Total pages in book: 29
Estimated words: 26739 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 134(@200wpm)___ 107(@250wpm)___ 89(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 26739 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 134(@200wpm)___ 107(@250wpm)___ 89(@300wpm)
“Daddy, I can explain!” she cries desperately. “This is Adam, and we’re friends,” she begins lamely.
Her father’s face changes to a dark purple coloring as his rage froths.
“That’s all you have to say for yourself?! We find you in this state of undress with a man three times your age and you have the gall to say you’re friends?”
His voice booms and I feel Kim flinch. There are tears in her eyes, and she wipes at them with one small hand.
“Daddy,” she begins again. “Please understand that this isn’t what –”
But her dad cuts her off. He seizes her elbow as if to drag her out of my house, half-dressed and crying. Rage burns through my veins as he jerks the curvy girl to the door. How dare he come to my home and scare the woman I love? How dare he raise a hand to her?
“Back off asshole. You’re trespassing on private property and harassing my partner. Lower your voice or I will remove you from my doorstep by force if necessary.”
I know that there are better ways to handle this situation, but I refuse to stand by as this man terrifies Kim. She is a legal adult and there is nothing he can do to make her leave against her will. I’ll ensure it.
Mr. Jones’s face becomes molten, just as I expect it to. Spit flies from his mouth as goes into another round of shouting.
“If you think I’m going to leave my daughter here with you, then you’ve got another think coming! Come on, Marilou!” he shouts at her mother. “Let’s get our daughter away from this reprobate.”
Now, the burly man has both his wife and his daughter in his clutches, and he begins forcibly hauling them towards the door. But Kim resists, and his arm lashes out and grasps her shoulder, the action startling her and enraging me. His grip is too tight and as Kim screams as I snap my own arm out to grip his, stopping him from trying anything else.
“Stop, please!” she pleads, but I’m not listening. I don’t want to injure Mr. Jones, but I would never stand by and allow someone to hurt Kim. As I tighten my grip, I watch as her father’s face grows even more purple.
“Stop!” Kim screams again. “He has high blood pressure! He’s going to have an aneurysm!”
At those words, I stop applying pressure because I don’t actually want to kill the guy, although I’m nearing that point. I whirl at him and growl.
“Your daughter is trying to explain something to you. Now I understand why you’re furious, and I would be too if I was in your place, but that gives you no right to come in here screaming the roof down. I will happily explain everything if you come inside, but keep in mind that I can still call the police for your trespassing on my land.”
I finally back off, watching silently as Mr. Jones takes a few deep breaths. The purple color recedes a bit, and he loosens the top button of his collar. To his credit, he does stop shouting but as his eyes focus on Kim, I know that it’s far from over.
“Put some clothes on, Adam,” she whispers to me. Oh right. I’m still stark naked, and angrily, I stalk to the living room to pull on my jeans before reappearing in the foyer.
“Are you going to allow him to talk to me in such a way?” Bruce Jones is hissing at his daughter. Immediately, rage flushes through my veins. He just finished shouting at her, and now, he expects her to defend him? Before I can rip into him again, Kim steps forward, her chin tilted up.
“Yes, I will, because you’re acting insane. You come here without knowing the whole situation and then try to intimidate me into leaving without even an explanation. Either you come inside calmly and I’ll explain everything or Adam will call the police on you. I’m over eighteen now, so I can legally be anywhere I want. You have no grounds to try to force me.”
Pride blooms in my chest as I listen to her standing up to her father. I know better than most how difficult it can be to set boundaries, and she’s doing it for our relationship. Wrapping my arm around her shoulders, I tug her back against my chest before locking eyes with her father again.
“As I said before, I know why you’re angry but let me assure you that despite our rocky start, I love your daughter more than anything. She is here of her own free will and as long as she’ll have me, I’ll be right here by her side. No one will change that, not you nor anyone else.”
I feel Kim stiffen a bit in my arms, but I don’t look down. I didn’t mean to confess my love in this way, but it’ll have to do. I can always restage it later and do it again, but for now it’s more important that I convince her father of my intentions.