Total pages in book: 110
Estimated words: 107803 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 539(@200wpm)___ 431(@250wpm)___ 359(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 107803 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 539(@200wpm)___ 431(@250wpm)___ 359(@300wpm)
The bell above the door rang, and I swore everyone in the café turned to look. It didn’t take me long to spot my younger brother, Gatlin, sitting at a booth. I quickly made my way over to him and sat down.
Glancing up, he smirked. “Sure, join me for breakfast, Caden.”
“Did Emeline or Ensley call you to go check on Lilibeth?”
Confused, he narrowed his eyes. “What?”
“Did anyone call you to see if you were in town?”
He sat back. “No. What’s wrong with Lilibeth?”
“Nothing. She’s fine. Just overslept and no one could get a hold of her.”
“So our sisters thought you’d be the ideal person to go and check on her? That’s insane. You clearly don’t like her.”
Lucy Miller, Anna Miller’s daughter and the café’s owner, walked over. “Hey there, Caden. I haven’t seen you around in a while.”
“Hey, Lucy. I’ll take a coffee and a water.” I looked back at Gatlin. “Have you ordered yet?”
“Just now.”
Turning back to Lucy, I said, “I’ll take the breakfast special, over-medium for the eggs, please.”
“Sure thing,” Lucy replied, before turning and walking back toward the kitchen. I glanced around to see that everyone was back to minding their own business.
When I looked back at my brother, he raised a single brow.
“I like Lilibeth just fine.”
He laughed.
“Okay, she gets to me. I don’t know how to explain it. And I don’t know why Ensley asked me. But,” I lowered my voice, “she fucking answered her door dressed in nothing but a bra and panties.”
Gatlin slowly shook his head. “You poor bastard. I’m sure that really hurt your eyes.”
I shot him a dirty look. “You don’t get it, Gatlin. The woman drives me mad.”
He leaned back in the booth. “No kidding. The question you need to ask yourself is why does she drive you mad? Are you attracted to her, and that pisses you off because you’d rather walk around grumpy and hating the world?”
I scoffed. “Don’t be ridiculous.”
“I’m not. I’m asking a legit question, Caden.”
“I don’t hate the world.”
“Could have fooled me. Oh, maybe you just hate women, so you take out your self-induced loneliness on everyone.”
Lucy walked back over and placed my coffee and water on the table.
I put sugar and cream in the coffee, the entire time feeling my brother’s intense gaze on me.
“Why the fuck are you staring at me?”
He shrugged. “What happened after she answered the door in her underwear?”
“Nothing. She grabbed a coat and put it on.”
“And once you made sure she was okay, you decided to come to Anna’s for breakfast?”
“I did. Is there a problem with that?”
He raised his hands in defense. “Not at all.”
The bell above the café door rang, and we both turned to see none other than Lilibeth walking in.
“Christ,” I mumbled, as Gatlin chuckled.
“You can’t seem to get away from this woman, can you?”
“Good morning, Lucy,” Lilibeth said, in her usual chipper voice. “May I please grab a coffee and an orange danish to go?”
I was silently praying she wouldn’t look over and see us sitting here.
“Should we invite her to join us for breakfast?” Gatlin asked, his voice lowered this time.
“No, we should not. Besides, she needs to get to her store. Remember the whole oversleeping and running late thing?”
“Right. Right. You planning on doing any Black Friday shopping since you’re in town?”
My coffee mug paused right before I took a sip. “Did you seriously just ask me that?”
He laughed. “I did.”
“Are you?”
“Hell yeah. I usually get all of my Christmas shopping done the weekend after Thanksgiving.”
I shook my head and whispered, “Pussy.”
Gatlin grinned. “Last chance. She’s leaving.”
Turning my head, I watched as Lilibeth breezed out of the café as quickly as she’d come in. I silently thanked God she hadn’t seen us.
“Caden, explain to me why you dislike Lilibeth so much. She’s beautiful. Always has a smile on her face, and is one of the nicest people I’ve ever met. Why does she get under your skin?”
“She’s annoying.”
When he didn’t say anything, I finally met his gaze. “Or, you’re attracted to her, and that pisses you off.”
“Why would I be pissed off if I was attracted to someone?”
“Oh, I don’t know. Maybe because she’s the first woman since Rachel who’s made you feel something in that cold black heart of yours.”
“Wrong.”
“Am I?”
I nodded.
“You don’t think she’s pretty?”
With a one-shoulder shrug, I replied, “She’s cute.”
“Cute? You think that woman,” he jerked his head toward the door Lilibeth had just walked out of, “is simply cute? Was she cute in her bra and panties a few moments ago?”
I smirked. “Cute isn’t the word I would describe.”
A wide grin appeared on his face. “So she was hot.”
Sighing, I nodded. “Yes, Gatlin, she was hot.”
“And you don’t want to ask her out for what reason exactly, Caden?”
“If you like her so much, why don’t you ask her?”