Total pages in book: 149
Estimated words: 140604 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 703(@200wpm)___ 562(@250wpm)___ 469(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 140604 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 703(@200wpm)___ 562(@250wpm)___ 469(@300wpm)
Garrett slid an arm around her waist, trapping her between the two of them. “I’m going to ask you to treat my girlfriend with some professionalism. You should understand I’m one of the lawyers who works for Barnes-Fleetwood, and I’ll have a talk with your human resources department if you continue to harass her.”
A brow rose over Scott’s eyes, and she could see the minute he decided Garrett was a threat. “Harass is a harsh word. Especially when you’re talking about her former fiancé.”
She felt Keane stiffen beside her and knew he was taking in the ridiculously overpriced loafers Scott wore and the expensive suit. Keane was the one with a chip on his shoulder about how he grew up. So she cuddled closer to him. “He wasn’t my fiancé.”
“I had a ring and everything,” Scott replied.
“And a girl on the side. You might have bought that ring for me, but you gave it to her.” She needed to regroup. It wasn’t like she felt anything for the man but disgust, but she also couldn’t allow their past to ruin the relationship with their best distributor. This was sadly what it meant to be a woman in this business. Although she admitted taking on not one but two fake relationships was going a bit far.
“I told you that was a mistake.” Scott gave her that look that let her know he was thinking about arguing further, but he stopped and an aw-shucks smile came over his face. “Well, I intend to make it all up to you by being the best business partner possible. I can see you’re happy. Let’s get in touch and we can meet tomorrow. It was good to see you, Livie. You look…you look great.”
He turned and walked toward the BMW he must have rented in Dallas since they didn’t see many of those in Willow Fork.
She held her breath until he got in.
“We should probably talk about what happened.” Garrett had a wicked grin on his face. “Uh, am I supposed to stay at the motel? Are we not sleeping together in this scene?”
She sighed. Nope. “Let’s talk about it on the ride out to the ranch. I’ll explain everything to you. Thanks for backing me up.”
She couldn’t do this right here. She needed to get in her comfy car and tell them her sad story and make a deal.
An adult deal.
A practical deal.
A deal that might help all three of them.
She moved to the parking spaces her family kept at this private airport.
And stopped because her SUV wasn’t as tall as it had been before. All four tires were flat.
Her day had just gotten worse.
* * * *
Keane sat in the back of a station wagon that might be from the late eighties. He wasn’t sure, but it apparently was Willow Fork’s version of a taxi, complete with a gossipy driver who had maybe been eighty in the eighties, too.
She drove so slow and yet had almost had two accidents.
This might be worse than the plane. He wasn’t meant for this time. Horses. They were safer. He should have been born in a time when all a man needed was a horse and his camping supplies.
Scratch that. He liked running water. But this car was dangerous. It rattled in a way that sounded like it was on its last breath. And there was the dog.
“I knew that boy was here to make trouble. He showed up yesterday looking for you at the café. Christa told him you were at a wedding, and I swear his face went pale. I think he thought it was your wedding. He calmed down when he found out it was your brothers’.” The woman driving had introduced herself as Gwen, and she had raced to the airport when Olivia called her. She showed up with cookies and stale coffee and lots of questions. “Do you think he’s the one who slashed the tires on that pretty baby of yours? Did he think he could give you a ride?”
Keane had thought about it and dismissed the idea. The man was in a suit, and he looked like he would be pissed if it got dirty. If that man knew how to handle a knife, he would be surprised.
“I have no idea what Scott is thinking except that everything fell apart and I was an idiot once. Why not try again?” Olivia asked.
“I remember the first time that boy was around and he spent his whole time kissing your daddy’s ass and ignoring your papa,” Gwen pointed out as she turned onto the highway. Slowly. So slowly.
Did this car have any shocks left? He was pretty sure they were all shot since he could feel every inch of road.
He was still reeling. He went from utter devastation to being trapped in a tin can high in the air to embarrassing himself with his stomach’s betrayal to becoming Olivia’s fake boyfriend. One of them.