Total pages in book: 135
Estimated words: 137310 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 687(@200wpm)___ 549(@250wpm)___ 458(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 137310 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 687(@200wpm)___ 549(@250wpm)___ 458(@300wpm)
I was just glad whatever he was holding between us he’d set aside.
He’s falling in love.
If any of my closest friends, Bernie, Charlie, Mel, told me they were falling in love with a guy after knowing him a week, I’d have concerns.
But here it was, I was in it.
So was Hugger.
And zero concerns.
This was my happy thought when I noticed the light go off in the bathroom and then Hugger coming out in all his glory.
That glory was glorious, but the look on his face was not.
I was perplexed as he walked around the bed to my side, more perplexed when he took my phone off the charge, and even more perplexed when his annoyed expression turned into an out-and-out scowl when he glanced at the screen.
He put the phone back on the magnet, lifted the covers, moved in and lowered his bulk right on top on me, flicking the covers over his hips once he settled.
At least that felt good (really good).
“What’s up?” I asked.
“Your mother still hasn’t texted.”
I relaxed beneath him, smoothed my hands up his back and mumbled, “Honey.”
“It’s pissin’ me off,” he stated.
“I can tell,” I said. “But there’s nothing we can do about it.”
“Yeah,” he grunted.
“Can I ask you something?” I requested.
He focused on me. “You can ask me anything.”
Okay.
Um.
Yeah.
Totally falling in love with this guy.
And he was totally now all with me.
“You told me earlier you don’t like touch and aren’t affectionate.”
“I don’t and I’m not.”
I blinked.
“Can’t keep my hands off you, though,” he muttered.
I pressed my lips together so my smile wouldn’t blind him.
“And love your hands on me, even when we aren’t fuckin’,” he went on.
I pressed my lips tighter.
Once I had a lock on it, I noted, “You seemed pretty affectionate with Raven.”
“She’s a little kid, and Pete was right. She’s bashful. Gets lost in the mix of a lot of rowdy and big personalities.”
I stroked his beard and asked gently, “Do you feel a kinship with her with that?”
His head ticked then he said, “Guess so, yeah. Never thought about it, but makes sense.”
“Do you, uh…want kids?” I asked cautiously.
He got that expression on his face that he always got when he was about to say “I never thought about it.”
Then the look cleared and he said softly, “Yeah.”
I thought I was pretty loose under him, but when he said that, I got looser.
“You?” he inquired.
“Yeah.”
“How many?”
“Two.”
“Two’s good. Wouldn’t know, but I heard that middle child shit ain’t real fun.”
“I wouldn’t know either, but I heard the same.”
His eyes got soft and he went in to rub his nose against mine.
Dang, I loved it when he did that too.
Since he was being so forthcoming (not that he ever wasn’t, but still), I took a chance and noted, “You seem different today.”
“That’s because I decided we’re doin’ this.”
I emitted a surprised pip of laughter. “You just decided that today?”
“No. Decided last night when I found out you were a fantastic lay.”
My mouth dropped open.
“Rounded out the perfect package,” he stated.
“Well, thank God I didn’t disappoint you in bed,” I muttered.
“Not sure you can disappoint me in anything, babe.”
Holy crap!
I mean, seriously.
Was he for real?
“I was letting my shit get in the way of our shit,” he explained. “You took the hit of Maddy, stood strong. Took the hit from your dad about your mom, same thing. Nothing shakes you. We’ll be good.”
“You wanna tell me what might shake me about you?” I asked.
“That’s for Sunday, baby,” he said quietly. “Will say, what was fuckin’ with my head was that I wasn’t good enough for you.”
My mouth dropped open again, but this time it did not only because I was surprised, but because I was angry.
“Are you joking?”
“No.” He caught my mood and cupped the side of my head with his hand. “Babe, you got a master’s degree.”
“So what?”
“I’ve never been out of Colorado except to hit Vegas a coupla times and come here.”
This shocked me.
Even so.
“So what?” I repeated on a snap.
His head went back several inches. “You don’t see where I’m comin’ from with that?”
“Not really, seeing as what it says is that you think I’d eventually think I was better than you.”
His voice shared he was getting pissed when he stated, “It wasn’t that.”
“Then explain what it was,” I demanded.
“I see your face when I tell you I never expected anything out of my life, never even thought about it.”
“I fear this discussion might be difficult not having what I need, and instead having to wait until Sunday to get it.”
He moved abruptly so he was holding my head in both hands, and his face was in mine.
“Never dreamed, never wanted shit, because I knew I couldn’t have it,” he growled. “Then I follow this gorgeous woman with sass to spare into the sweet crib she created, and I started wanting shit. Thirty-five years old, woman, first time in my life I saw what I wanted. All of it. All of what I’d need for the rest of my life. It tweaked me. Scared the absolute fuck outta me. You don’t want, you don’t get disappointed. I see now that was what I was doin’. Protecting myself. Because all of a sudden, there it was,”—his hands put gentle pressure on my head—“all of it, and I knew, I…fuckin’…knew how deep it would cut if I didn’t get it.”