Total pages in book: 95
Estimated words: 90085 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 450(@200wpm)___ 360(@250wpm)___ 300(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 90085 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 450(@200wpm)___ 360(@250wpm)___ 300(@300wpm)
“It’s…” There was a hesitancy to her voice that had my eyes doing their own thing and snapping back up to look at her. “Um, well, my momma. She and I went in one once. It had just been built, and she was curious. When she saw the price of the berries right when we walked inside, she…” Another small laugh slipped past her lips, but the sadness in her expression now had my complete attention. “She said that she didn’t get on a pole at night to pay that much for goddamn berries—loud enough for everyone around us to hear. And”—she paused and shrugged—“when she realized they were all staring our way, she placed a hand on her hip and flashed them a bright smile, as if posing for a photograph.”
Jayda’s burst of laughter snapped me out of my daze, and although I went back to getting out the food, my complete attention was on Montana.
“God, she sounds like she was fun,” Jayda said.
“Oh, she was that.”
The wistfulness in her voice took all my willpower not to look at her again. I had to stop this fucking chat session. I’d gotten Jayda here as a distraction, not to make it even more difficult for me to ignore Montana.
“That’s the sauce that goes with the wings. I wasn’t sure if Montana liked her wings sauced or not,” Jayda said.
I lifted my eyes from opening the different things she’d brought.
“Who said I was sharing with her?” I asked, trying to get my head right.
My dick was going to get hard around her—that was a given. She’d give a ninety-year-old man a woody, but that wasn’t going to distract me from finding shit on her and getting out of this cabin and back to my life. She’d brought this on herself by blackmailing her father. I felt not one shred of guilt about it.
Jayda reached over and slapped her hand over the next container I was about to open. “Don’t be a dick. I’ll starve your ass,” she warned.
“It’s fine,” Montana said.
Both of our gazes swung to her.
She held up her sandwich to Jayda. “I have this. I’m good. Uh, and it was nice to meet you. Thanks again for the food. I’m gonna go back to the bedroom. It’s been a long day.”
Her smile this time was tight and didn’t meet her eyes. There was no shine of amusement in them. No sun glistening on sea glass. No dimples.
Taking her water and sandwich, she closed the short distance between the kitchen and bedroom before I chanced looking at Jayda. Seeing the death glare she had aimed at me, I rolled my eyes and went to get a plate from the cabinet.
“What the hell was that?” she hissed at me.
I shrugged. “I can’t help that she’s so fucking sensitive.”
“Since when did you become an asshole?”
Walking back over to the food so I could load up on all the things she’d brought, I replied, “I’m being forced to be her babysitter because she’s blackmailing her father. Don’t go taking up for her.”
Jayda stood up. The look of disgust on her face was directed at me. “Baskin is a philandering bastard. The girl has no one. She did what she had to in order to get some help. Besides”—Jayda glanced past me to the closed bedroom door—“I bet you could get Gathe, Forge, heck, even your brother to take your place. It’s not like being stuck in a cabin with her is a hardship. You have looked at her, right?”
No, Jayda, I went blind recently.
“I tried to get Linc to give this job to one of them. He insisted I do it,” I told her, taking my food to the sofa to sit back down.
“Poor baby,” she drawled sarcastically.
I glanced back at her as she went to the door and opened it.
“Thanks for the food,” I told her.
“Don’t choke on it,” she snapped, then left.
Two for two tonight. I was pissing off females like it was my job.
Six
Montana
One more day, and I’d get out of this cabin. Going to a new school this close to finishing my senior year was daunting, but it wasn’t like I could go back to Monroe. This was my only option. My babysitter was not required, and I didn’t want him here just as much as he didn’t want to be. He hadn’t even attempted to whisper last night when he talked to Jayda. The walls weren’t that thick, and neither was the bedroom door.
I’d waited for three hours this morning to see if he’d leave or go outside at least so I could go get something to eat and drink. After I took my time in the shower, drying my hair, getting dressed, and making up the bed, he was still here. I could hear the television, and he’d just gotten something out of the fridge.