Total pages in book: 14
Estimated words: 13106 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 66(@200wpm)___ 52(@250wpm)___ 44(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 13106 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 66(@200wpm)___ 52(@250wpm)___ 44(@300wpm)
She looks like she might argue, but instead, she nods her head, walks into her house and before she shuts the door, I hear her whisper, “Good night, Smoky.”
I walk off her porch and look up at the house. There’s a tarp covering one side of her roof and the shutters are barely hanging on.
Harper
I’m woken up at six the next morning by what sounds like a hammer. I jump out of bed and run to look outside, forgetting that I’m wearing a T-shirt and panties and nothing else. As soon as I walk out of the house, I realize my mistake. I’m surrounded by most, if not all of the Exiled Guardians. Most of them I met last night. They all seem to stop what they’re doing and stare back at me.
“Get back to work,” I hear from the crowd and the men immediately go back to what they were doing. I discover that Keeper was the one that hollered, because he bolts up the steps and blocks my body with his. “Get inside, Harper.”
“But…” I start to argue.
He shakes his head and starts pushing me toward the door, but he isn’t quick enough. A truck pulls into the yard and Smoky is out of it and up the porch in two seconds flat. “Hands off, Keep.”
I look over at Smoky and see anger in his face. I step around Keeper and get between the two men. “What is going on?” I ask him.
He doesn’t answer me. He just looks down at my body and his mouth drops. I hate to admit it but my body reacts and my nipples pebble under his stare.
“Smoky, she heard us out here and came to check it out. I was trying to get her back inside away from the men, that’s all,” Keeper says. There’s no fear in his voice. He just says it matter-of-factly.
Smoky still doesn’t take his eyes off me. He huskily says, “Thanks, Keep. I’ve got her now.”
Keeper strides off the porch and instantly Smoky moves in closer to me. His voice is almost deadly sounding and sends chills down my body. “Get in the house, Harper.”
“But…” I start and then notice the vein in his neck bulging. “Wait, are you mad at me? What did I do?”
He steps closer to me, shielding me from his biker friends. “Get. In. The. House.”
I turn away and walk into the house with him right on my tail. As soon as he shuts the door, I whip around. “I don’t know why you’re mad at me. You and your friends are at my house. What are they even doing out there?”
He takes a deep breath and his nostrils flare. “Go put some clothes on.”
I shake my head and put my hands on my hips. “You can’t boss me around, Smoky.”
His gaze sweeps down my body and lingers on my hips. I gasp when I look down at myself. I hadn’t realized when I put my hands on my hips that I had pulled my shirt up and am showing him my belly and my private parts. My threadbare white underwear doesn’t leave much to the imagination.
My hands slide down my body and I cover myself. My mouth gapes as I stare back at him, embarrassment flushing my face.
He rolls his shoulders. “Last chance, Harper. I plan to do right by you, but there’s only so much a man can take. Now all of my brothers have seen you like this and I’m debating on going out there and plucking each of their eyeballs out. So I tell you for the last time, go get dressed or I’m taking you to your bedroom.”
I stand there and stare at him, debating with myself on what to do. It shouldn’t be a question. I should do what he says, but there’s something so tempting about waiting to see what he’ll do.
He smirks at me. Well, I think it’s a smirk with a hint of anger still, but he takes a step toward me and I jump away, running for the safety of my bedroom. I grab my clothes and run into the bathroom to take a quick shower.
6
Smoky
She’s pissed. I swear I can almost see steam coming out of her ears. When I told her we were fixing her roof and porch, she about went ballistic. When I saw the condition of the inside of her house, I moved a team of men inside, one of them being Keeper. He’s one of the main guys I trust here. I mean, I trust all the brothers, but I know Keeper will keep an eye on Harper.
She argued with me, threatened to call the police and then finally went and pouted to Keeper. I kept my distance from her. I’m still hot from this morning. When I pulled in and saw Keeper with his hands on her, I about lost my shit. Even though I know I can trust him, it still went all through me. And then when I discovered that she was wearing only panties and a T-shirt, well, I wanted to murder someone.