Total pages in book: 34
Estimated words: 31820 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 159(@200wpm)___ 127(@250wpm)___ 106(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 31820 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 159(@200wpm)___ 127(@250wpm)___ 106(@300wpm)
All the pictures had been removed from the walls, and Marshal was attempting to replace them. However, artwork was not something Marshal was passionate about.
“What’s for dinner?” Marshal asked, stepping into the kitchen.
She’d tried to get some peace and quiet, and he was intent on following her.
“Spicy marinated chicken, and pasta salad.”
She had already prepared the pasta salad earlier, and it was currently in the fridge, getting all juicy and flavorful. The griddled pan was on, and the chicken cutlets were in a spicy rub she’d concocted, that included chipotle chili powder. She loved things spicy. Marshal didn’t seem to mind. It seemed, since they had left him, he’d been surviving on takeout.
Depending on how long Knox was going to take, she was tempted to do some meal prep for Marshal, so he was able to take care of himself. She hated seeing him like this. With the griddle pan hot, she put the chicken on top and stepped back.
“Sounds good,” Marshal said. “You know, before I came to live with you and Knox, I had convinced myself I was a vegetarian.”
This made her frown. “You never said anything about being vegetarian.”
“I didn’t want to cause any trouble.”
She rolled her eyes. “It wouldn’t have been any trouble. “Do you not want the chicken?” she asked.
“Actually, I do,” Marshal said. “My wife was the one that convinced me to go vegetarian. I was being a bit of a rebel when I was at your place.”
This made her chuckle. “It’s Knox’s place.”
“I don’t think he sees it like that. I imagine he sees it as your place too.”
Ava looked over to Marshal and he threw his hands up. “I know, I know, you don’t want me talking about your relationship.”
“We don’t have a relationship.”
“Please, you guys have something.” Marshal rolled his eyes. “Sure, there’s no exact label, but you guys have it.” He let out a cute little laugh. “You’re going to try and convince me you don’t have feelings for him?”
It was on the tip of her tongue to tell him to shut up, but instead she started to serve the pasta salad. She would not talk to Marshal about her feelings with Knox. That was not happening.
This was all a big mistake. She shouldn’t even be here, and she could totally survive on her own, back at Knox’s. Although, she didn’t like the fact her cell phone hadn’t rung. Knox hadn’t called to let her know he was going to be all right.
“I do have feelings for him, and if you say anything, I will kick you in the balls until you can’t father children.” She pointed a fork toward him. “Got it?”
Marshal smiled and held his hands up. “So you’ve got feelings for him?”
She nodded.
“Would you say you’re in love with him?”
She looked up at him.
“Is this one of those moments when I need to be quiet, otherwise you’d kick me in the balls for fun?” Marshal asked.
She nodded her head.
He laughed. “See, you and I, we’re already on the same page. You’ve got the hots for hottie boy, and I bet he has the hots for you.”
“We never had this conversation.”
“You know, what if I attempted to play matchmaker?” he asked. “That could be a lot of fun.”
“No.”
“Come on. I can help.”
Ava looked at him. She was not going to say anything nasty about his current relationship and how that really didn’t work out for him. It was just cruel to bring that up. So, instead, she smiled at him.
“How can you help me?” she asked.
“Well, I’m a guy, maybe we can talk about techniques for you to get close to him?”
She couldn’t even believe she was considering this. This is what her life had come down to. And it sucked.
“I don’t think so,” Ava said.
“What do you have to lose? I’m here. I’m a friend, and do you want to act on those feelings or not?” he asked. “Come on, it will stay between us.”
She took a deep breath and flipped the chicken. They had some lovely griddle marks on one side of the cutlet.
She couldn’t believe how tempted she was. This was not like her at all. But she looked at Marshal, and that temptation was not going away. It was in full force.
“Okay, how do you think Knox would react if I just ... initiated a kiss?”
****
Knox glanced through the cell phone and messages. Bob was a bounty hunter, and not a very good one. He tended to go for women who had skipped out on parole. Easy targets he was able to find and take right back to jail. This was not the kind of man who would take on a job of killing a hired assassin. He was way out of his depth.
His cell phone didn’t have anything to offer, other than a wire transfer of twenty-thousand dollars. As far as Knox could tell, that was the sum of money offered to kill him. He was majorly insulted by that price tag, as he felt he was worth a lot more. Bob was now dead, as he’d been attempting to hunt him in the forest. It had been an easy fight.