Total pages in book: 50
Estimated words: 47521 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 238(@200wpm)___ 190(@250wpm)___ 158(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 47521 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 238(@200wpm)___ 190(@250wpm)___ 158(@300wpm)
I let my hand find her leg under the table and squeeze. “One day, Cassie, I’m going to dance with you in front of everyone. Our family, our friends, everyone. We’re not going to care who sees us because you’re going to trust in me and what we have together.”
I see the question in her eyes, but I know she’s not going to put voice to it. She’s not going to ask me here in front of everyone. I wish she would because I’m dying to tell her exactly how I feel about her. But she’s not ready. And there’s a part of me that wonders if she ever will be. “I’ll talk to you later, Cass. Call me if you need me.”
She gives me one firm nod. “I will. Be safe out there, Baker.”
I’m about to go when she stops me. “Are you coming to dinner on Sunday night?”
I shake my head, letting her know I don’t know anything about it.
“Mom planned dinner for Sunday night. She said she mentioned it to you. Did she not?”
I stare at her without blinking. It’s a slippery slope, but I don’t want to diss her mom to her. The fact is Brandi doesn’t want me around. She doesn’t want to share my dad with anyone. My guess is she’s seen how much my dad cares for Cassie, and that’s why she wants her out of the house too.
There’s a part of me that wants to say no. It’s pure torture being this close to her and not being able to touch her. But I also know that any chance I have to be with her, I’m going to take it. Instead of answering her question about her mom, I ask, “What time?”
“Six o’clock.”
Her green eyes search my brown ones, and I know I can’t say no. “I’ll be there.”
I nod my head and walk away. I’m tired of doing it because when it comes to Cassie, I just want to stay.
My shift goes incredibly slowly. I drove by the Whistler a few times, and when my shift is over, I drive by there one more time. Cassie is leaving the parking lot so I follow her through town, parking on the road down from my dad’s house. I should leave her alone, but I hate that we sort of argued. I keep pressuring her, and maybe I shouldn’t. Maybe I just need to wait until she makes the decision on her own.
So I climb up the tree next to her window and with a soft thud, jump onto her balcony. Not wanting to scare her, I text her. “Hey.”
She answers immediately. “Hey. I was hoping I’d hear from you. I’m sorry about tonight.”
Awww, this girl is killing me. She’s so good for me. “Open your balcony door.”
It takes her only a minute, and she opens the door, looking at me in shock. “Baker, what are you doing here?” She practically throws herself into my arms. “I’m so sorry about tonight. I know it’s hard. It was hard for me too. One of the things I love about you is how you’re always touching me, and it kills me when we can’t touch each other.”
I want to argue with her and tell her that we could. All we need to do is come clean, but I don’t want to have a disagreement with her right now. She leans up on her tiptoes. “Are you going to kiss me or what?”
She doesn’t have to ask me twice. I walk her into the room and kiss her along the way. She pulls me down to her bed, and I hover over her. I can’t get enough of her. I feel like I’m looking at her with my heart in my eyes, but I don’t try to conceal how I feel about her. I wasn’t lying to her because I want the whole town to know.
She lifts her hip. “Is that a gun or are you happy to see me?”
I raise up and remove my holster and belt and lay it on the floor next to the bed before lying back down. I push my hips into her. “That’s for you.”
We kiss some more, and I roll, bringing her on top of me.
She’s searching my eyes, and I can see she has something on her mind. “How’s your head?”
She nods. “Good.”
I kiss her forehead. “What’s on your mind?”
“Can I ask you something without you getting mad?”
I pull her down slowly because I like having the weight of her on me. “You can ask me anything.”
She’s looking at my chest now instead of my eyes. “I was talking to your dad…”
Her voice trails off, and I nudge her to look at me. “Tell me… it’s okay.”
“He mentioned Gina.”
I wait for her to continue. “What about her?”
She’s drawing circles on my chest through my shirt. “Your dad said you were crazy about her.”