Total pages in book: 137
Estimated words: 138683 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 693(@200wpm)___ 555(@250wpm)___ 462(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 138683 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 693(@200wpm)___ 555(@250wpm)___ 462(@300wpm)
Somehow, I knew he would be there.
The treehouse was just shy of being extravagant, a little like Milo’s home.
Large and lavish yet exuding a rugged charm that made it comfortable.
The children’s fortress took up the middle section of the grand maple tree that stood towering and proud to the right side of Milo’s rambling yard.
Energy whirled and whipped on a gust of wind.
I swallowed any reservations down and started up the stairs, holding on to the railing as I wound my way up the trunk to the platform that surrounded the entire treehouse.
Energy crashed through the tepid air, his presence profound.
Inhaling a slow breath, I nudged open the door that was about half the size of a standard one and poked my head through.
I found him sitting with his back propped against the wall, the warm glow of the light fixtures he’d installed in the ceiling illuminating his shape.
His face in stark profile.
His big, burly body appearing even larger in the confined space.
My stomach tilted.
The man was so gorgeous I was lucky I didn’t trip at the sight.
But what squeezed my chest was the subdued sorrow he continued to emanate. Since returning from his visit with Remy and Scout yesterday afternoon, it had hovered over him like a dark cloud.
His aura dampened.
As if every time he had to walk away from his children, another tattered piece of his heart had been whittled away.
“Hey,” I managed around the thickness in my throat. I tamped down the fear that still held fast after the confrontation with Karl.
He didn’t need me rushing in and dumping my problems on him.
The man would likely go on a rampage, and I was pretty sure that was exactly what Karl was banking on.
That Milo would seek retribution.
Karl wanted to shift the focus from himself and make Milo look like the bad guy, and Karl would come out looking all shiny and squeaky clean.
If people only knew.
Gold-hewn eyes drifted my way. Soft tenderness filled his expression. “Hey, Little Dove.”
His welcome wound around me like a caress, and the attraction I couldn’t shake flared from the depths.
“What are you doing up here?” I whispered, worried my voice might break into the solitude, but not so worried that I didn’t duck my head so I could enter.
There were some tools strewn around him, though it looked like he’d been sitting for a while.
“Figured I’d finish the shelves before I need to go into work,” he muttered, gesturing to where he was building them into a corner.
His attention to detail was insane.
“It’s almost finished,” I mused as I looked around to take it in.
He’d been working on it nonstop since we’d made our pact.
Constructing.
Preparing.
Hoping.
The floor area was large enough to be a bedroom, though the ceilings were only about five feet tall.
He’d put in two real windows that overlooked the lake, and they opened to let in the breeze.
There was a section of the roof that still remained unfinished, and everything would need to be sanded and stained.
I eased down onto the wood floor and sat beside him.
For a moment, we rested in the silence before I murmured, “They’re going to love it, Milo.”
He let go of a small grunt, and his attention swung to me. “Yeah. They will. Because of you.”
After I’d hung out with my besties on Friday, it’d become clear that we needed to talk. We’d spent too much time skirting the difficult parts.
Nerves rattled, and my tongue swept my dried lips as I looked at him.
“If we’re going to do this, I need to meet them, Milo. Become a real part of your life.”
Worry gushed from his spirit. “I know.”
“What is it you’re afraid of?” The question rushed from my lips.
Milo hesitated, roughing one of those big hands through his hair.
Attraction blazed. I couldn’t stop it. There was no chance of keeping it contained.
Finally, he let his head roll to the side where he was leaned against the wall, that gaze so intense as he stared at me. “I’m afraid of taking another person from them. The way I did their mother. That it’s goin’ to hurt them in the end.”
Pain pierced me, a blade shoved right into my heart.
God, he lived with so much unfound guilt. Didn’t he see he was good? That he deserved to have his children in his life?
I forced a faked smile, the playful words thin. “They won’t even like me. Heck, they’ll probably be glad to get rid of me.”
Milo grunted. “Hardly, Little Dove. Nothin’ not to love about you.”
I twisted a piece of my hair and tried to keep it together.
Especially when crawling onto his lap seemed like a mighty fine plan right about then.
“Redhead, remember? I’m trouble. You’ll all be better off without me.”
“Is that what you think? That people are better off without you?”
“I think they can take me in measured doses.” My laugh was hollow.