Total pages in book: 39
Estimated words: 36665 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 183(@200wpm)___ 147(@250wpm)___ 122(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 36665 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 183(@200wpm)___ 147(@250wpm)___ 122(@300wpm)
“Why are you trying to piss me off?” I ask my sister. She ignores me.
“Do you close tonight?”
“Not tonight.” Paisley grabs a shot glass.
“Do one with me,” June begs her.
“I really shouldn’t.”
“You’re good, Paisley,” Cole tells her as he passes behind her. His hand lands on her hip in the process. It’s only there for half a second, but my whole body tightens.
“Let me check first.” Paisley pulls out her phone. I need to clone it is my first thought. A fucked-up one. One that more than crosses the line, but I know I’m still going to do it. It’s for work. That’s what I tell myself, but I know that’s not all it’s for. “Okay, I think I’m good.” She slides her phone into her back pocket.
“I always forget you got the D.” June snorts.
“June.” Paisley ducks her head as she shakes it.
“Got what?” I cut in, wanting to know what they are talking about. I want to know everything about the girl in front of me. There’s obviously way more to her than what was in the file I read over.
“She’s got the diabetes,” my sister supplies, being helpful for once.
My hand tightens around my glass. Why hadn’t her family put that in her file? That sounds really fucking important.
Paisley starts making the shots. I pull out my phone and send off a few texts to make sure some of my plans are already in motion. Then I google diabetes, trying to find out everything that I can about it.
I watch the two of them giggle and drink together. I’m not the only one that notices. Every damn person with a dick inside the bar keeps stealing long looks at them.
“You know she’s all grown-up?” Cole says, leaning against the bar.
Paisley and my sister are lost in their own conversation. Every now and then, Paisley will peek over at me. Each time her cheeks get pink. Then she tilts her head to let her hair hide her face. Her hair is a lustrous gold touched with platinum glints. I’ve never seen anything like it. Or maybe I never paid much attention to people's hair before beyond a description.
“What?” I take a sip of my whiskey, reminding myself not to stare. Don’t want to scare her off. Right now she’s calm and has no idea how close she is to being caught.
“Your sister. You’re sending death glares to every man in this place.”
“Right.” If that’s why he thinks I’m sending death glares to people, so be it. For now. I’m still trying to figure out how I’m going to play this all out. My head is fucked right now, and that’s not my normal MO. I always have a plan that is ten steps ahead. It’s how you stay alive.
“Or are you not watching your sister?” Cole smirks.
“Don’t start.”
Cole laughs, having my number. He can be an annoying little shit when he wants to be. Not a clue why every girl in town drops their panties for him. My eyes flick over to Paisley. Could she like him too? I clench my jaw at the thought.
“Fine.” He shrugs. “Don’t come asking me—”
“Cole.” He lets out another chuckle, grabbing a glass to pour himself a beer.
“She hasn’t said too much. Sweet but shy at first. Only started to loosen up these past few days. June has helped with that.” I’m sure she has.
If my sister has her sights set on Paisley, June will make it her mission to make her feel welcome here in Cottonwood. It’s how she is. My sister can be your biggest ally or your most annoying enemy.
Right now I’m going to need her to be my ally. I know it is something I’ll never live down, but I have a feeling it’s going to be so damn worth it.
6
PAISLEY
“Come on.” June laughs, pulling me onto the dance floor with her.
It must be the few drinks I had because I don’t hesitate to dance with her. I try to match her moves. When I’ve gone to events or parties in the past, this was definitely not how I danced. It was all prim, proper, and stiff. There was no swaying your hips to the beat of the music. I drop my head back and close my eyes, allowing the music to flow through me.
I had no idea how caged my life has been before now. I thought my impending marriage was going to be a prison sentence, but all along I’d already been in a cage. One that my parents kept the keys to.
They were always controlling when I could come and go. They gave me the illusion of freedom by offering me choices. Choices that they hand-picked so no matter what I decided, it was still them controlling the strings. Wonder if that’s why my brother left. He always gave them pushback.