Page 104 of Seven

“How long do you think it’ll be before he starts asking for a bike of his own?”

“Won’t be long.”

“That’s what I figured,” Tallie sighed.

She turned her attention back to her book, and I was half-listening to some reporter talk about this week’s games and half-listening to her usual little hums and gasps when she got lost in a book.

She seemed perfectly content when, out of nowhere, she jolted up in bed with her jaw dropped open. It was clear something was wrong, so I asked, “What?”

She jabbed at the screen like it had personally offended her as she announced, “I can’t believe it. I’ve been reading the wrong book!”

I raised a brow. “Huh?”

“This isn’t the right book.” She turned to me with a look that was a mix between anger and betrayal. “It has the same title as my favorite series. Well, it's close to the same title, but it’s not the same author! It’s like they copied it thinking I wouldn’t notice!”

“How close we talkin’?”

“Too close.” She tapped on the screen of her Kindle, then turned it towards me. “Here’s the one I was just reading.”

“Okay.”

She tapped on the screen again, and when she found what she was looking for, she turned towards me. “And here’s the one I was supposed to be reading.”

“Okay. I’ll give it to ya. They’re pretty fucking close.” I bit back a grin. “And how long did it take you to figure that out?”

“The first chapter wasokay,” she huffed. “But then the lead hero, who was supposed to be this brooding, tortured biker, starts calling the heroineLadybugand talking about his favorite pumpkin spice latte.”

“Okay?”

“Pumpkin spice, Holt!” She threw her hands up. “The man was supposed to be a badass outlaw, not a freaking barista!”

I couldn’t help but laugh.

My woman was having a come-apart over a book, and it was fucking adorable. When she noticed me laughing, she gave me a shove and sassed, “This isn’t funny, Holt! It’sbook fraud!”

“I don’t know if it’s all that.”

“It is!” she argued. “I feelviolated.”

“Baby.” I rolled toward her and slid my arm around her waist. “I get that you’re upset, and I’m really sorry about that.”

I inched her closer. “But I gotta tell ya, seeing you getting all riled up over your smutty books is fucking hot.”

She scowled at me. “This isn’t smut! It’s action-adventure romance, and...”

I cut her off by pressing my lips to the side of her neck, trailing soft kisses up to her ear. Her breath hitched as she said, “You’re trying to distract me.”

“Is it working?”

“Maybe.”

“Good.” I stopped kissing her long enough to say, “Now put the knockoff book down and give me your mouth.”

With a sigh of defeat, she tossed the Kindle onto the nightstand and turned toward me. “Fine. But I’m still mad.”

“That’s okay. I can work with mad.” I dropped my hands to the hem of her pajama top and slipped it over her head. “So, tell me. Who do you think of when you read this biker porn of yours.”

“It’s not biker porn!”

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