Total pages in book: 119
Estimated words: 110549 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 553(@200wpm)___ 442(@250wpm)___ 368(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 110549 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 553(@200wpm)___ 442(@250wpm)___ 368(@300wpm)
“These fucking shoes were brand new, bitch, and you’ll pay me for every fucking dollar they’re worth,” the guy I spilled the drink on sneered at me.
I grabbed his friend’s drink before anyone could stop me and threw it in his face. “Get out!” Eric barked at me. “And don’t bother coming back here. You’re done!” he shouted.
“Fucking great,” I falsely cheered with a smirk before I grabbed the other guy’s drink and threw it in Eric’s face.
I stormed out of the restaurant, beeping my Camaro unlocked. “Hey!” the rude guy shouted from behind me. “You’re not fucking leaving until you pay for my goddamn shoes.”
“Fuck off,” I warned, turning to face him.
The back of his hand came across my face hard, sending me sprawling to the ground. His foot connected with my ribs before I could pick myself up, and I gagged, throwing up a little. Suddenly, he was tackled to the ground, and someone started beating the fuck out of him, not even letting the piece of shit get a hit in.
That was what the fucker deserved.
I pushed myself up into a sitting position, hissing out a harsh breath at the pain in my side. I closed my eyes as I tried to breathe through the pain, and when I reopened them, Jessie was kneeling in front of me and the guy who had hit me was laying on the ground unconscious, his friends trying to get him up and to their car. “Hey, baby girl, you okay?” he asked me gently as he reached out to gently grab my face in his hands, turning my head to inspect my cheek.
“Mostly,” I admitted, a small smile tilting my lips at the sight of him. “Thanks for coming to my rescue.”
Jessie’s lips tilted the slightest bit in a smile that had my heart swelling in my chest. God, he was so perfect. “Always, babe.” He looked at the restaurant. “Heard all the yelling as soon as I got out of my car—saw you storm out of the restaurant like a bat out of hell.”
I shrugged, wincing afterward when I tried to readjust my sitting position. “Just lost my job,” I admitted as Jessie helped me off the ground.
Jessie snorted. “If that asshole still expected you to work here after what I managed to hear, I would have told you to fucking quit.” He smirked. “The drink in the face was a sure way of walking out with a bang.” He laughed softly.
I shrugged and smiled, wincing when it hurt my cheek. “Kind of sucks because I actually need the job,” I admitted, kind of regretting my decision now that my anger and adrenaline had worn off.
Jessie opened my car door. “We’ll figure it out,” he assured me. “Get in. I’ll drive.”
“Your car—” I started, but he pressed a finger to my lips.
“Will be fine,” he said. “I’ll have someone come tow it to your place when we get there. You’re in too much pain right now to drive,” he reminded me.
He moved to close the door but suddenly stopped. He leaned back in, and with his hand laced in my hair, he pressed his lips to mine in a hard, demanding kiss. I moaned softly and laced my fingers in his hair, kissing him back just as hungrily.
Fuck, I had missed this man.
11
West
Jessie didn’t even give me the opportunity to get my car door open before he was out of the driver’s seat and pulling the passenger door open. I sighed, looking up at him. “Jessie, I can walk,” I told him as he leaned in to lift me out of my seat.
He shrugged, using his hip to close my car door before beeping the car locked. “Don’t care,” he retorted. “I need to take a look at your ribs, and you’re not putting strain on them until I know for sure that you’re okay.” His voice lowered to an angry growl. “He kicked you pretty badly.”
I leaned my head on his shoulder. “You can be overbearing,” I mumbled. But I secretly liked it. I just wouldn’t ever let him know that.
He laughed softly. “I take care of what’s mine, baby girl.” He paused in front of the shop I lived above. “Direct me where to go.”
“Round back, there’s a set of steps,” I informed him. “I live above the shop.”
Jessie moved around the back of the building to the stairs that I told him about. Once I was upstairs, I grabbed my car keys from his hand so I could unlock the door. Once we were inside, Jessie cursed. “Light,” he demanded. “It’s dark as shit.”
“It’s an old building,” I told him, shrugging. “There’s no lights in the ceiling. The bed is directly to the left. Just go forward, but be careful so you don’t run into it.”
He turned and moved forward until his knees gently bumped the mattress. After he eased me down onto the bed, he grabbed his phone from his pocket, shining the flashlight on his phone around my tiny little studio apartment until he found the lamp. He flicked it on, his eyes running around my clean apartment.