Total pages in book: 22
Estimated words: 20435 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 102(@200wpm)___ 82(@250wpm)___ 68(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 20435 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 102(@200wpm)___ 82(@250wpm)___ 68(@300wpm)
The last few years she’s asked for a kitchen gadget. She loves the bar, but food is a major passion. I think she’ll probably turn Liquid Courage into a bar and restaurant if she can get the capital together. Dammit, why won’t this stubborn woman let me help her? We could do it together, spend our days and nights building her business and creating something she’d love.
I pause to think. “Does it need electricity?”
“Let it go, Ledger.”
I bristle at the harsh note in her voice. It’s the one that she uses when she’s shutting me out and even though I tell myself that it doesn’t matter, it stings. She can push everyone else away. Hell, she has pushed everyone else away. But not me. I get to be different. I get to see behind the walls she normally puts up. “Why? Why should I let it go?”
She steps close, so close I can feel the heat coming from her body. Something flashes across her face. I can’t tell if it’s annoyance or lust but then she’s on her tip toes.
I drop my head close to hers. If she makes a move—the slightest indication that she feels even an ounce of what I feel for her—then I’ll kiss her. I’ll set fire to our friendship in a heartbeat and never look back again. I’ll finally have Peyton as more than just my friend. She’ll be my woman and the whole world will know. I’ll never have to hide anything from her again.
But Peyton doesn’t go in to kiss me. Instead, she leans close to my ear. Her breath is hot against my skin and everything in me is silently begging for her to press those plump lips to my neck. “If I told you what I really want, it’d blow your mind.”
2
PEYTON
I thought I’d feel better if I baked some dicks. Well, gingerbread dicks. But I didn’t think that Ledger would show up today.
I should have known that when I texted him I was baking he’d show up. He’d appear in my tiny apartment with his tall, lean frame making it feel even smaller in there. His scent would surround me and everything in my body would want to reach for him.
Of course, I didn’t. We’ve been friends for ten years. If he wanted to make a move, he would have by now.
Cassie giggles at something West, Ledger’s brother, said and I pull myself from my misery long enough to remember I’m at work. It’s been hours since Ledger stopped into my apartment, and I sent him on his way. I could tell he was annoyed when he left, but it’s not like we argued.
Squaring my shoulders, I approach the end of the bar where West and Cassie are cuddled up together. They knew each other for ten years before they finally admitted to their feelings recently. Maybe that should give me some hope, but it’s only made me more depressed.
I’m twenty-six. Hardly old enough to give up on love. But Ledger is it for me. He was the first person to give me a Christmas gift, the first person to make me feel safe after a lifetime of violence and abuse.
Even now, he’s at the opposite end of the bar keeping watch. None of the drunken patrons will dare cause me trouble with him sitting there. I’ve tried to joke that he should ask Harry for a job as a bouncer, but he always just shrugs off my words.
He must have gotten done at his actual job earlier. He works at his family Christmas tree ranch. He gives tours to the families that visit the place, showing them how the trees start as little saplings until they become the beautiful trees that are harvested to bring holiday joy.
I’ve sat in on his tours and Ledger makes every part of the process seem so fascinating. He’s an amazing entertainer, interacting with the crowds and encouraging their questions. Because of his tours, the ranch sells twice as many Christmas trees. When Micah told me that, Ledger’s chest puffed out a little.
“Are these really the ex-boyfriend cookies?” Cassie chuckles, holding up a tiny edible dick.
I nod and launch into a discussion of how I made them. I know I’m not supposed to sell baked cookies from my home kitchen. But I don’t exactly have the budget to rent a commercial kitchen.
If I can just scrape together the money to put a down payment on Harry’s bar, then I can get a small business loan from the bank. That will give me enough money to update the kitchen and get it ready for my expansion plan.
There’s a big Christmas fair in Sweetgrass River, the next town over, in a couple of days. I’ve rented a booth and I have a huge supply of Christmas themed cookies and snacks to sell, including my peppermint fudge. It should give me a few hundred dollars which puts me just a little bit closer to my dream.