Total pages in book: 149
Estimated words: 147967 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 740(@200wpm)___ 592(@250wpm)___ 493(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 147967 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 740(@200wpm)___ 592(@250wpm)___ 493(@300wpm)
Damn it, Maya!
When was she going to get over this? It was crazy. It wasn’t normal to feel this way about someone else.
Then her brain recognized the look on his face.
Why was he looking at her like he was upset with her? He crossed his arms over his chest.
“What did I tell you?”
Her gaze skittered away from his. “Um. When? You say a lot.”
“I say a lot?” he repeated.
Uh-huh.
“I do not say a lot.” He almost sounded offended. “But what I do say is important.”
Sheesh.
Was he for real right now?
She set Gummy down and mimicked his pose, crossing her arms over her chest as she tapped her foot on the ground. “What you say is important?”
“What I say is important.”
“So, enlighten me, ‘oh important one’, what is it that you have to say?”
“There she is,” he said.
Huh? What did that mean?
“This is about what I told you to do. And how you ignored me.”
Um. She had no idea what he was talking about.
What he’d told her to do?
“I told you to stay in that chair, didn’t I? No matter what.”
“But I did!” she protested. “Until Gummy raced out of the house. She was in your way. I didn’t want you to trip over her or for her to get stepped on. That’s the only reason I moved.”
“No. Matter. What,” he repeated as he pointed at her. “You’re in trouble.”
Her mouth dropped open. “I am not!”
“You are. Inside. Sit down. Right now.”
You know . . . maybe he wasn’t as attractive as she’d thought.
Urgh. Nope. Who was she kidding? He was still gorgeous.
And she was totally screwed.
14
Maya sat back and patted her full stomach.
The animals were all fed, including Tank who’d eaten a little bit. He liked to eat next to Big B. The pig would snort and snuffle. Maya liked to think that Big B was encouraging Tank to eat. But for all she knew she could be telling him to leave all the food for her.
Big B liked her food.
“I’m so full I’m going to explode,” she complained.
Matthieu stared down at the pizza, most of which she’d eaten herself. Oops.
Why hadn’t she noticed how much she had eaten? He was going to think that she was really greedy.
“Um. Shit. I’m so sorry.”
“Why are you sorry?” he asked, to her surprise.
“Well, because I ate most of the pizza and you barely got any.” Great. Pointing it out just made her feel more embarrassed.
“Don’t need to apologize for that. You needed it.”
“But you’re bigger than me, you have to fuel all of those . . . muscles.”
Oh dear Lord.
Had she really just said that? Now he was going to know that she’d noticed his muscles. Then again, it would be hard not to notice those muscles, the way they bulged, pressing against his T-shirt.
Yeah, the man sure did a mighty good job of filling out a T-shirt. She wondered if he bought them a size small deliberately. If she was him, she probably would.
“I’m fine,” he told her. “Getting you fed was more important.”
Man. Why did he have to keep saying things like that? He was killing her.
Reaching over, he grabbed a bottle of water and held it out to her. “Drink.”
“I’m too full,” she groaned, rubbing her belly.
“I’m sorry you’re full. Next time, I’ll stop you before you get overfull. But you still need to drink. Take some small sips for me.”
She wanted to do that for him. But she also didn’t want to add anything to her belly. And she was feeling so much better so she really didn’t think she needed more water.
“Maya,” he said sternly.
She let out a disgruntled sigh.
Dougie, who was lying on her lap, let out a similar sigh. She scratched him behind the ears in thanks for his solidarity.
Gummy was chewing on her toy. Every so often, she’d look up and around suspiciously as though she thought someone was going to steal it from her. Sometimes, she’d let out a small growl. Generally, when she was looking at Matthieu. It was going to take Gummy a while to like Matthieu, she could see. Then she’d go back to chewing on her toy.
Tank and Big B were in the bedroom like usual. Although Big B waddled through the small living room every so often to check on them.
And she’d introduced Matthieu to Marshmallow who had promptly farted then disappeared into his little house.
It had been a really good fart too.
Even her eyes had watered and she’d thought that she was used to Marshmallow’s farts.
“Maya. Drink,” he said firmly. “We’ve had a conversation already about how when I say to do something, it’s important.”
Urgh.
Since it seemed like he wasn’t about to let this go, Maya took the bottle of water. She sipped it slowly.
“Are you sure that Gummy didn’t bite or scratch you?” she asked, still feeling bad about her dog’s behavior. Although the dog had been trying to protect her friend.