Total pages in book: 109
Estimated words: 109608 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 548(@200wpm)___ 438(@250wpm)___ 365(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 109608 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 548(@200wpm)___ 438(@250wpm)___ 365(@300wpm)
Jamie did this last, murmuring to himself, “So it’ll be me making it clear. And I’m fine with that.”
“Anything to start?” the waiter inquired.
“Order for me, darling. I can never make up my mind when I’m here,” I said, reaching for my drink.
“Ms. Ellington will have the tuna to start, I’ll have the oysters,” Jamie said. “We’ll order seconds and mains later.”
“Excellent.” The waiter took our menus and slipped away.
And it was. Jamie was very good at ordering.
I took a sip of my drink and put it back to the table, saying, “I think I should deal with Roland.”
“As you wish, so do it,” Jamie returned.
I felt my eyes narrow. “Again, he is not so important that he requires priority placement on my to-do list.”
As I said this, Jamie watched me over the rim of his glass while he took a sip.
It was inordinately sexy.
He returned the drink to the table and leaned toward me. “You have, my beautiful Nora, become quite well acquainted with my cock these last two days.”
I had.
That first night. The next morning. The shower. After the shower. That morning. Before we came out tonight.
I was very correct about his virility, thankfully.
And one could say, he was quite enamored with the blouse I was wearing that night, and it was unlikely I’d ever forget the charming way he shared that with me.
Further, it was clear Jamie felt like making up for lost time, just as I was making it clear I had no issue with that.
Even with all of this, I glared at him.
He sat back. “So, being a man, and knowing how men think, you need to trust me on this and not let it play out any longer. He knew you were on a cruise…with me. So he left you alone. We’re out tonight. People we both know are here. And people talk. He’ll learn you’re back, and he won’t delay in pressing his suit. So you can’t delay in telling him to go fuck himself.”
“I don’t think he’s the problem you think he is,” I remarked.
He raised his brows. “Do I have to talk about my cock again?”
I couldn’t help it, I chuckled.
Then I said, “No.”
“Thus, we’re agreed.”
Ugh.
I huffed out a peeved breath. “Fine.”
Jamie smiled, again reached for his drink and took a sip.
And I watched the alpha lion in this particular jungle lazily and indifferently enjoying his rule of his domain.
Never in my life would I begin to comprehend just how magnificent a happily ever after could be.
But I was beside myself to find I was in the midst of learning just that.
That night, in bed, in the dark, after making love, I lay with my head on Jamie’s shoulder, smoothing my palm through his rough chest hair.
“I like JT better,” Jamie said apropos of nothing.
I tipped my head back to look at his shadowed face. “Pardon?”
I watched his chin dip down. “Chloe calls him Jimmy. I like JT better.”
“Hmm,” I hummed, and put my cheek back to his shoulder.
“What?” he asked.
Drat.
Would that I’d been smart enough to keep some of me back so he couldn’t read me so completely.
This was never a pleasant subject for Jamie, and with my concerns about his plans of annihilation, it wasn’t for me either.
His arm around me gave me a slight shake when I didn’t answer.
“Nora, what?”
I put my chin to his shoulder to look at him again, only to see he’d angled his head to do the same to me.
“Chloe refuses to call him JT, which Judge prefers, because he likes that it honors both you and Tom.”
“She told you that?”
I shrugged a shoulder. “I asked.”
“She doesn’t like the name JT?”
“She doesn’t like the name AJ, and as such, refuses to shorten her son’s name to initials in the same manner.”
He righted his head and said to the ceiling, “That’s very Chloe.”
It was.
And this brought us to something we hadn’t discussed in some time, but, as much as I didn’t like it, we were there, and it needed discussing.
“Maybe you should share,” I suggested quietly.
“I’ll share when it’s all done,” Jamie replied.
“I think they should know. It’s not like they’re going to phone AJ or some gossip magazine,” I pointed out.
“I know, sweetheart. But when I share that my father isn’t actually my biological father to anybody, I have to be ready.”
This was true.
I pushed up so I could look down at him. “Do you think he knows?”
“AJ?”
“We know he doesn’t. Your actual father.”
He shook his head as an answer to me that he didn’t think his biological father knew.
“Are you going to tell him?” I asked.
“When I officially take it from Pop, I’m going to give my birth father the ranch.”
I gasped at this astonishing news. “You are?”
“He’s been a ranch foreman for over forty years, working a ranch all his life. He’s got his own now, and two sons who work it with him. His father was a ranching cowboy. It’s in his blood. He’ll run Oakbilly Gulch, definitely better than Jeff, even better than Pop, and his sons will run it better than both of them after he’s gone.”