Total pages in book: 45
Estimated words: 43540 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 218(@200wpm)___ 174(@250wpm)___ 145(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 43540 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 218(@200wpm)___ 174(@250wpm)___ 145(@300wpm)
“Wait, are you jealous? My confident, tough-guy boyfriend is jealous?”
“Not jealous. Protective. Need to secure what’s mine.”
My chest vibrates with laughter. “Oh boy, that sounds super hot.”
“Good. Because if it scared you off, I’d have to just come after you and keep you captive. Feed you Pop-Tarts and my cock until you realize you’re madly in love with me.”
“Ahhh, Plan B is kidnapping and Stockholm Syndrome, huh?”
“You don’t even wanna know what my Plan C is. ’Cause baby, you ain’t ever getting away from me.”
I wrap my arms around his neck. “So, I guess I shouldn’t tell you you’re my forever? Spend a little bit more time playing hard to get?”
“You should start practicing saying yes because one of these days, I’m gonna make you mine. And it’s gonna be official.”
“Oh yeah?”
His hand slides down my bare belly to my panties, and a finger slips through my pulsating sex. “There’s no better time than the present. Say it.” He strokes me harder. “Come on, babe. Practice makes perfect.”
His fingers feel so good. “Yes. . .”
***
I stir awake at the memory. My eyes flutter open to see Easton next to me. He’s awake on his side, staring at me.
“Morning.”
“Morning,” I reply.
“I think we need you to—”
I press my finger over his lips. “Please, let’s not. Last night was pretty intense. I just. . . need some time to digest. Is that okay?”
He reaches out, tucking my hair behind my ear. “Yeah.”
“Thank you.”
“You’re more than welcome to sleep longer. I gotta get up and take care of some things.” He continues to stare at me like he desperately wants to stay into bed and spend the day devouring my mouth. But after a few beats, he pulls back and gets out of bed. I sit up and watch him dress. Then I notice the large tattoo along the side of his ribcage. I inhale sharply, reading each letter. Callie.
I hold my breath until he leaves the room and fall back against the mattress.
It’s just a tattoo. But when? Why? He didn’t have that when we were together. Which means he got it after. Why would he put something so permanent on his body?
My head spins, but I blame it on the wine mixed with the emotional rollercoaster of last night. I get up, brush my teeth, and pee. Staying in the comfort of his oversized T-shirt, I walk out to the living room. The smell of bacon causes my stomach to growl. “Seriously, you need to get this place inspected for aliens.” I cover my belly.
“I’ll add that to my list.” God, his smile is infectious. I have to look away before I jump his bones. I busy myself, looking at all his pictures, loving that he has one of us still on display.
“Missed seeing you in my T-shirts.” I gaze over my shoulder at Easton. My cheeks warm, loving the way his eyes rake over my body.
“Missed wearing them. I forgot how comfortable they were.” This is a lie because I totally did not throw out the one I still had of his and wear it on the regular. “So, you said you fix these places up. What’s wrong with this cabin? Seems pretty perfect to me.”
“There were a lot of exterior renovations. One being the stairs.” His lips curl into the sexiest smile. He’s smart and doesn’t say anything more about those damn stairs. “The roof needs patchwork. But because of the weather, I’m working on refurbishing the floors and repainting the walls in the second bedroom.”
“Ahh, I see. How much longer do you have out here?”
“Not sure. I’m ahead of schedule, so maybe a few more months. But if they offer me more work, I’ll stay.”
“And when you’re done, what do you do? Will you come back home?” I say home like it’s a place where I am. Or at least it was.
Something passes in his expression, but he’s quick to mask it. “Not sure.”
I want to kick myself for asking. We’ve been getting along for five seconds, and here I am, already asking if he wants to come home and see how things go. Wait. . . do I want him to come home to see where things go? Shit. I turn around, breaking eye contact, and distract myself with another photo frame. “So, what else?” I ask, picking up the photo of us.
“I gotta check on the generator. With all the heavy snow from the night before, I’ll need to dig it out of the snow. Can’t have anything go wrong with it if we lose main power.”
“Cool. Hey, whatever happened to Jake?” I love his dog. And until this moment, I haven’t realized he’s not here.
“He’s down the hill with Sammy.”
“Sammy?” My shoulders tense. He has a woman friend who has his dog, and I’m here—
“Yeah, babe. Sammy. The guy who hired me. He gets lonely, and he and Jake have formed a bond. I let him take him here and there to keep him company. He has a lot of land for Jake to run. Sometimes that damn dog refuses to come back to me.”