Total pages in book: 153
Estimated words: 154595 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 773(@200wpm)___ 618(@250wpm)___ 515(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 154595 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 773(@200wpm)___ 618(@250wpm)___ 515(@300wpm)
“I meant that you don’t know me well.”
Ahh. Right. Whoops.
“Sorry, I was going to tell you that weird is the new cool and all that . . . but, yeah.”
Awkward.
Leaning forward, he pressed a button that lowered the privacy screen down between the front and back.
Whoa. This car was luxurious. Leather seats. And was that a small TV on the back of the seat in front of her? Awesome.
A dark-haired man turned from the driver’s seat to look at them. “Where to, man?”
He had intense eyes, but his gaze didn’t linger on her.
Gray rattled off her address and the driver frowned. “Not a good area.”
“I know.”
They both stared at her with such disapproval that she found herself squirming on the seat.
“Just take us there, thanks, Mikhail,” Gray said.
“Sure thing.”
The screen went back up. She wondered what Gray did to be able to afford this gorgeous car and a driver. Maybe he was a stockbroker. Hmm, that didn’t really seem to fit. But then, she didn’t like to judge someone based on the way they looked.
Perhaps he was some sort of tech genius. Or he’d invented some sort of beard gel since his looked so good.
“Do you have to pee?” he asked.
“What? No. Why would you ask that? That’s not a normal thing to ask someone.”
He raised an eyebrow, looking amused. “It’s not?”
“No. We’re going to have to work on your small talk. Asking someone if they have to pee isn’t a great way to start a conversation.”
He was going to be a lot of work, she could tell.
“I wasn’t trying to start a conversation,” he told her as he reached under his seat and drew out a First-Aid kit. Wow. That was handy.
He pulled out an ice pack and activated it so it turned cold. He passed it over to her. “For your cheek.”
“Thank you.” She raised it to her sore face.
The car moved down the street. She hoped like heck she hadn’t made a mistake coming with him. He could take her anywhere he wanted to . . .
Deep breaths. He saved you. Like he said, why would he do that just to hurt you?
Unless he really did have a diabolical plan . . .
“You were squirming. Thought you might have to go to the toilet.”
Ahh. Right. Seemed she was just embarrassing herself again and again. Now she was struggling for a topic of conversation.
“Your driver seems nice.”
“Who? Mikhail?” He scowled at her.
“Ah, yes.” Why was he looking at her like that now? Was his driver not nice? Was she not supposed to say anything about him? Notice him? Shoot. She hoped that he didn’t ignore people who worked for him. She was going to struggle to be his friend if he was mean to the people he employed.
“Mikhail isn’t nice.”
“He isn’t? Well, why do you employ him then?”
“I don’t.”
Okay, she was getting confused. “Oh, is this a car service? I get it now. Although he seemed like he knew you. Sorry.”
He blew out a breath. “You always this nosy, girl?”
“Sorry. I didn’t mean to be.” She scratched at her uninjured cheek. She was starting to feel every ache from what had happened tonight. Her feet were grimy and itchy. Her butt hurt. Her cheek really hurt. It was likely going to leave a hell of a bruise.
He gently pulled her hand away from her cheek. “You don’t have to say sorry. Mikhail works for my boss. This is his car.”
She dropped the ice pack he’d given her and went searching through her bag.
“You need to keep that ice pack on your cheek.”
“I just wanted to look at it.” She opened the mirror, then gave a slight scream at her appearance. Her mascara had smudged, giving her raccoon eyes. Her long hair, which she rarely wore loose, was tangled.
And there was a smudge of something on her neck. What was it? And how had it gotten there?
“I look like a raccoon who got into a fight with a garbage can.”
“Why would a raccoon fight with a garbage can?”
“I don’t know!” she cried. “Why didn’t you tell me I looked this bad?” She wiped under her eye, trying to clean herself up.
“It’s not that bad.”
She gaped at him.
He winced. “All right, it’s kind of bad. But you need to keep that ice pack on. Or it will be worse in the morning.”
And here she’d been thinking just before that he might want to kiss her. No one would want to kiss her like this. She wouldn’t kiss her.
She sniffled. “I thought the car stunk.”
“What?” he asked.
“I thought it was the car that stunk, but it’s me, isn’t it? I’m a horrible, stinky mess.”
Okay, Gray had no idea what to do with this female.
She was crying.
Because she was a stinky mess.
She wasn’t . . . all right, she really was. At some stage, she’d either stepped or sat in some garbage, or the stench of those assholes that had grabbed her had rubbed off on her. There was a definite smell coming from her.