 by Tory Baker.jpg)
Total pages in book: 58
Estimated words: 55271 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 276(@200wpm)___ 221(@250wpm)___ 184(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 55271 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 276(@200wpm)___ 221(@250wpm)___ 184(@300wpm)
Tulsa Rose has gone through hell and back.
We have a complicated history, becoming her guardian after a family tragedy is only the tip of the iceberg.
I sent her away.
It was the right thing to do, even if she felt like I turned my back on her.
The truth is, she was a temptation I couldn’t have.
She was way too young.
Now she’s home, ten years later.
I want her more now than I ever did.
Too bad she hates me.
It doesn’t matter.
I’m not walking away from her again.
She belongs to me, she always has.
I’m staking my claim once and for all.
*************FULL BOOK START HERE*************
PROLOGUE
Ledger Sinclair, Age 27
I never thought I’d be in the position I am now. My best friend is gone, way too soon, and way too fucking young—Montgomery Williams. The same age as me. We were childhood friends. There’ll be no more dinners, no more sitting on the front porch shooting the shit while enjoying a beer at the end of a long-as-hell day.
How the hell this could happen to a man as loyal as Mont, I’ve got not one damn clue. The call I received in the middle of the night jarred me awake. Nothing good comes from the phone ringing at two o’clock in the morning. The person on the other end of line, Tulsa Rose, seventeen years old, a girl turning into a woman, didn’t speak a word. There are only three people on this earth who could have been calling me—Mont, Tulsa, or my mom. Considering there was a shit ton of sniffling coming from the other end of the line, I knew. My stomach sunk to my feet. Neither of us said a word. Feeling like I was about to be sick, I swung my legs over the edge of the bed, one hand holding my cell to my ear, my forearm on my thigh, trying to gain my composure before making my next move. What seemed like a lifetime later when in fact it was only fifteen minutes, I was dressed, out the door, and driving the few short minutes between my place and the Williams’. The two cop cars were parked behind Tulsa’s car. Mont’s truck wasn’t in his usual place. The second I was out of my truck, long limbs were running toward me, tears streaking down her face, hair flying behind. All I could do was brace for impact as she leapt into my arms, feeling her tears saturate me as Tulsa let loose. It was only once she fell asleep in my arms after hours of sobbing while I sat on the front porch steps that Judd and his dad told me what happened. Judd, a friend of mine and Montgomery’s, and his father, who’d been on the force for years, told me how it all went down. Mont was traveling home when he was t-boned by a drunk driver. Dead on impact. At that point, I was holding tighter to Tulsa than I probably should have, and it was me who had wetness coating my cheeks this time. It was less than a week ago that the news shattered our world.
Today is the funeral, and to say that things aren’t going well would be putting it lightly. Tulsa has completely shut down—eyes downcast, body sunken in on itself, looking like she lost more weight than she can afford to lose. I can’t say I blame the girl. The Williams family has not had it easy. Shit coming in threes fucking sucks, especially for the girl standing next to me.
“We’re so sorry for your loss.” Those words are repeated over and over again at the graveside service we’re currently holding for Montgomery, his final resting space right beside his family in what is now a family plot in a cemetery here in our hometown.
“Thank you,” I respond. Tulsa’s body is leaning against mine. Her hand moves from its place on my bicep down to my fingers, entwining them with mine. My body twitches at the wrong fucking time. Montgomery knew that Tulsa had no problem prancing in front of me. So close to being eighteen yet not, she assumed the looks she gave me were one-sided. They absolutely were not. I had to talk myself out of so much as glancing in her direction when she would walk through the house in her bathing suit making way to the pool at their house. I curse myself at the feeling of her tits pressed against my arm. She’s too young, gone through too damn much in her short life to be saddled with someone ten years older than her.
“Ledger.” Tulsa squeezes my hand to get my attention.
“Yeah, Tulsa?” Her head tips up slightly as mine lowers.
“I need to get out of here. It’s too much.” Eyes that are usually a clear hazel color are now blood shot.
“Go ahead. I’ll handle the rest of this. It shouldn’t be too much longer.” She wraps her arms around her frail body. I make a mental note that I’m going to have to make sure she takes care of herself.
“Thanks.” She nods before she takes off, the black dress whipping around her body with the wind. You can smell the precipitation in the air, a sure sign of the rain that will likely start pouring down any moment now. Hopefully, this will be wrapped up, so we can head to the attorney’s office. Tulsa can eat then finally get some damn sleep. And me, I can drown myself in a bottle. It doesn’t matter what kind of bottle it is either—beer, tequila, vodka, whisky, or bourbon, all five would be good with me right about now. Anything to drown out the thoughts that Montgomery is gone, and I’m left with the memory of how Tulsa and her firm little body feels against mine.