(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 91266 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 456(@200wpm)___ 365(@250wpm)___ 304(@300wpm)
The pain in her chest that never quite went away grew at the thought, made worse by a young family playing in the surf. The mother sat with a baby beneath an umbrella, and the father chased his toddler through the shallow water. Sloan could hear the little girl’s giggles from where she stood, but the sound only made her melancholy worse.
Stop it. You left it all behind by choice. Any children you decide to have won’t grow up to be pawns in a game they want no part of.
Children.
The very idea was ludicrous. She could barely take care of herself right now, let alone herself and a tiny human who depended solely on her for survival. Frankly, she didn’t like the theoretical child’s chances.
When she’d left the diner, all she’d wanted was to go home and close a door between her and the rest of the world, but as soon as she’d showered and picked at the meal Luke packed for her, a restlessness had her pacing through the small house. She looked at the fireplace, considered building a fire, but then realized she had no idea how to go about doing that other than throwing some wood and paper in the fireplace and lighting it. Maybe that’s all it takes?
Frustrated with yet another thing she didn’t know without resorting to Google, she walked out the back door and onto the porch. Sloan tilted her head back and inhaled deeply, muscles she hadn’t even been aware were tense relaxing one by one from the combination of briny air and the soft crash of the waves.
“This. This is why I came here.”
Freedom.
If it came with costs, well, what thing worth having didn’t?
A throat cleared near her and she opened her eyes to find Jude on his porch as well, a beer dangling from his big hand. Everything about the man was massive. He had to be at least six and a half feet tall, and even with several yards between them, he dwarfed her. Today, his long hair was down in careless waves that her fingers were itching to dig into.
Sloan clenched her hands. What was wrong with her? Not only had she just met this man, he’d been nothing short of hostile in the single interaction they’d had. She should not be eyeing the slice of his chest revealed through his unbuttoned shirt—did the man ever dress himself properly?—and yet…
And yet.
You said you were going to start living. He could be another step in the right direction.
She’d never had a fling. Sloan wasn’t the type of girl who was interested in that sort of thing, and the knowledge of what her father planned for her had kept her from allowing anyone too close for fear that it would end in heartbreak.
That and the single time a boy had asked her out, all four of her brothers had cornered him and scared the ever-loving daylights out of him. Word had gotten around after that, and there had been no second offers. Neither of her sisters seemed to let that stand in their way, but Sloan was different. She was the one who kept her head down. The dutiful daughter, the quiet sister, the one who never stepped a foot outside of what was good and proper.
Until now.
She bolstered what little courage she had and made her way off her porch to the stairs leading up to Jude’s. “Good evening.”
He raised a single eyebrow. “You’re pretty damn proper for a waitress.”
Of course he knew she was a waitress. Gossip seemed to be the only thing Callaway Rock and Boston had in common. It wasn’t something she was ashamed of. She had a job, which was more than many people could say. She glanced at his beer, but it wasn’t a brand she recognized. “I don’t suppose you have another one?”
Jude threw back his head and laughed, the sound deep and cruel. “Go home, honey. You couldn’t handle me on your best day.”
She took a step back, about to argue that she wasn’t trying to handle anything, but her courage failed her. Why did I think this was a good idea? She pressed her lips together, hating that her eyes burned at his rejection. Keira wouldn’t cry over some man who probably isn’t worth her time.
Carrigan wouldn’t have been rejected in the first place.
She spun on her heel and hurried back to her home, vowing that her explorations into this new life were strictly to exclude flirting from here on out. She’d gone this long without sex or a relationship. She could just keep on going for another twenty-four years.
* * *
Jude felt like a piece of shit as he watched Sloan scurry back to the O’Connor place. He took a swig of his beer, hating the guilt that rose when he pictured the hurt and humiliation on her face. He’d been doing her a fucking favor, not that she needed to know that. She might be a part of this because of her connection to Sorcha, but that didn’t mean she had to be caught in the crossfire.