Total pages in book: 69
Estimated words: 69424 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 347(@200wpm)___ 278(@250wpm)___ 231(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 69424 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 347(@200wpm)___ 278(@250wpm)___ 231(@300wpm)
“Oh,” I said. “Did you have to break up with her to come to Dallas?”
“No,” he answered as he shifted from foot to foot. “She and I wouldn’t have worked out. She wanted more from me than I was willing to give. She was a good woman, but just not for me.”
“And the sister?” I asked. “What’s her story?”
“When I left, she’d been trying to get into the FBI, and had gotten her final notice that she hadn’t and wouldn’t make it. When I left, she didn’t have a kid, either. Apollo did some digging and found out that she’s now working as an independent contractor with the FBI. They chose her because of her connection with me. Through Bernie.”
“Bernie?”
“Bernadette Waters. My ex.”
“Oh,” I said. “And they’re all here now? Trying to get you to say or do something incriminating?”
Before he could answer, Jasper’s phone rang, and he answered it on speakerphone. “Find anything?”
“Regular bug. She’s about half a mile down the road in her truck listening in. She doesn’t know that you found it, though. So she’s sitting there like a dummy with her headphones on waiting,” he said. “The sister skipped town. It’s just her now.”
“Good,” he said. “At least one of them is smart.”
“Agreed,” Apollo said. “You got another delivery vehicle heading your way.”
“That one we actually ordered,” Jasper said. “Thanks, Apollo. I’ll keep an eye out for her.”
“You do that,” he said. “Also, when the fuck were you going to tell me that you knew the best goddamn baker in the United States?”
My lips twitched.
“What are you talking about?”
“I was surveilling your house earlier and saw a man come up and deliver some cookies to you. I looked him up online and found out that he’s A. Winthrop. He’s owned several bakeries all over the world. He has a damn award-winning chocolate chip cookie that’s won accolades all around the damn world. And you’re hiding him from us?”
“Technically,” Jasper said, “Calli knows him. And she’d ordered cookies and invited him to the party, but it was canceled.”
“Dammit,” he muttered. “I would come get some, but Sutton already lost her shit when I suggested we go out to eat. She’s terrified of the ice.”
“Feel like she’s lost enough, buddy,” Jasper pointed out.
My stomach sank.
They’d all lost a lot.
Even Jasper.
“Why you gotta go make it make sense like that?” he grumbled. “I’m going to scramble her transmissions here in a minute letting her know you found the bug. I don’t want her staying on that block and not leaving with the storm on the way. Your ass would probably let her in.”
I snorted. “Hardly.”
That bitch wasn’t coming anywhere near my house.
I didn’t care if it was negative ten out.
“You’re with Calli?” he asked.
“Yeah,” Jasper confirmed.
“Hmm,” Apollo hummed. “Interesting.”
Jasper hung up on him, not bothering to ask what he meant by his comment.
Likely he already knew.
Which had me curious beyond belief.
“There’s our food,” Jasper mused as he heard the doorbell ring again.
This time, he got it, though he did shuffle his way to the door, clearly in pain.
I hid my smile behind my hand, which he caught when he turned around once he’d gotten our food.
“What?” he grumbled.
“Nothing.” I dropped my hand, hoping that my smile wasn’t too big. “I got a lot.”
He limped toward the counter and said, “You seriously need to get a couch.”
“I have one.” I paused. “Kind of.”
His head tilted. “Where?”
I pointed toward a couple of huge boxes that were stacked up in the corner of the living room and said, “There. The delivery people got them in here. But I can’t move the boxes because they stacked them. Doc said he’d come help me, but he hasn’t had a chance.”
“Those boxes were delivered here months ago. I thought they were part of your moving boxes. He’s had plenty of time to come help you. Why didn’t you remind him?” he asked as he started to pull out boxes of food.
I’d gone a little overboard.
Not knowing what it was that he liked to eat, I tried to get several different types of dishes. I just hoped that he actually ate all the hot stuff. Although I could eat spicy food, I didn’t necessarily like it. I saw no point in it when I had to spend half the time cooling my mouth off.
I’d rather be stuffing my mouth full of food than cooling it off.
“Which one did you get for yourself?” he asked.
“The sweet and sour chicken,” I answered as I finally came unglued from the floor.
I shuffled up beside him in my stocking-covered feet and came to a stop so close to him that I could feel his body heat.
The man was a furnace.
“Do you eat out of the carton or on plates?” he asked.
“I have paper plates,” I said. “I like to mix my rice and the sauce. It makes a mess otherwise.”