Total pages in book: 71
Estimated words: 73462 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 367(@200wpm)___ 294(@250wpm)___ 245(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 73462 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 367(@200wpm)___ 294(@250wpm)___ 245(@300wpm)
But Sienna…
She’s the whole damned book.
I just need to close the past. I need to see him alone, without Riv and the others.
Just Jake and me, face to face.
Then I’ll let it go.
No more wondering. No more questions. I’ll look him in the eye, and I’ll remember why it never happened. Why it couldn’t.
And then I’ll go to Sienna, hold her like I mean it—because I do—and tell her everything. No more ghosts. No more silence. She deserves all of me, not just what’s easy to explain.
But before I can move forward, I have to bury the past for good.
I turn away from the blue water and head back to the mansion.
To the woman I love.
EPISODE 218
THE BITCH IS BACK
Misty
“I think I already told you,” Jake says to June. “Not only no but hell no.”
Seriously? June wants my newfound brother to take his clothes off for sweet little Ariel? That little Southerner will blush like a lobster.
That’s worth seeing…
But oh my God…
June doesn’t know that Jake is my brother. None of the women know.
And I have no desire to see my brother’s junk. That’s just creepy.
“Please…” June whines. “None of the staff will do it. No fraternizing and all. Evangeline will have their asses.”
“Ariel would hate that anyway,” I say.
“Are you feeling better?” June asks, finally acknowledging me.
“I’m fine,” I say curtly. “Dehydrated is all. I’ve had quite a shock.”
“You’ve had a shock?” June shakes her head. “If that isn’t just like you, Misty. Think of the guys. They just found out that their long-lost friend is alive!”
I roll my eyes.
June is just being June, of course, but my God the woman grates on my nerves. I know what the other women think of me. I haven’t been exactly friendly.
Truth be told, I don’t know how to be.
June is over being concerned about me—if she ever was—and has turned back to Jake.
“I’m asking you—politely, mind you—to do a very small favor for Ariel’s bachelorette party,” she says to him. “You don’t have to do a real striptease if you don’t want to. Just some shirtless bartending. Maybe a few pelvic thrusts if the energy feels right.”
“Oh my God,” I mutter under my breath, sinking farther into my bed. “You’ve completely lost it.”
June ignores me. “It’s not like anyone else is stepping up.”
“I already told you,” I interject, louder this time. “Ariel. You know she’d hate it.”
June turns her glare on me. “And what exactly do you know about what Ariel likes?”
“We’ve all been here together for weeks,” I retort. “You ought to know a little about each of us by now.”
June glares at me.
For a moment, I think she’s about to erupt like a damned volcano and tell me exactly what she thinks of me…and it won’t be flattering.
But she calms down a moment later. “I’m trying to make Ariel’s last night before marriage as much fun as possible. I’d prefer not to be insulted by someone who overdosed on drama this morning.”
Okay, I was wrong. She is going to say what she thinks of me.
“I fainted,” I say through gritted teeth. “I was dehydrated.”
Jake lets out a low whistle. “Do you two need a ring and a bell?”
I shoot him a look. “Stay out of it, brother.”
June’s head jerks toward me, brows lifting high. “Brother?”
Jake stiffens beside me.
June tilts her head, slow and predatory. “Did you just say brother?”
I sigh, dragging a hand down my face. “Yeah. I did.” What the hell? They’re all going to find out anyway.
Jake runs a hand through his hair, muttering, “You didn’t have to tell her.”
“I wasn’t about to sit here while she tried to get you to pop and lock in a thong for Ariel,” I say. “That’s something I don’t need to see.”
“Trust me, sis, no one on this island is going to see it.”
June’s jaw is dropped. “Wait. Hold on. You mean to tell me the mysterious stranger who just reappeared from the dead is your actual brother?”
“Half-brother,” Jake says.
“Same birth mother,” I add.
“Jesus Christ.” June throws herself into the nearest chair like the weight of this family reunion is just too much to bear. “Why doesn’t anyone ever tell me these things?”
“I’m thinking maybe because it isn’t any of your business,” I say casually. “Besides, you were busy trying to schedule abs for Ariel.”
Jake rubs his hands over his face. “This is…a lot.”
“It is,” I agree. “Maybe you should take a hike, June.”
June crosses her arms, clearly not heeding my advice. “What’s got your panties in a twist, Misty? Scared your long-lost brother’s going to steal your spotlight?”
I’m still feeling weak, but I suppose I could get out of bed and scratch June’s eyes out.
But Jake jumps in fast. “Okay. Let’s breathe. Let’s all breathe.”
June lets out a breath. “Don’t get mad at me just because your world tilted six inches to the left and you’re suddenly not the most mysterious person in the room.”