Total pages in book: 135
Estimated words: 131916 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 660(@200wpm)___ 528(@250wpm)___ 440(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 131916 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 660(@200wpm)___ 528(@250wpm)___ 440(@300wpm)
Nolan balanced on the scale, and the digital numbers hit the display.
“Firty-eight pounds!” Nolan shouted, thankfully stopping me from the dangerous train of thought. “I bet I weigh even more than my dad. Get on, Daddy-O, let’s see!”
In what appeared agitation, River raked his fingers through the longer pieces of his hair. “Sorry, buddy, but we’re not here for me.”
“Ah, man, fine.”
A giggle formed in my throat, and I tried to hold it back as I scribbled his weight into the chart before I used my pen to point at the room next to it. “We’re going to be right in here.”
I followed them in, and River sat in the chair in the corner and pulled the little boy onto his lap.
Nothing could seem so at odds.
The ferocity of the man, the enormity of his frame, the dark, swirling designs that spoke of the greatest evils and the deepest sorrows. Black hair and black eyes and black clothing. And sitting there on his lap was this tiny boy, a flop of messy brown curls on his head, freckles dashed across his cheeks and nose.
But it was the child’s blue, mesmerizing eyes that stole my breath.
My spirit clutched again, and I grabbed the thermometer, thankful to have something to do with my hands, but it wasn’t nearly enough to ground me as I slowly eased across the confined space so I was standing right in front of them.
Thunderstorm eyes clashed against mine, his massive arm locked protectively around the little boy’s waist.
I couldn’t look away from the man as I ran the thermometer across Nolan’s forehead and to his temple, then I glanced at the number when it beeped. “Ninety-eight point six. Perfect.”
Nolan looked up at his father with his wide, expressive gaze. “See, Dad, I told you that you didn’t even have to worry one bit.”
“Always worry.” I got the sense that River was talking to me. “Can’t hardly handle it when he gets hurt.”
“I think worrying comes with the territory,” I murmured. I tried to keep my attention on the child, but it kept getting dragged to the harshly cut lines of the man’s face as I checked the boy’s pulse.
“What time did this happen?” I asked.
“About twenty-five minutes ago,” River said.
“And was he disoriented at all afterward?”
“No.”
“Is there any chance he hit his head?”
The man cracked the smallest smirk, and my stomach tipped. “Nah, he was just upset that he lost a tooth.”
He tickled the child then, fingers lightly digging into his sides.
Raucous giggles filled the room, and the little boy clutched his father’s wrist as he squirmed and wheezed, “Teef are really important, Dad. You know what my dentist told me. I gotta take really good care of ’em.”
“They are, but I think it’s not going to be a big deal since it was a baby one,” I assured him. “You just made room for the new one to come in.”
I stepped over to the small desk attached to the wall and laid the chart on it. I scrawled the information and left it open for Dr. Reynolds.
Moving to the door, I opened it then paused to look back, feet stagnant with the thought of walking out. “He should be right in. I think you’re going to be just fine, Nolan.”
The little boy grinned as he leaned his back against his father’s chest, his little arm looping up to hold the man by the back of the neck.
And God, it might have been the most precious thing I’d ever seen.
“I’m always fine, just as long as I got my dad.”
NINE
RIVER
I had no clue what the fuck was wrong with me, how I was being possessed by this compulsion, but it wouldn’t let me go.
My guts tangled, cock steel, interest piqued.
Which was how I found myself easing up to the doorway of a small breakroom, gobbling up the sight of her where she stood facing away at the far wall, digging into a locker with her name written on a piece of tape at the top.
She had her chestnut hair in a short, fat braid, and she was wearing pink scrubs, her tight little body concealed underneath.
But I remembered.
Remembered the way she’d looked in those shorts and that fitted tank. Remembered her smooth, soft skin. Remembered what I’d inked on her that she now had hidden beneath the sleeve of her shirt.
I knew the second she felt me there, the way the energy shifted, and her spine went straight. Tension rode through her system and blew back into me. Didn’t know which of us was radiating it most, this frenetic buzz that curled and twisted through the air.
Only thing I knew was I’d never felt anything like it before.
She finally peeked back at me from over her shoulder, those delicate features carved in wariness and uncertainty, though there was no missing the spark of attraction that flared in those wide, brown eyes.