Total pages in book: 78
Estimated words: 75592 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 378(@200wpm)___ 302(@250wpm)___ 252(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 75592 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 378(@200wpm)___ 302(@250wpm)___ 252(@300wpm)
“Competition is stiffer than usual,” Raff said, swiveling on his stool to look out at the bar where, yeah, several pretty women were being chatted up by the strangers in town.
“Well, when the guys try to bring them back to Jake’s shoddy motel, they’ll come running back to us,” Coach said, moving up beside me. “Nancy?” he asked.
“Yeah,” I said, tipping back my beer.
“Will be doing yoga and meditation with Vienna and Everleigh in the morning, if you need some peace.”
“Looking for a different kind of peace tonight,” I said, nodding my chin over toward a group of women who’d just walked in. All high heels and skintight dresses. Shady Valley didn’t have a club, so they had to wear their partying dresses here at the understated Irish mafia pub.
“Gotta respect that too,” Coach said with a smile as he moved away from the bar to approach the group of women.
“Lula! My heart! The most beautiful woman in any room.” Raff was laying it on thick. And Lula, as always, was rolling her eyes but smiling.
To be fair, Lula was a complete smoke show. She was all soft in face and body, with high cheekbones, a delicate jaw, big light brown eyes, curves in all the right places, and dark, flawless skin that looked edited even in real life.
This week, she had her long black hair in passion twists.
“Hey, Raff. Here again?” she asked, seeming surprised as she moved around, making herself a drink. Of the nonalcoholic variety.
“I’m grounded.”
“Got yourself into trouble in Miami?” Lula asked.
“Oh, just a little mishap with a megayacht.”
“Wait, seriously?” Lula asked, turning with her drink in her hand.
“The Coast Guard had their panties in a twist,” Raff said. “It was just a little—“
“International incident,” Colter said, lips twitching.
“So, what I’m hearing is you are only here because you got in trouble, not because you want to impregnate me with your babies as you are always claiming you want.”
“Darlin’,” Raff said, resting his arms on the counter and leaning forward. “I got free time right now. You’ve got an office back there, right? The door lock?”
“There’s the silly little horn dog I know and… tolerate,” Lula said, giving him a warm smile before turning and walking back to her office.
“Hey, what are the rules at the psychiatric hospital for family members?” Colter asked, looking over at me.
“What?”
“Could other family members of yours visit your mom?”
“I don’t have any other family.” It had always just been the two of us.
“But what if you did?”
“I don’t. They know that.”
“But you could.”
“What? A long-lost brother I never mentioned before?”
“A wife.”
“A wife,” I said, choking on my beer. “You want me to pretend to get married?”
“I was thinking more that you should actually do it.”
“Why the fuck would I do that?” I had a million problems already. I didn’t need a wife on top of that.
“I think Nancy would suss out if it was a fake marriage. Then she’d probably find some way to get you sent back to prison. For lying to her or something like that. But if your wedding was legit…”
“Colter, man, I’m not dating anyone. I’m not even fucking anyone casually.”
“So, you make an arrangement with someone.”
“Who would want to do that? Marry me just to go visit my mom for me?”
“I dunno. Money. A place to live.”
“Colt, man, how much have you had to drink?” I teased, shaking my head at him. “However much it is, I think it’s too much.”
“Just something to consider. You got a bit to go on your parole. It’s eating you up not knowing how your ma is doing. If you had eyes and ears in there, I think you’d feel better. Plus, it might help with Nancy.”
“How would that help with her?”
“Dunno. Maybe it would soften her to you. Make her see you as less of a criminal if you were married and happy. Maybe planning on babies…”
“Now I’m having babies too?”
“Well, planning doesn’t mean having them. But maybe she wouldn’t be rifling through your shit if you had cute baby onesies and rattles and shit lying around.”
“It sounds like maybe you want to be getting married.”
“Been there,” Colter said, sighing hard as he tipped up a beer. “Done that.”
Colter’s marriage was what sent him to prison in the first place. While he was off fighting for his country, his wife and best friend were fooling around behind his back.
He beat the shit out of the friend, then filed for divorce from jail.
But all that being said, the guy was a diehard fucking romantic. I saw the way he was looking at the couples around the clubhouse, the babies they were popping out. He wanted that.
And maybe he was projecting some of that onto me with his asinine idea.
“These ladies were just saying they’d love to get out of here,” Coach said as he walked up, arms thrown over the shoulders of two sparkly-dressed women.