Chapter 35
Letty Welsh
For the first time in three—no scratch that, four months—I felt normal.
I’d rolled out of bed with a pep in my step and was ready to take on the day. It was the first morning since my sister died that I hadn’t felt the crushing weight of guilt. I thought this was a good sign.
A healthy sign.
A sign I was ready to accept my sister was gone and having a loving, normal relationship with her was no longer an option for me.
That was the tricky part, where the guilt and near-constant regret came from.
I’d never had a good relationship with Kiki.
It was like she was incapable of being a nice person for more than an hour.
And it sucked to think ill of the dead but it was the truth.
Now she was gone and she’d died with me being furious with her, prepared to tell her she was figuratively dead to me. Then she became very literally dead.
But this morning, I’d woken up for the first time since she’d died and remembered she’d saved Remington’s life. The last breath she took had been for my nephew and I could no longer be angry with her.
However, my good day shit the bed when I opened up my kickass bookstore, Smutties, and Reese and Jack were waiting for me in the store—in it—when the door had been locked and the alarm had been set.
“Why me?” I muttered as I walked across the store.
“Why not you?” Jack returned and I narrowed my eyes on him.
“You need better coffee, woman,” Reese complained.
“You know who has awesome coffee? Treats Bakery two doors down.”
A wide, lecherous smile formed on Reese’s stupidly handsome face and at the same time, he wagged his eyebrows.
“Don’t I know it?”
“Please tell me you’re not banging Sadie,” I groaned. “She’s one of the few people I really like.”
“He wishes he was banging Sadie.” Jack laughed. “He only knows how good the coffee is there because the last time he went in, Sadie dumped a very large caramel iced coffee with extra whip over his head.”
“Noooo!” I chuckled. “Sadie did that?”
“Yup.”
“It’s called foreplay.” Reese waved his hand like he was swiping the words out of the air. “She wants me. She’s just not ready to admit it yet.”
“You’re lucky you’re hot, friend, because you don’t have much going on between your ears.”
“You think I’m hot?”
Reese smirked and even that was hot.
“Please, you know you’re hot. Too bad you’re a pain in the ass and you have serious commitment issues.”
Jack tossed his head back and laughed.
It must be said, Jack was good-looking, too, with the coolest coal-black eyes I’d ever seen.
He was also a pain-in-my-ass big-brother-type and too tall and big for my liking.
I liked my men strong but lean, not giants that towered over me and looked like they could crush me with one hand.
Besides, I’d sworn off men. At least until I got over the stupid crush I’d been nursing for fourteen years on a man I’d never met in person.
It was so insanely ridiculous, I was sick of thinking about it.
Time to move on.
Without telling my hand to do it, I rubbed the ache in my chest.
“You okay?” Reese asked.
“No. You’re in my bookstore bothering me,” I huffed.
“You love us.”
It was a sad truth but I totally loved them all.
“I have work to do,” I declared haughtily.
“By all means, don’t let us stop you.”
A light bulb moment struck.
“As long as you’re here, put your muscles to work and help me sort the boxes of books I got in yesterday.”
Two grown-assed-too-big-for-their-own-good men groaned like five year olds and stood.
The chime over the door rang and I turned to see the finest, hottest, sexiest man I’d ever seen in my life walk in my bookstore.
Well, hello, handsome.
“Can I help you?” Reese boomed and I wanted to kick him in the shins.
“Yeah, I’m looking for Letty.”
Yes, today was going to be an awesome day if this man was looking for me.
But before I could speak, Jack got in there first.
“And you are?”
“A friend.”
It was then my insides froze and my heart slammed into my ribs like a freight train.
I knew that voice.
I just didn’t know the man.
“River?”
His icy blue eyes locked onto mine and he scowled.
Letty Welsh and River Kent are up next in Dangerous Rescue