Total pages in book: 62
Estimated words: 59422 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 297(@200wpm)___ 238(@250wpm)___ 198(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 59422 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 297(@200wpm)___ 238(@250wpm)___ 198(@300wpm)
Which was the crux of the whole fucking problem. Every time I thought I was closer to winning Riley’s heart, something came up. Like her dad’s petty shit. And it had only been a few days!
I didn’t want to get between the two of them, but I wasn’t giving up my fated fucking mate. Riley was almost right there with me. Kyle Abbott was just going to have to come to terms with everything. And knock off his fucking with me and mine. What he didn’t understand was the more he messed with me, the more he actually messed with his own daughter.
He was making things worse between them instead of better.
Ten minutes after the call, I pushed through the door to my bar. Country music blasted, a guy was on the mechanical bull, and half the tables were occupied even though it was still early. We had a decent dinner crowd on most nights, and tonight wasn’t an exception. Everything appeared normal except for Levi leaning against the bar, shooting the shit with Jimmy. Levi was the sheriff of Cooper Valley and Kyle Abbott’s boss. Plus, he was a shifter. Having one of our kind in law enforcement often came in handy. Like right now.
I approached, shook his hand, then looked to Jimmy. “Thanks for the call. Why don’t you go do inventory, and I’ll watch the bar?”
The younger guy’s eyes brightened at that, which meant it had been pretty awful since no one wanted to count liquor bottles. “You sure? Deputy Abbott had his balls in a twist about something while he was here. He’s a nice guy, and I’ve never seen him like this before. I can help up front–”
I raised my hand. “I’m good.”
He tossed down his rag and gave me a finger salute.
The playful tug on Levi’s mouth showed his amusement. Then it slipped away once Jimmy was halfway to the back rooms. “Why does Kyle Abbott hate your guts?”
I chuckled then ran a hand over the back of my neck. “You picked up on that, huh?”
He raised a brow.
“His daughter’s my mate.”
His other brow went up.
“He doesn’t appreciate my interest in her.”
He drummed his fingers on the bar top. Levi was a formidable sheriff. He had mammoth shoulders and a broad chest beneath his uniform. His sandy blond hair was cut short, but he kept scruff on his jaw. A summer beard. “Isn’t she Tyler’s age? I think she babysits for Clint and Becky.”
I winced because he made it sound like I was robbing the cradle. “She’s nineteen,” I muttered, wondering if I was going to have to justify the match to everyone in the fucking state.
“Oh, then he really doesn’t like the idea.”
I sighed. “He didn’t like finding me in his daughter’s place this morning making coffee. In only my jeans.”
“Oh, shit. That explains the age-raid on this place.” Now he laughed fully. “The fated part of fated mate really kicks our asses, doesn’t it?”
“You mated a human, you’ve got to understand.” I hoped he did.
His mate was Charlie, a vet who’d brought a horse from Colorado to Wolf Ranch for breeding. One whiff of her scent, and Levi and his wolf claimed her. Then he claimed her officially, biting her and giving her his mark. She was also now his wife. It seemed a claiming and a marriage sealed the deal for both shifter and human.
Since Kyle didn’t know I was a shifter, that wasn’t his beef with me. But it was pretty obvious he didn’t want me to marry Riley.
“Oh, I do. But her dad’s on my payroll. That makes this my problem. I can’t fire him for what he did because it technically is within the confines of the law. But I won’t have him use his job as a tool to fuck with you. I’ll give him this one, though, especially with the shit show of the murder trial he just had. We had death threats called into the station office every day last week–we assume from the perp’s family.” He set his hand on the butt of his service pistol at his hip. “Regardless, you’ve earned what he dished out. He could’ve punched you in the face and been done with it.”
That would have annoyed me, but not much else. This bar thing, that pissed me off. “Yeah, sorry.”
“You shouldn’t be because I understand now what’s going on. But you’re going to have to make this right. When I showed up, he was carding everyone. Even Mr. Seymour, and he’s gotta be eighty-five.”
I closed my eyes and shook my head. I could only imagine.
“I’ve got four more days to claim her, or Rob’s taking her to get her mind wiped. You’re forcing me to deal with an overprotective father… right away. I’ve got shit stacked against me.”
“Didn’t know about the alpha’s orders, but it makes sense.” He slapped me on the shoulder then grabbed his cowboy hat from the bar, set it on his head. “Sucks to be you, my friend. But she’s worth it.”