AllFreeNovel
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I sigh and stare out the windows to the parklike backyard. A text comes through my phone.
Sadie: I’m ready if you are.
I use my new motto—No time like the present—to jumpstart me into this reckless adventure.
Easton: Meet you at the car.
I grab the book I’ve been waiting to get when Daire isn’t around and tuck it under my arm. Ironically, the book Dad’s owned for as long as I can remember will aid in my presentation. It has historical images of the farm from when my great-great-grandfather inherited the family business.
I don’t see Sadie or Everleigh as I traipse through the house to the car. Maybe they’re waiting for me outside. I exit through the front doors and take the steps down. The silence tips me off that the girls are not out here yet.
I open the passenger door and reach over the bag Sadie brought along with her suitcase to set the book on the other seat. Accidentally, I bump Sadie’s bag to the floor. I catch it, but the zipper is open, and a few contents spill out.
I grab the first item, a bottle of apple-scented lotion. The second is a sketchbook. When I lift it, a polaroid of Sadie and Dash in a sports bar falls out. I snatch it and stare at the asshat who broke Sadie’s heart, simply by being himself.
In the picture, they’re at a table with other people—his friends, I assume. His arm is around Sadie, either dutifully or territorially, but he’s not looking at her. He’s laughing, his focus on the guys, while Sadie engages with the camera, appearing uncomfortable and sad. What did she ever see in his preppy ass? His hair looks plastic and unmovable, like a Ken doll.
I tuck the picture in the book and brush my bangs from my face. The wavy strands glide through my fingers. I keep it a bit longer on top because chicks love tugging it during sex. If Sadie touched Dash’s plastered hair, she probably got a paper cut.
I grab the third item from the floor. Shit. It’s her iPad. Quickly, I run a finger over the screen to make sure it’s not cracked. It lights up with an image of a sexy, curvy woman in a bra and jeans sandwiched between two shirtless men, both of them caressing her. A full moon looms above, and dark woods fill in the background. In bold yellow font are the words, Tempted by the Wolf Pack.
It takes me a moment to realize I’m staring at a book cover. The author’s name has my eyes widening. Sadie Sutton. Such a cute name. I thought so when I first learned it a year ago. It fits her, but this cover… is Sadie a closet erotica novelist?
A throat clears behind me.
I glance over my shoulder.
Sadie stands there with the hamster cage in her hands. “What are you doing?” Her gaze falls to the iPad. She gasps, and pink blooms across her cheeks. “Why do you have that?”
“I wasn’t snooping. I swear. I accidentally bumped your bag, and it fell out.”
Those cheeks turn beet red. “And you needed to turn it on to put it back?”
“I was making sure the screen wasn’t cracked.”
“Put it back,” she screeches, the pitch so high it could crack glass.
One corner of my mouth tugs up. “Why are you embarrassed?”
“Are you kidding me?” She opens the passenger door and sets the cage on the seat.
I close the back door that’s separating us. “You should own that you’re an erotica author.”
Her eyes widen. “I’m not an erotica author.”
“But the name on the cover…” I gesture to the backseat.
“I put my name on all my pre-made covers until they sell. Then the author’s name goes in its place. Lots of cover artists do it.” She slaps her hands over her eyes. “I can’t believe you saw it.”
I can’t believe she’s so embarrassed. I need to make this better for her.
I peel her fingers from her face. “Sadiecakes, it’s me you’re talking to. Your philandering, sex god, honorary-romance-book-club-member bestie. I’m the last person to judge you. On the contrary, I’m impressed.”
“You are?” she asks, surprised.
“That cover is sexy as hell. I’d buy it. In fact, I’m going to order it right now.” I pull my phone from my pocket.
“You don’t even know my website.”
