Total pages in book: 61
Estimated words: 57423 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 287(@200wpm)___ 230(@250wpm)___ 191(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 57423 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 287(@200wpm)___ 230(@250wpm)___ 191(@300wpm)
“Matt?” Rand exchanged a glance with his fiancé.
Not a good one. “What’s wrong?”
Martin shrugged a single shoulder. “I don’t like that man. And he doesn’t like us. He’s not the same when you’re not around.”
West looked to his twin. Even when they were dumbass kids, Rand had always been honest with him. West had known about his sexuality almost from the minute Rand had the revelation. He didn’t like the thought of his twin keeping something from him. “What did he do? Did he say something to you or Martin?”
“Oh, I love it when one of you gets all protective. You bulk up. I mean it. It’s like you grow extra sets of muscles,” Martin said with a happy sigh. “Sometimes I wonder if we should go to that town in Colorado.”
Where threesomes were a thing. West couldn’t help but laugh. “I don’t think Rand and I would be good at sharing.”
“I don’t think you would be good at the man sex thing,” Rand said with a grin. It faded, and he got serious again. “As to Matt, no, he’s never said anything specific. It’s more a feeling. An instinct. He doesn’t like us, and it’s not about our sparkling personalities. I’ve also seen him try some fairly skeevy lines on women. Watch out for him. As for Ally, did you apologize?”
“Yeah, but I don’t know that I meant it at the time. I don’t know that she would believe me even if I did again,” he admitted.
“Bring her Flamin’ Hot Cheetos,” Martin suggested. “She loves them, but she won’t buy them for herself because she says the camera adds five pounds and she’s always got at least four cameras on her at all times. That’s how to win her heart.”
He didn’t want to win her heart, but some peace between them might be worth it.
Two hours later, he stepped into the big suite Ally was staying in at one of Dallas’s luxury hotels. Tessa Santiago-Hawthorne grabbed her jacket and met him in the entryway.
“All’s good here. We had a quiet dinner, and she worked on her lines.” Tessa glanced down at the bag in his hands. “You planning on snacking all night, Rycroft? By the way, she thinks you’re an asshole.”
Well, of course she’d made herself plain. “I bet she didn’t think the same thing about Matt.”
Damn it. Why had he said that?
Tessa’s lips curled up like a cat who’d found the cream. “Oh, that’s interesting. She actually did ask me about Matt.”
“Good for her. She’s a girl who goes after what she wants.”
“She’s a woman,” Tessa corrected. “And she asked if Matt was a perv. She thought he held her hand too long. She didn’t like him.”
That weirdly did something for him. “Well, she hates me, too, so hopefully you’re the bright spot for her.”
Tessa seemed to think about what she wanted to say next. “I don’t know about that. There’s dislike and then there’s pulling your armor around you because you know you’re going to get hurt. If I was a betting person, I’d lay money on the latter when it comes to you. All right. I’m off. See you the day after tomorrow. She’s got her first read-through this week, and no matter what she says, she’s anxious about it. Go easy on her. She’s not a bad kid.”
“She’s not a kid.”
Tessa chuckled. “I swear all twenty-somethings look like kids to me. I’m heading out. I’ve got a professor to meet.”
Tessa left, and West locked the door behind her.
He took a deep breath and forced himself to walk into the main room. She was probably watching herself on TV or doom scrolling on her phone.
Soft music was playing. It was folksy but modern. Not at all what he would expect. And she wasn’t in front of the TV. She sat at the dining table which was covered in… Were those puzzle pieces?
“Hey,” he said. “I’m here for the rest of the night and through tomorrow. Was Tessa okay?”
Her head came up, and she damn near took his breath away. She was in pajama bottoms and a tank top, her face scrubbed free and hair piled on top of her head. She was every bit as gorgeous this way. “She was great. I liked her a lot.”
“But you didn’t like Matt?”
Her lips turned down. “Well, now I like Tessa less.”
He set down his duffel on one of the chairs and set the grocery bag on the table away from the numerous puzzle pieces. She’d started working on the edges, and it looked like she was a sorter. “Don’t. It’s literally my job to make sure you’re okay. She’s going to give me any information I need.”
“Did she tell you I thought you were an asshole?”
For some reason, that made him smile. “She did. And I was. And if Matt does anything at all to make you uncomfortable, I expect you to tell me. Ally, I had a job go weird a couple of weeks ago. I know men are supposed to want any pretty woman who comes their way…”