Total pages in book: 155
Estimated words: 154379 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 772(@200wpm)___ 618(@250wpm)___ 515(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 154379 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 772(@200wpm)___ 618(@250wpm)___ 515(@300wpm)
“My, my, he is one to contend with, isn’t he?” Nelly tsked.
Her voice finally shot me into action, and I mumbled, “Watch my bags,” since my purse and duffel were on the floor next to the couch.
I raced after him, and I barely caught up as he splayed his tattooed hands out on the counter.
It was the first time I noticed the tattoo on the back of his left hand.
For some reason, my attention zeroed in on it.
It had two stacked Ss with an eye sitting directly in the middle. A dagger ran through the entire thing, and sitting on top of the handle was a skull.
Disquiet pulled through my being.
There was something about it that struck me.
Something about it that hit me like a warning.
An omen of death.
Theo looked down at the woman behind the counter.
Her name was Madge, and she was probably ten years younger than Nelly. She’d jumped up when we first came in, flitting around us in distress before Theo had told her not to worry because Dr. Reynolds was on his way.
“I’m so glad to hear you’re all okay,” she gushed, her dyed red hair cut in a long bob that brushed her shoulders. “I might have been eavesdropping, but I couldn’t help myself. Your little man is adorable.”
“He is, thank you. And I’m relieved, too,” I told her, trying to keep the trembling from my voice.
Theo leaned farther over the counter, completely casual as he said, “They’re going to need Unit B.”
Madge rocked back for a confused moment before she jolted forward, and her fingers began to fly over her keyboard. “Right, right, of course.”
“I am perfectly capable of getting my own room.” My words were shards.
Madge shook her head, and she pressed her lips together like she had a secret that I wasn’t privy to.
“It’s the only one that’s going to accommodate all of you,” Theo grunted. He cut me a glance, and my chest clutched at the sight of his obscenely handsome face.
“I’m sure Madge can help me pick out the right one,” I argued.
He tipped his head toward me. Seduction filled his tone. “Maybe I want to be sure you’re thinking about me while you’re lying in that bed.”
Heat rushed.
A throbbing of greed while he sat there looking at me with that grin.
Like I was going to be thinking of anything else.
While I stood there floundering for a response, Theo turned his focus back to Madge. “Can you get them organized while I move their bags?”
“Of course, they’re in good hands.”
Theo pushed off of the counter and went to pass me, though he leaned down close to my ear as he breezed past. “Yeah, they can be sure they are.”
I watched with my jaw on the floor as the man strode out the door and back into the cold, all dark swagger that curled my stomach in a fist.
Madge chuckled lightly, drawing my attention back to her. “Might as well go with it. That man thinks he needs to solve all the world’s problems, and he’s set on doing it his way.”
Hysteria bubbled up to the edge of breaking. My mind whirring with what the hell he thought he was doing.
Why was he still here? And why did he seem to know everything about this place?
“Does he work here or something?”
Surprise had Madge lifting her brown gaze up to me. “Oh, no, sweetie. Theo owns The Sanctuary.”
Shock rocked me back a foot.
Madge slid me two keycards. “Here you go, dear. Two keys for Unit B. If you need anything at all, just call the lobby, and I’ll see to it that it’s taken care of.”
“Well, that sure is nice.” Nelly ambled up behind me carrying my duffel and purse, and Finn trotted along at her side.
“Definitely nice.” Madge gave my grandmother a genuine smile, though there was something locked below the surface. “It is one of the best cabins here at The Sanctuary. You’re lucky it’s available.”
A few minutes later, the door swept open again, and Theo came striding back through.
Stealing the air and stability, as if I ever had any of that.
“Took your bags over. You can either hop back in my truck or brave the cold for a minute to make it over there.”
There was no chance I was stepping foot near his truck again.
No way could I handle being boxed in with his volatility.
“We can walk.”
I swept Finn up into my arms, then wrangled my duffel and purse out of Nelly’s arms and tossed them onto my other shoulder. “Let’s go.”
“I hungee, Mommy.”
Shit.
Panic surged from that place where I felt like I was barely treading water.
Barely keeping it together.
The undertow so close to sucking me under.
With everything, we hadn’t had dinner yet.
Frantic, I glanced around the lobby, praying there was a vending machine or something. I hadn’t noticed a restaurant on the premises.