Page 119 of Hard to Handle
“Not having any options.”
I frowned.
Max’s smile was menacing.“Now you know howtheyfelt.”
And with that, he was gone.
The bald man moved around behind me and I jerked against the chains holding me down.
“Don’t worry.No one can hear you, so feel free to scream,” the scratchy voice said from behind me.Ace’s head appeared beside my face.“I like it when they scream.”
ChapterThirty-Four
Reagan
“You wanna go out?”I asked Copenhagen when I forced my tired body out of bed at first light.I grabbed Lynx’s T-shirt and pulled it on.
Lynx was still asleep, his breaths even, the hard lines that had been around his eyes last night gone.
Smiling, I pulled the door closed, hoping he could sleep a little while longer.We hadn’t slept much last night, but for some reason, that didn’t seem to matter to me.I felt lighter this morning and I knew why.It was my heart.It was no longer heavy.
“Come on, boy,” I urged Copenhagen, leading him to the front door.
I stepped outside onto the porch, my gaze straying to the rocking chairs sitting there.I moved to the closest chair and sat down while Copenhagen sniffed around.Pulling my legs up, I tugged the shirt over my knees, covering myself completely.
The cool morning breeze caressed my skin and I heard the cows in the distance.A rooster crowed from somewhere down the road.
I sighed, enjoying the moment.
This was what contentment felt like.
It wasn’t something that I was used to.Not in this capacity anyway.
Sure, I'd been happy from time to time.I loved my bar, loved my family, but I had never felt as though I truly belonged.
With Lynx, I felt that.
In fact, I felt everything with that man.Safe, loved, cherished even.
Copenhagen found his way back to the porch, curling up beside my chair as we sat there in the quiet of the morning.
I had no idea how long I'd been out there when I heard the screen door squeak behind me.I glanced over to see Lynx leaning against the doorjamb, his eyes on me.Without his shirt, the man looked like the bad boy everyone knew him to be.But I knew a side of him they didn’t know.The sweet, kind, gentle man who … loved me.
“Mornin’,” I said with a smile.
“Mornin’.”He still looked tired.
“You okay?”
He nodded.“Please tell me you have coffee.”
The way he said it sounded like a plea.As though he wasn’t going to make it through the next few minutes without it.
“I actually don’t.”
His eyes widened and I couldn’t help but laugh.
Launching out of the chair, I skipped over to him, going on tiptoe to kiss his mouth.“But we can change that right fast.Just let me get dressed and we can go to the diner.”
