Total pages in book: 112
Estimated words: 113272 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 566(@200wpm)___ 453(@250wpm)___ 378(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 113272 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 566(@200wpm)___ 453(@250wpm)___ 378(@300wpm)
That rental agent should never have turned her away like that. Not in Haven, anyway. She was a woman on her own. Even if they didn’t want the dog in the house, something could have been done. Someone could have found a kennel. Or taken him in.
He didn’t like it. And he was certain Jake wouldn’t either. Did she not know she should have called the sheriff?
He guessed maybe not if she was new to Haven. Why had she moved here?
“No, no,” she said. “I just . . . I’m just relieved. Thank you. This is a big weight off my shoulders.” She smiled up at Kellan.
Damn. Even exhausted and stressed her smile lit up her face. She moved past him and he stared after her.
“Are you drooling?” Kellan asked.
Eli turned to him in shock. “Did you just make a joke?”
Kellan blinked at him. “No. You really do seem to be drooling.” He pointed to a corner of his mouth and Eli rubbed at it.
Jesus. Had he been drooling? That was embarrassing.
Then he realized that Arabella had stopped by the elevator and had turned to look at them.
Her stinky dog had turned to look at them both too. Great. They were getting in another enclosed space with the stinkiest thing on the planet.
“You remember when Shaw got sprayed by that skunk?” Eli asked.
“Yes. We threw tomatoes at him because you thought tomato juice would help, but all it did was make him angry. And Mrs. Evans, because we stole her tomatoes.”
“Yeah, well, that dog stinks, but when he farts, it’s nuclear,” Eli said as he strode toward the elevator. “They smell worse than that skunk.”
“Impossible,” Kellan replied.
Kellan had never smelled something so wretched in his life. He was actually choking and tears were streaming down his face. He prided himself on the control he had over his body and mind.
That seemed to have disappeared.
All due to a dog’s fart.
“I’m so sorry,” Arabella said, clearly looking distressed.
Over her shoulder Eli was grinning at him.
“What the hell has he been eating?” Kellan asked.
“I don’t know. I guess maybe dead animals?” she said.
They’d ended up getting a rope from the back of Eli’s car to use as a lead and Eli was carrying one of Arabella’s bags for her.
Her car was packed to the hilt.
Which made sense if she was moving here. He just wondered why she was on her own.
No. Not your business.
You made sure she was safe for the night.
Which is more than he had wanted to do.
He was simply doing what his brother wanted.
That was all.
“This is your room,” he said, walking past her to stop in front of a door.
Which just happened to be next to their rooms.
Eli shot him a look. But instead of questioning him, he simply nodded.
Good to know they were on the same wavelength when it came to this girl.
“You will be staying here tonight,” Kellan continued. “We will come for you at eight sharp in the morning for breakfast. Do not leave before then. Do not open the door to anyone. If you need anything before then, call us. I will need your phone.”
He thought he had been very clear in his instructions, but he must have missed something because she just stared at him in shock.
“Huh?” she asked.
“I said that I need your phone. To put my number in. So you can contact me if necessary.” Hmm. He should probably put Eli’s in. Since this was all his fault.
But for some reason he didn’t want to.
He sighed as she continued to stare at him. What was going on with her?
“Just give him your phone,” Eli told her. “He’s not going to give up until you do.”
“Um. I really . . . I mean . . . you don’t need to fetch me for breakfast. I won’t skip out on paying the bill or anything.”
“That wasn’t what I thought,” Kellan told her as he took her phone and tapped them together so they would share contact information.
“Add mine,” Eli said to him.
Kellan added his number with a shake of his head. His brother really should distance himself from her. She had trouble written all over her. And that was before he’d realized who she was.
The daughter of the former acting Governor of Texas. Who had seemingly committed suicide.
Hmm. Was that why she was here? Perhaps she needed to get away from the city where her father died?
Kellan handed her phone back. Her dog was staring up at him suspiciously, but didn’t growl.
Perhaps he liked Kellan more than Eli.
That would be a first. Everyone preferred Eli. Even their family.
Kellan understood it.
He wasn’t someone who was easily cared about or loved.
“Now, I would suggest you go in and get some sleep. You look exhausted. And that dog definitely needs a bath.”
“I . . . I . . . I don’t understand why you’d do all this,” she said.