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)
“It always helps to work with people you like and are competent. Or aren’t complete dicks.” Over the last sixteen years of being enlisted with the state police, he’d had some shitty supervisors.
Working under someone you couldn’t trust always made going to work more miserable. At least with working patrol, he normally wasn’t trapped in the office all day with them. However, returning to the barracks after his shift and finding a report in his mailbox marked with so much damn red pen it looked like a murder scene didn’t make Decker a happy camper.
Hell no, it made him a fucking cranky camper.
“Is that your only tattoo?”
He quickly recovered from the mental whiplash her question caused.
“Yes.” His fingers automatically brushed across the tattoo inked over his heart.
“What does it say? I can’t read it from here.”
“Piece of my heart ~ Root of my soul,” he recited.
When he finally got legal custody of Val, he’d had those words tattooed in the shape of a heart along with Val’s newborn footprints placed in the center.
Every day he saw it in the mirror, it was a good reminder of how precious and fragile life could be, but also of how easily life could be cruelly disregarded without thought. And of course, it reminded him of what his family lost and the damage that loss caused.
Val was the hopeful future that sprouted from all the past despair.
Not only did that little girl make up a piece of his heart, she filled the hole the loss of her mother left behind.
He had been so busy trying to keep a newborn alive and trying to overcome the fear of screwing it up, it didn’t give him a lot of time to think about the dead. And his guilt.
Bottom line, Val was the best thing to come out of a completely horrible situation. “She might not be biologically mine, but deep in my heart and soul she is.”
“She’s lucky to have you.”
He shook his head. “It’s the other way around. My heart broke when my sister died. Val was the glue preventing it from shattering completely.”
“Still… She’s lucky to have someone who loves her so much. Especially after such a rough beginning. She’s so well-adjusted and it’s really difficult to tell that her development was delayed.”
“We worked hard to get her up to speed as much as we could. I had a pediatric occupational therapist work with her in the beginning. Then I enrolled her in nursery school at three, and now she’s in her current preschool. I wanted to give her the best head start in life that I could.”
“Well, you pulled it off. If you hadn’t told me about her past, I never would’ve known.” She covered her mouth when she yawned and slid lower into the water until her shoulders were submerged.
She released a long sigh and leaned her head back against the cushioned headrest, stretching out her legs next to him. “This hot tub is heaven.”
“I should use it more. Truthfully, it’s much more appealing with the right company.”
“I’m sure,” she murmured.
Her last two words sounded slurred and since she hadn’t been drinking, that meant exhaustion was catching up with her. He stayed quiet and watched her eyelids getting heavier and heavier until they eventually slid shut.
He let her sleep, keeping an eye on her so she wouldn’t slip underwater. But once his fingertips were wrinkled, he nudged her gently with his knee to wake her. It was time for them to get out.
“Sloane,” he called softly, not wanting to startle her.
Her eyes blinked open and she glanced around, disoriented.
“Looks like your pillow is calling.”
She yawned again. “Did I fall asleep?”
“Yes, you should go to bed.” So should he since he had no idea how long of a day he’d have tomorrow over at Pizza Town.
“Good idea.” When she rose, the water sluiced off of her, exposing her soaked panties and bra.
“Hold on, let me help you out.”
He surged from the water, causing it to splash over the side again, and watched his footing as he climbed out. He turned just in time to see her shiver as the chill in the air hit her. It caused her nipples to peak enough he could see the outline of her areolas.
He felt like a creeper when he couldn’t control his eyes from rolling down her body and taking in every inch. The soaked cotton plastered to her skin did not hide a damn thing, including the V of her pussy, the slight rise of her mound, the distinct line of her lips. And not the ones on her face.
Fuck. He should arrest himself for being such a goddamn perv.
But, fuck him, she was so damn tempting.
He held out his hand to help her from the tub and onto the patio. Beads of water rolled down her face, arms, and legs. It collected like tiny puddles in the hollow of her throat and the depressions of her collarbones.