Total pages in book: 125
Estimated words: 121728 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 609(@200wpm)___ 487(@250wpm)___ 406(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 121728 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 609(@200wpm)___ 487(@250wpm)___ 406(@300wpm)
Her whispered, “Oh my God,” was smothered by her hand clamped over her mouth.
“So yeah, they’ll keep an eye out at The Peach Pit. Now that we have probable cause, once the cameras are installed at their clubhouse, my crew will keep an eye out for her there, too. It’s only a matter of time before we find her.”
“I fear we’re running out of time.”
She wasn’t the only one.
But he wouldn’t promise Sloane they would find her. Sadie could OD tomorrow and T-Bone, or whoever, could dump her somewhere she’d never be found.
He kept that to himself. But he could promise this… “I won’t stop looking.”
She cupped his cheek. “I know you won’t.”
For fuck’s sake, he didn’t want to disappoint her. He didn’t want her to go through the same grief and guilt and everything else he had with Amelia.
He wanted to spare her all of that. Unfortunately, he wasn’t sure if he could.
He slipped free from her weight, and after turning her onto her side, he wrapped his arms tightly around her and pulled her close with her back to his chest.
Nuzzling his nose into her hair, he inhaled the sweet scent of her shampoo or conditioner, or whatever she used.
As they remained quiet and caught up in their own thoughts, something foreign and completely unexpected rolled through and over him. At first he wasn’t sure exactly what it was.
Until it smacked him upside his head.
Despite being surrounded by ugly and chaos almost every day and night with his job, he found something unexpected with Sloane.
Peace.
He’d never experienced such harmony with any woman before. Especially one in his bed.
And if he dug deep enough, he might discover a touch of something more clinging to that unexpected contentment.
But they had only been living together for a few weeks, so that couldn’t be right.
And if it was, that would be damned crazy.
Decker leaned back against the kitchen counter with his ankles crossed and a steaming coffee mug in hand.
Val was supposed to be eating her peaches and cream flavored oatmeal as she sat at the table, but instead ignored her breakfast to play with two little plastic horses. She was chattering to herself as she made the toys rear, buck and gallop around her bowl and still-full glass of apple juice.
He’d give her two more minutes to get the cowgirl out of her system before he made her eat. He would never unleash his girl on her preschool teachers with an empty stomach.
When Val was “hangry,” she could make a grown man shake in his boots. Even if she only weighed about thirty-eight pounds and barely stood three feet tall.
Sometimes evil came in small packages. Gremlins. Honey badgers. Baby rattlesnakes. And tired, hungry four-year-olds.
As he waited, his eyes tracked Sloane as she moved around the kitchen.
Just like in his bed, she looked as though she belonged there.
Like this was her kitchen.
Her house.
Her family.
Stepping into her role of Val’s caretaker had come naturally to her. While she had that natural instinct, not every woman did. The proof being his sister.
Once again it hit him how goddamn beautiful the woman was. Even after just rolling out of bed.
However, looks weren’t everything. Once they faded, the only thing left behind was the true person underneath.
Sloane was caring. Dedicated. Open-minded. Smart.
She’d slice open a vein to save her sister.
She was not selfish in the least.
And the Earth was teeming with selfish people.
That feeling he had last night, the one that tightened his chest, suddenly flooded through him all over again.
He could see her here. In this very kitchen. In his bed. In his house. In his life. Not just today. Not just tomorrow.
In the future.
For forever.
The fact was, he was thirty-seven. And as he discovered last night, no one had ever made him feel the way Sloane did. All those women he took on dates. All those women in the past twenty years.
None held a candle to Sloane.
With the others, he always experienced restlessness. He could tolerate a few dates. A few breakfasts the morning after. A few drinks at the bar before sex in a motel. Or her place. Or, hell, even in the backseat of a car when he was younger and more flexible.
Then he’d jet.
But there was something about Sloane that had settled deep inside him. Something right.
Whole.
Solid.
He wasn’t looking for a mother for Val since he was determined to be his baby girl’s everything.
On the other hand, a good woman in their life wouldn’t hurt. His Valee Girl needed a worthy female role model and he was realistic about his mother not being around forever, especially with her health issues.
Damn. Those thoughts were way too damn serious for the early morning and before he finished his first mug of coffee.
“Val, eat,” Sloane urged. She had already asked nicely twice and both times had been ignored.