Total pages in book: 82
Estimated words: 81584 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 408(@200wpm)___ 326(@250wpm)___ 272(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 81584 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 408(@200wpm)___ 326(@250wpm)___ 272(@300wpm)
“You’re skinny as fuck,” I said bluntly. “You’ve got bags under your eyes, and they’re practically blue. Every single smile I’ve seen since you got here was fake. I don’t know how the hell you’ve convinced everyone that things are fine, but there’s something seriously wrong. What is it?”
“Can I come out of the bathroom?” she snapped.
“By all means.” Reaching out, I grabbed her hand and tugged her toward my room. Her hand was freezing.
If she’d resisted, I would’ve stopped, but she didn’t. She followed me all the way inside and stood still as I closed and locked the door behind us. “Tell me.”
“I’ve just been stressed out at work,” she replied, throwing her hands in the air. “There’s no big mystery, all right? Work sucks, and I haven’t been able to find another job yet.”
“Why are you so stressed at work?”
“It’s summer.” Her voice was thin and reedy as she desperately tried to find any way to talk around what I fucking knew was happening. “Construction business is crazy in the summer. Ask Tommy, he’ll tell you.”
“It was summer in June, and you didn’t like you were about to fall over then.”
“Well, it’s busier now.”
“Francesca, tell me what’s happening at work.”
“I just told you!”
I didn’t bother to respond, just waited, my jaw clenched tight.
“He’s always there,” she finally blurted. “Asking me out and sending me flowers and telling me that my shoes make my ass look tight and flirting and making plans and then complaining when I ignore them. Okay? It makes my fucking skin crawl!”
I thought I’d been angry when I’d seen her. I thought that had been rage. It was nothing compared to the wave that damn near took me out when she laid out what she’d been dealing with. She’d assured everyone that he wasn’t a problem. When I hadn’t heard from her in a while, I’d asked around, and the boys had told me that she hadn’t mentioned him again.
I should’ve fucking known that she wouldn’t have said anything no matter how bad it got.
“It’s fine,” she stuttered, her voice high. “I swear, it’s just annoying. It’s been a real pain in the ass trying to find another job and—”
She stuttered to a stop as I pulled her against my chest.
“Shh,” I murmured, kissing her hair.
The tightness in her body relaxed in small increments as I held her. First, her head rested on my shoulder. Then her arms found their way around my waist. Eventually, her entire weight sagged into me. The moment it did, I lifted her and walked over to the bed, sitting down so I could hold her in my lap. She shuddered and held me tighter as I gently rubbed her back.
“He scarin’ you?” I asked quietly.
“Fuck no,” she replied defensively. She took a deep breath and let it out slowly. “It’s creepy. I don’t think he’d do anything—physically—but I never know what the next thing will be.”
“You shoulda come to me.”
“I appreciate it,” she said. “But you’ve already done enough. I can take care of this on my own.”
“How’s that worked so far?”
“I’ll find a job soon,” she countered as she pulled back to meet my eyes. “Or he’ll stop. Preferably both.”
“You haven’t been sleepin’.”
“I’ve always had insomnia.” She shrugged. “When I’m stressed, it gets worse.”
“You’ve fallen asleep on me twice,” I pointed out.
“Yes, but one of those was during the day, and naps have never been an issue. The other time I woke up after you left, and I was up most of the night.”
I nodded.
“You need to get away from here for a bit.” Sliding my fingers through the hair at her temple, I tucked it behind her ear. The skin was delicate and pale, and she really must have been self-conscious about them because there wasn’t even a piercing scar.
She gave her head a little shake so that the hair would fall back out and cover it again.
“Where the hell would I go?” she asked sarcastically. “Use the savings that I might need soon to go on vacation?”
“You got vacation days saved up?”
Her eyes lost focus as she thought. “I have nine days left this year, but I’m supposed to go to a concert in Seattle in October with the girls, so I can only use eight.”
“Eight’s plenty.”
“Right,” she scoffed.
“Let’s go,” I said, the idea taking shape in my mind. “We’ll pack light. Ride down through the Redwoods. Or head east and hit Sturgis, if you want. Grand Canyon. Vegas. We can get pretty far in eight days.”
“What, you want to go with me?”
“My bike,” I said, my lips tipping up. “Think you’d be goin’ with me.”
“I can’t just take off on the back of your motorcycle.”
“Sure you can. What’s stoppin’ you?”
“Well, for one, I didn’t get the days off in advance.”
“Tell them you’ve got a family emergency.”