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)
Gummy looked up as though she could understand the question. She let out a small growl, glaring at Matthieu.
“Gummy! Matthieu wasn’t trying to hurt the girls. He’s our friend. Friend.” She reached over and patted his arm.
Then she realized what she’d done and snatched her hand back.
Shoot. She’d touched him. She hadn’t meant to do that. And now her hand felt like it was sizzling.
Trick of the mind, of course.
But still.
She never wanted to wash that hand again.
Maya, you are losing your mind.
“Um, sorry,” she told him.
“For what?” he asked.
Well. If he didn’t know, she wasn’t going to tell him.
“Drink some more,” he urged her after she didn’t reply.
Sighing, she sipped at her water. She did feel better, if a bit sleepy.
She sat back, her eyes trying to close. She pried them open. “How does this work?”
“How does what work?” he asked as he packed up the pizza box and napkins.
Shoot. She should do that. She attempted to stand and he shot her a look.
Whoa.
If looks could give spankings, then she wouldn’t sit for a week. She settled back into the sofa.
“Stay. Sit,” he told her.
Maya glared at him. “I am not a dog.”
“No, they listen without arguing.”
“Rude,” she grumbled with a sigh.
“Is your garbage bin out the back?” he asked.
“Yes. Behind the garage,” she told him.
He left and she stared around her tiny, rundown house. He couldn’t stay here. But bodyguards usually stayed with the bodies they were guarding, right?
But he couldn’t work all the time. So did he go home at night?
Urgh, don’t be an idiot, Maya. He can’t just go home. Night is the worst time for you to be alone.
Where could she put him, though? She only had three bedrooms. She was in one. Tank and Big B took up another and the third one was tiny and didn’t have a bed. Unless the beds in her Lego village counted.
Which they didn’t.
Shit! She needed to get rid of her Lego village. Jumping up, she ignored the wave of dizziness that rushed through her as she ran into the third bedroom. Luckily, she found an empty box that she shoved the village into. Then she carried it into her bedroom and stuffed it into the closet before heading back into the living room.
She stared down at the sofa. Maybe she could make up a bed on the couch for her and he could sleep in her bedroom. Or could she sleep in the spare bedroom with Tank and Big B?
Urgh. She didn’t want to stress Tank out though.
No. Perhaps the small room was the best idea. She’d take the back cushions off the sofa and put them in there and grab some blankets and a pillow. Getting up, she moved into her bedroom to change the sheets first.
“Maya? Maya, where are you?” Matthieu called out.
Why did he sound unhappy?
Oh. Crap.
She’d moved.
You idiot.
But it was really hard to stay in one place. She wasn’t used to sitting still. She was usually busy.
Which might be one reason why she was feeling so exhausted. Maya couldn’t remember the last time she’d managed to relax.
“Um, I’m in the bedroom. My bedroom,” she clarified.
He appeared in the bedroom doorway and his gaze narrowed. She turned to concentrate on the bed as she drew off her strawberry sheets.
Shit. Crap.
Maya realized that she hadn’t thought that through. Now he knew that she slept on white sheets with strawberries all over them. What was he going to think about that?
Would he think she was ridiculous? Childish? Well, she kind of was, right?
Stop worrying about what he thinks?
She should start thinking more about what the hell was going on. Like what to do about Vince or the threats to her father.
Not that she could really help with that. And, let’s face it, there were probably a lot of people who had it in for her father. She really didn’t think there was much of a threat to her. Maya barely had anything to do with her father anymore. Mind you, the person threatening him might not know that. She was still shocked that her father was willing to pay for a bodyguard for her. It could end up costing a fortune.
No doubt it was really annoying Kathryn to have to spend money protecting someone that she didn’t like. That was actually the upside to all of this.
Annoying Kathryn would never get old. Even if it was a bit childish.
“What are you doing?” he asked.
“Um, changing the sheets on my bed for you.”
“For me?”
She snuck a look at him. “Yeah. So you can sleep in here. You are sleeping here, right?”
“No.”
The answer was abrupt. He almost sounded irritated, which she didn’t understand. Why was he upset about her question?
“You’re not staying?” she asked, trying to keep the fear out of her voice. She felt sure he’d stay the night.