Total pages in book: 96
Estimated words: 91622 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 458(@200wpm)___ 366(@250wpm)___ 305(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 91622 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 458(@200wpm)___ 366(@250wpm)___ 305(@300wpm)
She handled her own laundry but didn’t touch his. Straightened up the main bedroom and bathroom, along with anything she used in the kitchen, but left him to clean up after himself. She was perfectly pleasant and completely aloof, treating him like . . . she’d treat any bodyguard who’d been hired for the job.
No, he realized. Knowing Erin, she’d be nicer to someone hired to watch over her than she was to him. In fact, he felt sure she’d offer to heat a second slice of lasagna along with her own, or pour a salad into an extra bowl.
He’d thought she wasn’t angry with him anymore, and maybe she wasn’t—but she clearly had an agenda. One he’d yet to figure out. All he knew was that they were in the same house, living even more separate lives than before they’d started sleeping together again.
She was back in independent Erin mode, and as much as he respected it, he hated it at the same time.
He stalked to the sliding glass doors of the kitchen and looked out, only to see her sitting in a lounge chair, a glass of water on the table, along with an e-reader of some sort beside it. She talked on her cell phone, waving an animated hand in the air.
But what struck him hardest was the bathing suit she’d chosen. Alone and away from friends, family, and prying eyes, Erin had chosen a purple bikini. A two-piece number that left nothing to the imagination.
The all-purple top exposed her now even more generous cleavage, while the bottom was the same color, cut high on the thigh, but a white band cut across her belly, and she’d rolled it down lower than necessary, enabling her to tan. He took in her generous curves and her softly rounded stomach and ground his teeth so hard, he wondered if he’d crack a molar.
Torturing himself wasn’t his style, and he’d just turned away when the doorbell rang.
Grateful for any reprieve, he went downstairs to answer it, surprised to see Mike and Cara waiting on the front porch.
He let the couple inside. “What’s up?” Cole asked, hoping like hell he wasn’t in for any kind of brotherly lecture.
“Cara wanted to see how Erin was doing, and I figured I’d tag along.”
“Erin’s out back. I’m sure she’ll be happy to have company.” Since she wasn’t including him in her daily interactions and plans.
“Let’s all go out back. It’s nice out.”
“This way.” Cole led them to the kitchen and the sliding doors, taking them out back.
Erin didn’t seem all that surprised to see them, and when Cara stripped off her top, revealing a bikini that Mike couldn’t stop ogling, Cole wondered if Erin hadn’t invited the couple over without his knowledge.
At this point, nothing Erin did should surprise him. Acting like the host of the house, he offered everyone a drink, brought sodas out back, and finally got himself settled in a chair next to Mike.
“You look like hell,” Mike said, stretching his legs out in front of him.
“Thanks. Aren’t you two supposed to be at work?”
Mike grinned. “It’s Cara’s day off, and I’m the boss.”
“Any news?” Cole wanted Victoria caught already.
Mike shook his head. “Positive ID on Victoria Maroni as the one who paid Brass to shoot Erin, but that’s all. In the meantime, I’ve got people watching Erin’s house and your apartment. We’ve both got people in Manhattan covering Maroni’s favorite places before she went into Witsec. And we’re discreetly showing her picture around Serendipity at places like the supermarket or Joe’s. Nothing.”
Cole exhaled low and hard. “I’m losing it,” he muttered.
“I noticed there haven’t been any looks between you two, no little touches. What gives?” Mike eyed him warily.
Cole didn’t have much to lose by telling the truth. “You’ll be happy to know I’ve come to my senses. I’m giving Erin space until this is over and I’m gone.”
Mike raised an eyebrow. “You are one stupid fuck. Almost as dumb as I was,” he said, laughing.
“What’s so funny over there?” Cara called out.
“Mind your own business, baby.”
“You’ll pay for that later,” she promised, blowing him a kiss.
Erin let out a gleeful laugh, obviously appreciating her brother being put in his place by his wife.
Cole merely rolled his eyes.
“Hey, don’t knock it till you’ve tried it,” Mike told him. “So what happened between you two? Why aren’t you still behaving more like a couple?”
Cole adjusted the frames of his sunglasses and looked over the freshly manicured lawn. “Nothing is going on between us anymore.”
Mike rocked forward in his chair, resting his elbows on his knees, staring at Cole like he could see inside his skin. “When my sister’s happy, that makes me happy. So when she convinced me she could get that from you, I backed off. What’s changed?”
Cole didn’t do the buddy-buddy talk thing, but with Mike pressing him, he had no choice. “Once she’s safe, I’m back to work. You tell me if it makes any sense to keep up something that has to end. Especially when she’s admitted she wants more than I can give her. Being with her only hurts her, and that’s not something I ever wanted to do, no matter what you might think.”