Total pages in book: 96
Estimated words: 89093 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 445(@200wpm)___ 356(@250wpm)___ 297(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 89093 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 445(@200wpm)___ 356(@250wpm)___ 297(@300wpm)
When I nod, inspired by her strength, she murmurs, “And that’s why you need to fight the charges brought against you as self-defense, JR.”
I shake my head. “I killed him.”
“To protect yourself.” She stops the brutal shake of my head by standing to her feet. “He killed Cecil, so how do you know you weren’t next?”
“I wasn’t thinking about me when I beat him.”
“That’s right. You weren’t. Because your mind had switched to survivor mode, it was doing anything in its power to live.” When she reaches me, she gathers my hands in hers so if I want to continue arguing, I’ll have to use my voice. “You’re not a monster, JR. You are not your father, and I’m going to make sure the world is aware of that.”
She steals my ability to offer a comeback by sealing her mouth over mine.
Chapter Thirty-One
Jae
With my breathing leveled and my feet barely touching the ground, I sneak out of the room I shared with JR last night. Excluding the time I grabbed the two plates of the creamy food Alex ordered, we didn’t leave our room. I don’t want to give JR a single second to doubt any of my responses yesterday afternoon. Nothing he said changed my feelings for him. If anything, they made them stronger. I was able to live a normal, safe life because he kept the scent off me for years, and now I need to do the same for him.
I stop tiptoeing across the cabin’s expansive living room when Regan mutters with a yawn, “Do you really need extracurricular activities after all the sexercise you did last night?” She finishes her yawn before finalizing her sentence, “You guys must be as exhausted as Alex.
She waggles her perfectly manicured brows. “Totally worth it, right?”
Since I can’t disagree, I bob my head.
“So what’s with the hiking gear?” I feel self-conscious when she lowers her eyes to my skintight yoga pants and three sizes too big shirt. Regan is the very epitome of a barbie doll—big green eyes, flawless skin, blonde hair, and breasts Alex has to use his massive hands to measure. “If you want Jell-O legs, wake up Big Foot for round three.”
She brushes off my sneer with a tongue poke before flopping onto the couch.
I join her in the living room, albeit hesitantly. I’m not overly good at lying, but when you’re desperate, you’ll give anything a shot. “I’m not going for a hike. I need to pop into a drug store. They don’t deliver out this far.”
“I know,” she mutters with a gag. “Alex was harping on about that all night last night.” She straightens her back, then angles her head to the side. “What do you need to purchase? If it can wait, I’m reasonably sure Alex is going to town this morning once Hawke and the rest of the security detail get here.”
“We’re going to the drug store,” Alex corrects as he enters the room shirtless and shoeless. I’m unsure which direction to look when Regan appears on the verge of having a coronary while drinking in his pajama-pants-only stalk of the elaborate space. “And not a damn hour too soon.” After greeting Regan with a good morning kiss, he shifts on his feet to face me. “Why? What do you need?”
“Umm…” Come on, brain. “Something to remove taser barbs from a sensitive area.” I removed the prongs embedded into JR’s cock last night, but since that delicate operation was kept between JR and me, I use it to my advantage. “They tasered him—”
“Right in the cock,” Alex butts in with a laugh.
Regan socks him in the stomach, halving his chuckles before locking her wide-with- concern eyes with me. “They tasered him in the…” She points to her crotch like she’s never said the word penis before. When I jerk up my chin, her face whitens, “But instead of removing them last night, you took care of business instead.”
Even a virgin would know what her took-care-of-business comment refers to. She thinks we had sex with the barbs still embedded into JR’s cock. Although that was what we did minutes after I carefully removed them, I’m not a complete barbarian. But since that isn’t something I can disclose to Regan right now, I nod for the second time.
It whitens her face even more.
“Wow…” She stops, throws a hand up to her mouth, then races for the bathroom dividing the two rooms of the cabin.
When the noise of a woman being sick filters into the living room, I shoot my eyes to Alex. He looks more excited than nervous.
“You better go help her,” I suggest, aware this is the perfect opportunity to make my escape. “If this is what you’re hoping, but it’s unplanned, she’ll need a lot of support to ease her into the idea.”
With his mind on his personal life more than his job, he nods, then races into the bathroom. I snatch up the keys to his SUV and hightail it outside before my head can talk my heart out of my decision.