Total pages in book: 83
Estimated words: 79564 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 398(@200wpm)___ 318(@250wpm)___ 265(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 79564 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 398(@200wpm)___ 318(@250wpm)___ 265(@300wpm)
There’s a moment of quiet between us, the kind that feels heavy with unspoken words. I want to tell her more, to reassure her in a way that goes deeper than words. But the quiet moment of hope dissipates quickly.
“It was Tansy,” Farren says, the same revelation I had just hitting her.
“Yeah… that’s what I think. Your brother too.”
“That fucking bitch,” she seethes, and I’m pretty sure if Tansy were in the same room as Farren right now, she’d be dead. “Do you think Rafferty should tell Callum about her?”
“It’s probably time to involve higher-ups, but that’s Rafferty’s call.”
“Any idea where this woman lives?” Farren asks, her tone so cold, a chill runs up my spine. “I’m going to go have a word with her.”
“You’re most definitely not doing that—”
“Oh, yes I am,” she growls, and shit, that sounds like a level of determination that will land her ass in trouble.
“You fucking stay put,” I snap, and she sucks in a breath of shock. “You do not get involved because Rafferty has a lot at stake right now. Tansy Carmichael is Brienne Norcross’s cousin, so there are family ties that complicate things.”
“So Rafferty’s fucked either way,” she snarls.
“No.” I blow out a huff of frustration. “I’m sure the team will do the right thing, but for now, you have to let this play out. Rafferty just wanted me to call you so you weren’t blindsided by this. But you need to stay calm, for your brother’s sake, okay?”
A long silence, but then she murmurs, “Okay. I hear you.”
“Good girl,” I reply, and it transports me back to our snow day together. We went inside to get warmed up, which to Farren’s way of thinking meant dropping to her knees right inside the front door and giving me a blow job that forever changed the way I will view orgasms. It was mind blowing and I held her head as she bobbed before me, whispering “good girl” to her. She tipped her head back, mouth full, and smiled at me when I said that to her.
My groin tightens with the memory but I push it aside. It would be so easy to have some phone sex right now, but I’m enjoying this part of Farren where she gives me her emotion and heart. I’m enjoying her needing me for something other than physical pleasure.
“What have you been up to today?” I ask, wanting to strike conversation with her.
And to my surprise, she engages. “I had a job interview. Downtown bar, but I don’t know if I’ll take it. The crowd didn’t look like they tipped well.”
I can’t help but laugh. I sit down on the bed and rest against the headboard. “What exactly does a bartender need to be considered good tips?”
Farren starts talking and I’m not sure what it is about the woman, but it’s music to my ears.
CHAPTER 10
Farren
From the top step of North’s front porch, I sit huddled against the freezing cold. I’m bundled in my heaviest coat, hat, scarf and gloves, patiently waiting for this enigma of a man to arrive home.
The cold isn’t a deterrent though. I’m Canadian after all, and the winter here in Pittsburgh has nothing on Calgary. Sure, it bites, but it’s not the kind of cold that sinks deep into your bones and makes you question all your life choices. Back home, winters mean braving arctic blasts that feel like the universe is actively trying to kill you. Here, it’s tolerable, and my shiver is more out of impatience than from the weather. If this were Calgary, I’d be tucked inside already, watching the snow through a frost-covered window, waiting for the chinook to come and save me. But here I am, sitting in this mild little chill, because the thought of seeing North is warming me more than any windbreak ever could.
The bottle of champagne I brought to celebrate the new year sits off to the side in a mound of fresh snow. I glance at it before checking my phone for what must be the tenth time and I see it’s just past one in the morning now.
I rang in the new year in the back of an Uber, watching the city lights blur past as I tried to ignore the pang of loneliness that had been eating at me all night. I didn’t plan to come here, not really. I was comfortable in my decision not to go to the party at Foster and Mazzy’s house, even though Tempe and Rafferty worked at me hard. Rafferty was slightly suspicious I was passing up a good time so I fell back on a slight lie… I wasn’t feeling good.
They left and I ambled around Raff’s apartment unsettled. I ate a sandwich for dinner, drank a beer and finally decided to turn in early in an attempt to sleep through all of this discontent.