Total pages in book: 44
Estimated words: 43102 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 216(@200wpm)___ 172(@250wpm)___ 144(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 43102 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 216(@200wpm)___ 172(@250wpm)___ 144(@300wpm)
“I’ll grab the cooler.” Gabe marches down the hallway, then reappears carrying a red cooler big enough for anything we might need to take with us. The guys start to fill it up.
This condo is ten times the size of my apartment.
What am I even doing here?
When I was a kid, there was a TV show that would instruct me to choose which one of the items didn’t fit in with the others.
It’s me. I’m the oddball here.
But I’m the oddball everywhere, so why should this be any different?
“Question,” I say, holding up a finger.
“Ask anything,” Gabe says with a grin.
“Who’s Cassie?”
Both men stop what they’re doing, and Gabe surprises me by pulling me into a hug.
“I mean, I know it’s none of my—”
“She’s the chef,” Adam says, kissing the back of my head. “That’s all, Princess.”
I feel silly. It really isn’t any of my business. As long as they’re not fucking her with me in the room, I don’t have any claim on these men.
“I shouldn’t have asked.”
“Hey.” Gabe cups my face, and his brows pinch together. “You ask anything you want, Shorty. We’re getting to know each other. Be nosy. For the record, I’ll lay it out for you. Adam and I are together. Always will be. There is no woman in our lives except for you.”
I wrinkle my nose, then bury my face in his chest, embarrassed that I asked in the first place.
“Do you like cheese?” Adam asks, and I chuckle as I nod. “Good. We have lots of cheese here. Christ, does Cassie think we’re mice?”
I glance up into Gabe’s eyes and feel better.
“Okay?” he asks, brushing my hair behind my ear.
“Yeah. Okay. Do you need help with this?”
“We’ve got it,” Adam says. “Go get yourself ready for the boat, Princess.”
Shorty and Princess. I never thought I really liked nicknames.
Turns out I was dead fucking wrong.
I change into my swimsuit as the guys pack the food and drinks, then we’re off again, walking down through the resort and to the marina. The boat is not what I thought it would be. I was expecting a small speedboat, big enough to pull a skier and have fun on.
This is not that.
It’s bigger, sleeker, sexier than what I’d pictured. But as we’re about to get on this boat, someone else is coming off theirs, along with their giant fucking dog.
And I freeze.
Fuck.
The little dog at the coffee shop was easy enough to skirt by, but this dog is fucking huge, and the dock is not big enough for the two of us.
“Hey, Harvey,” Gabe says and reaches out to pet the beast, but I’m backing up, my heart pounding in my chest, my throat constricting. “Did you go out on the water today?”
“Hey, guys,” the man says. “Don’t worry, he won’t hurt you.”
I’m shaking my head, still slowly backing away. I can’t take my eyes off the animal.
So much blood. He’s laughing, and his sick smile makes my tummy hurt. He’s enjoying how much he’s torturing me with the poor cat that wandered through the yard this morning. Why is he so horrible? Why does he laugh so much when I scream?
“Alex.”
I think that’s Adam’s voice, but it sounds like it’s coming down a long tunnel.
Suddenly, I’m swept up in strong arms, and I bury my face against a firm chest, willing my breathing to slow the hell down as I cling to the man carrying me.
Christ.
I feel the earth shift beneath us, then he sits and nudges my face back so he can look at me.
Gabe.
“Is it gone?” I ask. My voice is so small, and it pisses me off, but I can’t help it.
“It’s gone, Shorty,” Gabe says, his nickname for me helping to lighten the mood.
I take a trembling breath and look around, and when I don’t see the massive dog anywhere, I swallow hard and nod.
“Let’s get out on the water,” Adam suggests. He’s already started the engine, pulled the ropes in and pushed us away from the dock. Next thing I know, we’re zooming away from the resort, shooting across the lake. The wind feels fantastic, as if it’s blowing all of the anxiety I just had away.
I smile up at Gabe, and he covers my mouth with his, kissing me sweetly before licking across the seam of my lips, and I open for him, loving the way he takes the kiss from calm to hot in a nanosecond.
I shift and straddle him, wrap my arms around his neck, and continue kissing him, until Adam slows the boat and we’re drifting in the middle of the lake.
He pulls the sunshade over the top, then tugs me out of Gabe’s arms and into his own. Cupping my chin in his fingers, he says, “Talk to us, Princess.”
Chapter Seven
ADAM
The look on Alex’s sweet face when she saw Harvey ripped the heart out of my chest and set it on fire. My girl was terrified, and I want to know why. Sure, the great dane is a big-ass dog, but she acted like it was a grizzly bear and she was lunch.