Total pages in book: 27
Estimated words: 25331 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 127(@200wpm)___ 101(@250wpm)___ 84(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 25331 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 127(@200wpm)___ 101(@250wpm)___ 84(@300wpm)
He doesn’t take any offense to what I said. He just laughs some more. “Well, I thought once you came back, you would have worked out some of your aggression. I guess not.”
“Fuck you,” I answer and go to walk past him.
He’s smirking at me and holds his hand out to take the reins from me. “Here, I’ll take care of Zeus.”
I don’t release my hold on him. “I got him.”
Jake crosses his arms over his chest. “I just thought since your wife was up at the house, you’d want to go see her, but okay.”
I give him the look that tells him he better not be fucking with me. “Sassy’s here?”
He nods. “Yep, showed up earlier. I let her in. You really should give your wife a key-“
I cut him off and throw the reins at him. “Thanks for taking care of Zeus. Rub him down; he worked hard today.”
I’m sprinting through the barn as I tell him what to do. I come out the other side that has a view of the house, and sure enough, Sassy’s truck is sitting in the driveway. I run up to the house and stop on the porch to catch my breath. Smoothing my hands down my chest, I look down at myself covered in dirt, mud, and sweat. Fuck, this is not what I had planned.
I open the front door and hold my breath as I walk through the house. Finally, I find her in the kitchen, washing dishes. I could stand here all night and watch her, but when she turns off the water, I say her name.
She jerks, surprised to see me standing here. “Cole.”
I take a step forward. “Hey, Sass.” For the first time ever, she’s wearing a dress, and I can’t seem to take my eyes off her legs. “You look beautiful.”
She smiles, and the way she fidgets, I can tell she’s nervous. “Thank you. Tina went into town to see her sister. I told her I’d make you dinner, but I’ll warn you now, I’m not much of a cook. I made some chili.”
I’m watching her intently. I have a thousand questions I want to ask, but I don’t want to bombard her. “I’m not picky. I’m sure it’s good. Do I have time to shower real quick?”
She bites on to her lip and nods. “Sure.”
I want to reach for her and kiss her, but I don’t. “I’ll be right back.”
I go down the hall to my bedroom. I strip all my clothes off and take the fastest shower I’ve ever had. By the time I’m back in a clean pair of jeans and a T-shirt, I’m making my way back down the hall to the kitchen, running my fingers through my hair. She seems surprised when I cut the corner. “That was quick.”
I just shrug in response. I don’t want to tell her that I was worried she’d leave before I got back out here. She sets a plate of cornbread on the table, and I stop her before she goes back toward the stove. “What took you so long?”
Her eyes widen. “Uh, I had to brown the beef-“
“No, I mean what took you so long to come over here?”
She shrugs. “Well, you said you wouldn’t let me go...”
I nod and brush a strand of hair away from her face. “I won’t.”
She smiles. “Right, well, I had to hire a full-time nurse and talk to Frank and the new hand I hired. I’ll have to go over there every day, but I think between Frank and the new guy, it should be okay. Plus, I had to pack.”
My body tenses. “You packed?”
Her cheeks turn a pretty pink. “Well, yeah, I mean... I thought..” She seems to pull her shoulders back. “Yes. I packed.”
I look down the hallway toward the front door and don’t see any bags. I know I didn’t see them in my bedroom. Surely she didn’t put them in the spare bedroom. “Where are your bags?”
“In my truck.”
I release her instantly. “I’ll be right back.”
“The food...” she calls after me.
I holler over my shoulder, “I’ll eat it, I promise. Set it to warm. I have a few things to take care of first.”
I walk outside, pleased to see the bed of her truck full of bags. I start carrying them in as she watches me. “I could have brought them in, but I wasn’t sure where to put them.”
I stop next to her and kiss her lips. “In our bedroom. You’re sleeping in my room... in my bed.”
She swallows, and her eyes light up with need. “Okay.”
I lift her bags up. “Relax. I’ll get these.”
She doesn’t listen, though. She follows me down the hall and watches as I set the bags down on the floor. I open the closet and point to the empty side and then go to the dresser and open the empty drawers. “I made room for all your stuff.”