Total pages in book: 30
Estimated words: 27599 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 138(@200wpm)___ 110(@250wpm)___ 92(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 27599 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 138(@200wpm)___ 110(@250wpm)___ 92(@300wpm)
I walked over to her. Gripping the side of her neck, I pressed my lips to hers. “Good girl.” Once we were in my office and the door was shut behind us, I led her over to the couch. “Surprised you popped up here.”
She shrugged and sat down on the couch as I took a seat back behind my desk. “I didn’t feel like being by myself.” She chewed nervously on her bottom lip for a moment, her dark eyes giving away her indecisiveness over something. “And I wanted to talk to you about something.”
I leaned back in my chair, resting my elbows on the armrests. I steepled my fingers together in front of me. “I’m all ears, sweetheart.” She never came to me about anything. I always had to force it out of her. If anyone had any luck with getting anything out of Montana without prompting her, it was Jonah. He had that trustworthy thing about him that seemed to melt Montana a little. She didn’t fight with him as much as she did me.
But she knew she could act out with me, and I’d silence whatever shit was in her head in a heartbeat. It was why the three of us worked so well together.
“I think I need therapy.” It was only because I didn’t allow people to see my surprise about anything that kept my features schooled at her admission. She drew in a deep breath. “And I looked into who was covered under John’s insurance, but none of them specialize in trauma therapy.”
I rubbed my thumbs together as I studied her. “If you’re serious about this,” I finally said, hoping like hell she was. She nodded, looking even more unsure. “I’ll take care of the therapy bills. I just need you to find a therapist you’re comfortable with.”
She relaxed into the couch, her eyes on her lap. But I knew her body language well. Even though she wasn’t looking at me, she wasn’t nervous anymore.
“I already found one,” she said. “And if I call her before lunch, she can probably squeeze me in this evening at five.”
I nodded and stood, pulling my credit card from my wallet. I handed it to her. “Keep this on you. No limit on what you spend, but I know you’ll be wise about it.” And I knew that because I knew how much she hated handouts. But this wasn’t a handout. I was taking care of her, and I hoped she recognized it as that.
She slowly took the card from me and flipped it between her fingers for a moment. “You know I probably won’t use this except for the appointments, right?” she asked, looking up at me from under her dark lashes.
I sat beside her and wrapped my arm around her, pulling her against my side. “You use it for whatever you need or want, Montana.”
“If I want an island?” she asked. But I could hear the teasing note in her voice. She was having a good day today, and fuck, that relieved me.
I pressed my lips to the top of her head. “Let me know ahead of time so I can work on getting loans,” I told her.
She just snorted. But she had no fucking idea I was being one hundred percent serious.
Jonah stepped into my office. Montana was taking a nap on the couch. We’d had lunch together about thirty minutes ago, and she’d been asleep for about fifteen minutes.
“Surprised you’re here,” I quietly spoke up, glancing at my phone. Sure enough, I had a message from both him and Emma. I must have gotten so lost in work that I hadn’t heard my phone vibrate. I’d asked Emma to send all messages to my phone instead of the intercom so we wouldn’t wake Montana, and she’d texted to let me know Jonah was on his way up.
“Took a half day. Montana texted and asked if I’d come to her therapy appointment with her.”
She’d asked me, too. Looks like she was finally deciding to lean on us a little bit, which made me fucking proud of her. He took a seat in a chair across my desk and leaned back in it. His clothes were greasy, but I didn’t care. He was a working man trying to get a business out of the red. Not all of us were fit for desk jobs.
“How’s work?” I asked him.
He grunted. “I think I’m going to need to let some guys go. I’m in the green, but it’s not enough yet. Business is picking up since I’m doing some marketing and word of mouth is spreading that the shop is under new ownership, but it’s definitely not where it needs to be yet.”
I looked at him in all seriousness. “You need a loan?”
He quickly shook his head. “No. I’ll deal. A loan will put me back in the red with payments. Things are getting to where they need to be. I just need to make a few more adjustments.”