Total pages in book: 36
Estimated words: 34292 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 171(@200wpm)___ 137(@250wpm)___ 114(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 34292 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 171(@200wpm)___ 137(@250wpm)___ 114(@300wpm)
“What are you doing here, Vivian?” I bite out. She can’t fathom how much seeing her and sending her away with pain in her eyes hurts me.
She tosses me a look of disgust before smirking. “I came to say Merry Christmas, jerk. I don’t know how long you’re in town, but I’m going out of town for a ski trip with friends.”
“Aren’t you too young to be going skiing?” Viv and my dad look at me like I’m nuts. She’s driving me nuts in so many damn ways that I’m going to be locked up in an asylum in some hidden location for special circumstances—for men who have been tormented by little temptresses knowing exactly what they’re doing. I’m both angry and hard at the same time. I could crack the damn wrench in my hand.
“I didn’t realize there was an age limit on skiing,” she hisses.
“I meant without your parents.” Sometimes I just want to bend her over and spank her ass for that smart damn mouth of hers. I’m definitely getting too old for the thoughts I have of her, even though it’s not entirely wrong of me. We grew up close together, but we are not family.
“Well, it’s a school trip. No need to worry. The boys are staying in a different room.” The smile on her face results in a deep, rigid scowl on mine. I almost crack my teeth with the way my teeth are clenched.
“Boys?” I’m about to have a mild stroke. I grip the edge of the workbench, and I hear the slightest crack. My dad taps my shoulder to remind me to let go.
“Yeah. I do go to a co-ed school, you know. Anyway, I came to say Happy Holidays. See ya.” She practically skips out of the place, and my father does his best not to laugh at my fucking misery, but the damn coughing chuckle comes out.
“Come on, Son. You can finish this up and book your trip. I’ll contact her daddy and get the details.” Yeah, because that’s what her dad wants. I can just slide on up to her vacation alone in the snowy mountains and snuggle up with his daughter where I can deflower and impregnate her. Damn, I’m getting hard thinking about it. I shake the thought from my head before I do just that to prove that she’s mine.
“What? I can’t go there with her.” I slam my hands down on the bench, letting my head fall forward. I’m doing my best to hold it together, but I want to beat the shit out of someone. Maybe one of my Steele buddies would be up for a sparring match.
My dad grips my shoulder and asks, “Why?”
I’m defeated as I stare back at my father. “Because I don’t trust myself.”
He nods, understanding my dilemma. “Fine. I’ll send your brothers. They could use a vacation.”
“Sounds like a good deal to me.” They’re eighteen-year-old twins, looking for something to do. “As long as they know damn well to keep their eyes and hands where they belong.”
“You know your brothers would do anything for you.” Yes, they would.
I’ve done my best to avoid the troublemaker because when I’m around her, my heart beats out of my chest and my body reacts like every red-blooded straight male around a sexy woman like her. “Damn it. That woman is a sin.”
“Sorry. If it makes you feel better, you graduate in the summer and she’s legal then,” he reminds me. Not damn likely.
“It’s like a fucking eternity.”
He taps the motorcycle we’re working on and says, “Timing is everything—in motors and in love. It took me eight months to finally meet your mother.”
“I guess you have a point. Not that it matters, though, because she’s a minor.”
“Uh-oh,” he mutters.
“What is it?”
“Trouble.” We’re both staring at my mom.
“Clear out.” I turn to the rest of the employees in my dad’s shop. They all know the routine. “Hello, Mother,” I greeted her with a hug.
She pulls back and gives us a mischievous grin. “So the most interesting thing happened to me today. I had the urge to go skiing for the holidays. I’ve already booked the entire trip to Vail.”
“What?”
“Yeah. I was having lunch with Vanessa.” They became close after everything that happened all those years ago. “Well, anyway. She mentioned skiing and, well, we’ve never been and since I have all my children here, I thought it’d be a great idea. Christmas in Vail.”
“Sounds wonderful, my love.”
“You’re both trying to kill me.”
“No. A mother knows what’s good for her son. We learned that a long time ago. Besides, seventeen is legal in Texas. Although I’m not sure her father would take too kindly to his seventeen-year-old knocked up, so be smart and careful.”
“I’ve got things to do.” I shake my head and leave the garage, locking the door behind me so no one gets any kind of shock and my father doesn’t have to kill anyone. I hop on my motorcycle and go for a drive.