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)
She barely managed to hide her surprise. And then her smile of satisfaction. He might think he didn’t know how to be affectionate or show how he was feeling.
But she didn’t agree.
“I don’t suppose there’s an electronics shop here?” she asked Eli who had Horse on the lead.
Horse hadn’t seemed that impressed about that.
“No, we’d need to go into Freestown for that.”
“I need to get a laptop urgently,” she said. “I need that for work. And some lighting and a tripod and a few other things.”
“All right, we’ll drive in there later,” Eli reassured her.
“I’ll also need to go to the house and clean up,” she said.
They shared a look across her head.
“We’ll handle that,” Kellan told her.
“No, it’s my problem to solve.”
“That’s what you need to realize,” Eli said. “Your problems are our problems now. We’ll take care of it.”
“I don’t know what to say,” she said.
“Just say yes, Kellan or yes, Eli,” Kellan told her. “You should memorize those words. You’ll be saying them a lot.”
What was she going to do with them?
They grew closer to the bakery and she stilled.
“You don’t have to go in there, baby,” Eli said, misinterpreting the reason for her hesitation.
“No, I do. I want to check on Iona. I hope she’s not upset by what happened.”
“Maybe she should be.” Kellan glared at the shop as though it was its fault that she’d had an allergic reaction.
“She shouldn’t. It was entirely my fault for not checking on the ingredients. I got . . . distracted.”
Kellan grunted as though he didn’t quite agree.
But they both went inside with her. Eli entered first while Kellan held her back. Then he let her go in once Eli glanced back with a nod.
“You guys are acting like my bodyguards.”
“Your home was broken into and trashed. Just yours. No one else. Stuff wasn’t taken, it was destroyed. That feels personal not random,” Kellan told her seriously. “So, yes, we are.”
“Should I . . . should we go home?” she asked fearfully. Was it Lee? Or someone else? But who else would do that? Were they watching her now?
“We’re not going to let anything happen to you. All you have to do is what we say,” Eli said.
“Yes, Eli? Yes, Kellan?” she said sarcastically.
“Exactly,” Kellan replied. “Glad to see you’re getting it.”
Uh-huh.
As they moved through the shop, people called out greetings to Kellan and Eli. Mostly they replied with chin lifts and nods.
Which was actually sexy as hell.
But what surprised her was how many people asked if she was all right. And if she needed anything.
She hadn’t expected that. She knew that small towns could be different from the big city. That was part of the reason she was here.
But she hadn’t known that people would learn her name so quickly. Or be so caring. Sure, a few just seemed nosy or curious. But there was genuine care on some people’s faces.
And that really struck her hard.
“Thanks, I’m really fine now,” she said to an older lady who was leaning heavily on her walking stick.
“Good, dear, good. And I heard about the break-in. That’s terrible. Things like that shouldn’t happen here. I hope the sheriff is working hard to find who did it. Valerie will be horrified once she hears.”
Wow gossip spread quick in a small town.
“Mrs. Taylor? Do you know her well?”
“Oh, yes, we’re great friends. She’s on a boat tour of China right now.”
“Jake is trying to get hold of her,” Eli said.
“Hmm, I’ll try to get in touch. But I know she said that her phone was acting up. Is Abe all right? Not too shaken?”
“I’m going to go check on him,” she promised.
“Arabella!” the cry came from behind the counter and then Iona was barreling toward her.
Shit.
She was about to collide with her when Kellan swept Arabella behind his back, causing Iona to come to a surprised stop.
“Oomph, hey big guy, I wasn’t going to hurt her. You can step aside.”
Iona shooed Kellan. Either she was very brave or a bit foolish.
Arabella wasn’t sure which. Maybe she lacked self-preservation. Because Kellan was not taking kindly to being shooed.
And he didn’t move or take his arm away from Arabella so she could move.
Shoot.
Finally, Iona moved to the side so she could see Arabella. “Arabella! Are you all right? I’ve been so worried. I need your phone number because I didn’t know how to get in touch with you! I went by your house but there were cops there and one of them said you’d been broken into! What the hell is going on in your life? And now you’ve got a bodyguard?”
As far as Arabella could tell she didn’t take a single breath while she blurted all of that out.
“I’m not her bodyguard,” was all Kellan said.
“Huh?” Iona looked up at him. “Who are you then?”
“Her man.”