Total pages in book: 90
Estimated words: 90315 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 452(@200wpm)___ 361(@250wpm)___ 301(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 90315 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 452(@200wpm)___ 361(@250wpm)___ 301(@300wpm)
Lena laughs at that. “I turn twenty-five in January.”
January 14.
Maybe I’ll propose to her on her birthday.
Because if she thinks I’m not marrying her, she doesn’t know me at all.
Ryker and Lena keep talking about dividends and stock trades, and Willow and I stare at each other with glossed-over eyes.
“This is not a fascinating conversation,” Willow finally says.
“Yes, it is,” Lena objects, shaking her head and passing her empty glass over to Sarah in exchange for a fresh one. “I just learned like three new things from your husband. Whoever said that jocks can’t be smart are wrong.”
“Who says that?” Ryker asks with a scowl, making the girls laugh. “I’m fucking smart.”
“I mean, you married me, so you’re brilliant.” Willow kisses his arm, making him smirk.
I hear the back door of the pub open and assume it’s someone taking out the trash. We’re not far from the hallway that leads to the restrooms and the back door.
“I have to pee,” Lena whisper-shouts. “Can you please let me out?”
“I’m going with you.”
She blinks up at me. “I’m not into that. It’s not my kink. Sorry, big guy.”
Ryker laughs, and Willow spits out her martini.
“I’m going to make sure the bathroom is safe, Rebel.”
“It’s safe. You don’t have to hold my hand. There’s hardly anyone in here, Gideon.”
I shake my head.
“The hallway is ten feet away.” Lena points and then kisses my hand, which is linked with hers. “No one has even gone back there in a while.”
“I’ll go with her,” Willow says. “I have to pee too. It’s all these martinis, which are delicious, by the way. But yeah, they go right through you.”
“We’ll be fine.”
“Trust me, if anyone tries any funny business, I’ll scream,” Willow says.
“Plus, I’m totally badass now. I know how to punch, kick, and bite my way out of just about anything.” Lena flexes her arm, showing off an impressive biceps, if I do say so myself.
“Damn, look at the guns on your girl, man,” Ryker says with a low whistle.
“Told you.” Lena looks smug as she smiles up at me with glassy eyes. “Willow and I can pee alone.”
I slip out of the booth and peek down the dark hallway, then nod at the girls, who slide out of the booth and walk past me. As I sit across from Ry, I hear the bathroom door swing open and then closed and let out a breath.
“I hope you plan to marry that girl.”
“That’s my plan,” I agree. “I’m so fucking glad that Willow came around.”
“Me too. She was not easy to live with there for a while.” He sips his water, but before he can say anything else, we hear Willow’s scream.
And my blood runs cold.
Chapter Twenty-Five
Lena
“I’ve never seen Gideon that intense,” Willow says as we walk away from the table toward the restrooms. “I mean, he’s always been broody, and I know he’s badass, but wow, that’s a lot. Is that how he always was when he worked for you?”
“Yeah,” I reply with a nod and push the door open, and Willow follows me in. There are only two stalls in here, and we each take one. “I could probably count on two hands the number of times I ever saw him smile. He’s very serious about his job, and frankly, it always made me feel so safe. I never felt safer than when Gideon was the head of my detail.”
After finishing up, I step out and wash my hands, waiting for Willow. I brush my fingers through my hair and smooth some ChapStick on my lips.
“I’ve never seen Gideon look at someone the way he looks at you,” she says, and the words echo in the small bathroom, making me smile.
“And how is that?”
“Like you hung the damn moon.” She snorts, and then I hear the toilet flush, and she steps out to wash her hands. “Gideon was no saint, and I won’t give you the gory details because no one wants to know what happened before they came into their man’s life.”
“No thanks.” I shake my head.
“But no one has ever impacted him the way you have. I can see it written all over his face that he’s in love with you.”
I bite my lip and lean on the counter.
“We haven’t said the words,” I say quietly as we look at each other in the mirror. “But I love him so much, I ache with it, Wills.”
“The age gap doesn’t bother you?”
I shake my head. “I don’t care about that. I’m in my mid-twenties. We don’t see each other the same way that we did when I was a teenager.”
“Time apart would have helped with that,” she agrees with a nod. “I get it. I sincerely hope it works out between the two of you because I love having you out at the ranch with us. I’ve always wanted a sister.”