 by Tory Baker.jpg)
Total pages in book: 46
Estimated words: 43072 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 215(@200wpm)___ 172(@250wpm)___ 144(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 43072 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 215(@200wpm)___ 172(@250wpm)___ 144(@300wpm)
Madden Hughes took one look at Hendrix and knew he had to have her. She’s going to be his, but she fights him at every turn. In fact, there are times when it feels as if she might hate him.
He’ll break through the stubborn beauty’s walls. She will be his. There can be no other option. There’s just something about her that has him hooked.
She accuses him of being a stalker. He’s not, he is her forever. He just has to find a way to prove it to her.
Tory is bringing you a delicious enemies to lovers romance, that can be read as a standalone in the Vegas After Dark Series. Be prepared to swoon with this over-the-top possessive Alpha that refuses to take no for an answer.
*************FULL BOOK START HERE*************
Playlist
Million Dollar Baby- Ava Max
Fade Into You- Mazzy Star
Summertime Sadness- Lana Del Rey
Sweater Weather- The Neighbourhood
Everyday People- Sly & The Family Stone
Mony Mony- Tommy James & The Shondells
If You Don’t Know Me by Now- Harold Melvin & The Blue Notes
Time in a Bottle- Jim Croce
Rocket Man- Elton John
Me and Bobby McGee- Janis Joplin
Piece of My Heart- Big Brother & The Holding Company, Janis Joplin
Animals- Nickelback
Space And Time- S.G. Goodman
Jolene- Dolly Parton
Go Your Own Way- Fleetwood Mac
To a reader who made me realize this a trope I never touched on, it was hard, it was fun, and to me it was totally worth it.
ONE
Hendrix
There are a few things in life I love more than my friends and family, and those are as follows.
My golden retriever, Jolene.
My job as a personal assistant to an amazing friend.
My love for all things nature, walking, hiking, and watching the sunset.
My record collection, which is currently taking over my living room.
My fierce independence, thanks to the men in my family who drilled it into my head at a young age that you should want a man or significant other, not need him. It’s not that the men cut and run either; they didn’t. They’re there for the long haul once they meet their match.
Every day for the past three days, my walk with Jolene has been interrupted by a man and his dog owner, who clearly has no idea what he’s doing with his chocolate lab. My girl, who is still a puppy at the age of fourteen months, needs her walk. The longer the better, especially on days when I’m out of town with Journey. Even a dog sitter who stays overnight and gives Jolene a walk is not a match for a three-mile hike. I don’t blame the dog; I blame the owner.
Earlier this week, Cooper tried to pee all over Jolene, and since I got between them to try and stop the chocolate lab before he saturated Jolene with the offending stench, we both didn’t come out unscathed. I love my girl, but bath times are not easy for the big girl with all her fur. Though, if I got off my ass and bought my own house with a pool, she’d be in the water non-stop. My parents even got Jolene a float she can’t pop with her nails at their house. She’ll swim and then get on the float and lounge around like she’s the queen.
I’m not saying Jolene is the perfect dog; she’s not. A puppy herself, that loves to chew on my shoes if I leave them out. Panties are fair game, too—clean, dirty, it doesn’t matter; she destroys them. What she doesn’t do is lift her leg to pee on another dog or human.
“Jolene, let’s turn around this time and go to the other stop,” I tell my dog as we’re rounding the bend where we usually sit and take a break, forgetting that my AirPods are in my ears and my sixties and seventies ballads playlist is blasting Piece of My Heart by Janis Joplin. How do I know this? Well, that would be because the owner of said chocolate lab, whose name is Cooper.
There is nothing, and I mean absolutely nothing better to start or finish your day than with a scenic hike with your dog. They may say a dog is a man’s best friend, but that couldn’t be further than the truth when it comes to my relationship with my girl. The two-mile hike helps both of us—Jolene with her energy and me with staying in shape enough to eat my weight in hot wings and French fries every Friday night at the parents’ house, along with a beer. And if just so happens to be fall, it’ll be the family favorite: pumpkin beer.
“There’s more than enough room here,” the man mouths. Ugh. I take one AirPod out to respond. He is a menace, hot in every way possible but a man I am not touching with a ten-foot pole. He couldn’t even tame his dog from peeing all over the place, marking its territory, and there is a cure to that disease besides allowing him to act like an alpha male. You know, getting him the snip snip, saying goodbye to his balls and testicles.
“That’s okay.” I turn around. Jolene whines for a moment until she hears the zipper in my belt bag. I know the way to my girl’s heart, that being the fresh carrots and blueberries she knows and loves, which I carry along with the water and protein bar I make myself choke down if we’re here in the morning. That’s not the case right now. It’s evening. The sun is slowly setting. The sky is casting orange, purple, and blue hues. It’s absolutely breathtaking. I’d love nothing more than to stop and watch as it dips further in the skyline, but that’s not in the cards, at least not today.