Total pages in book: 146
Estimated words: 143842 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 719(@200wpm)___ 575(@250wpm)___ 479(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 143842 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 719(@200wpm)___ 575(@250wpm)___ 479(@300wpm)
My insides tumbled. God, what in the world were we doing?
That gaze shined, and beneath it, my lips tingled with the vestiges of that kiss.
That kiss that had wrecked me in the best way possible.
Made my knees weak and my head spin and sent my heart clamoring toward something that had felt so fundamentally right all while being intrinsically wrong.
That kiss that I needed to remember was only meant to send Pruitt a message.
“We have to go get the food now,” Maddie ordered, tugging at my hand again, trying to urge me back to the tiny door.
“I think a dinner party sounds really fun, but where is Lolly supposed to sit?” I teased.
“She’s gonna sit right here.” Lolly’s ragged voice suddenly echoed from the other side of the plastic. Disbelief hit me when I realized she had to be leaned against the outside wall of the playhouse.
“Is my grandmother actually sitting out there on the ground right now?” I all but demanded.
Maddie looked at me like I was clueless. “Well, of course she’s got to sit on the outside because she’s got a bad hip and there’s no way she’s gettin’ all the way in here without breaking it.”
Maddie nodded when she finished her spiel, proud of herself for issuing what was likely the exact same words Lolly had given her when she’d tried to get her inside.
Aghast, I moved to pop my head out the window. Lolly was sitting on the lawn with her back leaning against the playhouse, just as I’d suspected.
“Lolly, what in the world are you doing? You don’t need to be sitting on the ground.”
She sent me a droll smile, lips painted a bright pink today. “Well, now that I’m sitting here, I’m not sure I’m going to be able to get back up.”
Maddie scrambled over to my side and tried to poke her head out, too. “Don’t worry, my Lolly! We got Mr. Cody, and he’s got the muscles, so he can pick you right up.”
“Well, I do like the sound of that,” Lolly tossed right back.
Flustered, I looked to Cody who was quite literally backed into a corner. Only he let go of a coarse chuckle, amusement riding all over his handsome face.
“You just tell me when,” he hollered.
“After dinner,” Maddie proclaimed.
“Anytime, anywhere, I’ll be right here waiting for you,” Lolly said at the same time.
I inhaled a deep breath, searching for the best solution that wasn’t going to ruin the excitement that blazed from my child and get my poor grandmother off the ground. “Why don’t we have our party drinks right now, and then we eat our dinner on the patio table so we’re close to your playhouse? That way Lolly can eat with us.”
“Great idea, Mommy!”
Thankfully, Maddie didn’t seem all that disappointed, and she hopped back to the table where she had the teapot and teacups. She poured another one to the brim and carefully tried to balance it as she brought it to me, even though she spilled half of it on her way.
Cody already had his, and he picked it up from where it sat on the floor next to him, mirth covering him whole.
Maddie moved back toward him in the confined space and lifted her cup. “To the best party ever, and to the best Mr. Cody ever, since he built my playhouse so super fast.”
She clinked her teacup to his, then I put mine in the center, too, and whispered, “To Cody.”
Those golden flecked eyes twinkled back at me when I clinked my cup to his.
Lolly suddenly pushed her teacup through the window. “Now I will drink to that.”
“Goodnight, my very favorite Mr. Cody!” Maddie hollered toward the ceiling. She was in her bed and Cody had just unclicked the lock on the bathroom and stepped out into the hallway.
I wasn’t able to see him since I was kneeling beside Maddie’s bed, tucking her in, but I could almost feel the weight of his smile as he edged forward a little to come stand in her doorway, the weight of his presence pushing in on me from behind.
His aura profound.
That warm energy that felt like a refuge rippling through the air.
“Goodnight, Button. Thanks for throwing the best party I’ve ever attended.”
I finally swiveled to peer at him from across her room, and my breath hitched at the impact.
Freshly showered, his hair darkened to a deep brown since it was wet. He’d pulled on a clean tee and a pair of black sweats, powerful and gorgeous.
Looking like a sea of temptation and a barrel of regret.
Maddie hugged Princess Verona closer to her chest and wiggled beneath her covers. “Do you really think so?” she asked him.
Cody lifted a tattooed arm and leaned it high against her doorframe.
So casual, though the movement hit me like pure devastation.
“Oh, yeah. I’ve been to a ton of parties, but never one quite like that.”