Total pages in book: 86
Estimated words: 82411 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 412(@200wpm)___ 330(@250wpm)___ 275(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 82411 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 412(@200wpm)___ 330(@250wpm)___ 275(@300wpm)
I clamp my lips closed before mentioning that Cerberus was the main reason the shooting happened here a year ago. Her community was affected by the club’s actions and they’re over nine hundred miles away. I can’t imagine the vengeance people would want to seek on the kids right there in Farmington.
Just thinking of the danger that can come to them makes me want to head back home faster.
“We’re a community. We take care of our own, and there isn’t a person connected to Cerberus who doesn’t take pride in that fact.”
She presses her hands against my chest as she takes a step back. I know Cerberus and the way we live isn’t for everyone. Honestly, she’s much safer here in Lindell than coming to New Mexico. Her life will look nothing like it does right now, and that may be too much for her to handle. For some reason, the idea of her changing her mind makes me nervous.
“It sounds like a cult,” she says, her cute little nose scrunched up.
“It’s not, but just know that clothes aren’t allowed on the weekends.”
“What?” she screeches.
She smacks me in the chest when I can no longer hold my straight face.
“I’m not getting naked in front of your friends,” she says, her smile wide.
“Just me then?”
She rolls her eyes as if it’s the most ridiculous thing she’s ever heard.
“Only if you help me pack.”
I pull her to me, pressing a kiss to her forehead before releasing her.
We spend the next half hour gathering her clothes and personal items. The woman doesn’t have much. When I mention this to her, she explains that she used to compulsively buy stuff, but then her focus would change and she’d have to sell it. She had a bigger house, but she just filled it with so much junk that she purged it all and moved into a smaller space to help manage those impulses.
“You said two hallways with rooms,” she says, carrying the final packed bag and dropping it near the others at her front door.
“Right,” I confirm.
“Do we share a bathroom with all your friends?”
“I guess I should’ve called them private suites. The bedroom is much larger than the one you have here, with an en suite bathroom, but all the other areas are communal. The kitchen, the living room, the pool area. The clubhouse is private, but also not. If that makes sense.”
“Sounds like it’s going to be a major change for a while,” she says, her eyes scanning the room as if she’s making sure she’s not leaving anything important behind.
The insane thought of us having a house built and moving out of the clubhouse threatens to take hold, but I shove that shit down as fast as it comes.
“I imagine I won’t stay there that long. Maybe just long enough to fill out some housing applications or something.”
“I don’t know how much you pay in rent here, but the housing in New Mexico isn’t—”
“I’m not broke, Derrick,” she says. “And I’m not looking for a handout. I need to get out of town. I don’t need someone to support me.”
I tilt my head to the side, wondering what I said to set her off.
“Okay,” I tell her, holding my hands up in mock surrender. “Don’t take this the wrong way.”
“Nothing good ever comes with that statement,” she mutters. “I forgot my laptop.”
I guess now wouldn’t be the right time to tell her that Max will have to make sure it doesn’t have any type of spyware on it before she can connect it to the Wi-Fi at the clubhouse.
“Listen to me,” I say, following her out of the living room and back into her bedroom. “You need to know that your connection to the club puts you in a dangerous situation. It might be better if—”
She huffs, dropping her ass to the corner of her bed. “You’re changing your mind?”
She licks her lips as she nods, as if she expected me to backpedal all along.
“Would’ve been nice if you told me that before I packed up all my stuff.”
“I fucking swear, woman,” I growl, stepping into her space and lifting her chin when she refuses to look at me. “You’re driving me fucking crazy.”
I press my lips to hers because how can I not with her this close to me.
Our tongues tangle for a second before I pull back, a smile on my face when she chases my mouth with hers.
“What was I saying?” I ask after a long beat of just looking into her eyes.
“You were telling me how crazy I make you,” she says, her voice breathless and raspy.
I give her one more quick peck on the lips before putting some distance between the two of us. The proximity is screwing with my brain as if I’m some sort of electrical device and she has internal scramblers. Too much longer that close to her, and we’ll both be naked and missing the plane back to Farmington.