Total pages in book: 31
Estimated words: 28711 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 144(@200wpm)___ 115(@250wpm)___ 96(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 28711 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 144(@200wpm)___ 115(@250wpm)___ 96(@300wpm)
She shrugs one shoulder, refusing to answer. "That's my business."
"You made it mine when you hit me."
"I didn't hit you. I backed into you to save a turtle. And for the record, I like the turtle way better than I like you right now," she says, showing her claws. "At least he probably appreciates my sacrifice."
"Sacrifice?" I arch a brow, trying not to laugh. She's exactly like a kitten, too fucking cute for words.
She throws a hand out toward our vehicles. "Your monster truck barely has a scratch on it. Poor little Betty needs work."
"You named your car Betty?"
"She looks good in red, like Betty Boop. I keep meaning to buy her long eyelashes for her headlights, but I don't even know where to get those from. I guess I should Google it."
Jesus, this girl has an answer for everything. Her mind is fascinating. I fucking love it. Far more than I probably should, considering that she's also the biggest pain in my ass I've ever met. And yet I'm not hating it. Quite the opposite, in fact. The more she talks, the more I want to keep standing right here, listening to whatever random, bizarre shit comes out of her smart mouth.
"All right, kitten. We'll do this your way then," I say as a squad car appears in the distance. "No report."
"Really?" She perks up.
"But you're going to owe me."
Her eyes flit across my face. "What do I owe you?"
"Your name, for starters."
She hesitates for a long moment. "Charlotte Lemming," she finally says.
I don't even need my bullshit meter to know she's lying to me. Her name isn't Charlotte Lemming. I'm not even sure she's being honest about not having a license or insurance. She doesn't want me to know who she is, and judging by the way she tries to hide behind me when she spots the patrol car in the distance, she definitely doesn't want the cops to know who she is She's running from someone or something…and doing a piss-poor job of it, from the looks of things.
It looks like I have a new plan for the week. Find out who she is and why she's lying, fix the problem, spend time with my nieces…and then convince this little kitten to marry me.
It's the only solution at this point.
Oh, fuck my life. I barely even sipped the damn water!
"You owe me," I growl as Sheriff Dillon Armstrong pulls in behind my truck.
She gulps audibly.
Chapter Two
Charlie
"Why do you hate me?" I whisper to the sky, crouching behind a tree to hide from Sheriff Dillon Armstrong, who is married to my sister Adalynn's husband's sister. I'm sure that makes him some sort of in-law to my sister, but I don’t have time to figure it out right now. I'm not even supposed to be in Silver Spoon Falls.
Adalynn thinks I'm in college in Houston, which is where I'm supposed to be. Except for the fact that I accidentally got kicked out. Apparently, it's against the Code of Conduct to stalk a professor. Understandable, really. But I wasn't stalking her…exactly. I was just trying to prove that she's been sleeping with her daughter's eighteen-year-old boyfriend, which she is. Unfortunately for me, I'm great at finding things out. And not so great at espionage.
Professor Rothman caught me following her on Thursday, and then a custodial worker busted me trying to break into her office on Friday. Janine Rothman gets to continue her sordid affair. And I got the boot for the rest of the semester.
Rude.
I'm on the lam until I figure out how I'm going to explain my way out of this one. I've always been the troublemaker of the family. I'm nosy and can't seem to keep myself out of situations that require smoothing over. Getting kicked out of college might just be the worst. My parents are going to lose their minds if I can't talk my way back into school before they find out.
Which isn't going to happen because I am going to talk my way back into school. Failure is not an option. Professor Rothman is going down. Just as soon as I figure out how to make it happen. I probably shouldn't have come here to figure it out, but I've never been very good at being alone. Since Adalynn and our older brother both live in Silver Spoon Falls, it's the only place I could think of where I could be close to family while I tried to sort out my next move.
I did not expect the universe to play hardball, though.
Of course it threw Xavier Look at Me I'm So Sexy in My Monster Truck Grimes into my path. Of course he's twins with Tate, boss to Jules Armstrong, Adalynn's new sister-in-law. And of course he called her husband, the sheriff.
Dillon knows exactly who I am…and that is not Charlotte Lemming like I told Xavier. My name is Charlotte Marsh, but everyone calls me Charlie. Either I need to learn to lie and spy or give up being nosy for the good of humankind because it's way too much trouble.