Total pages in book: 88
Estimated words: 85270 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 426(@200wpm)___ 341(@250wpm)___ 284(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 85270 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 426(@200wpm)___ 341(@250wpm)___ 284(@300wpm)
“Done.” I hold my hand out for her to shake. She slides her much smaller hand into mine, and a zap of something I can’t name hits me out of nowhere. I quickly drop her hand and search the crowd for my brother, pretending that touching her soft skin didn’t feel as though I was being electrocuted in the best way.
“Moment of truth,” I tell her, nodding to where Orrin and Jade are standing on the opposite side of the room, still swaying back and forth in each other’s arms.
“Let’s do this.” She grabs my hand, and that feeling hits me once again. This time she stops and stares up at me and back to our joined hands before shaking her head and pulling me across the room to my brother and her friend. “Hey, guys,” she greets them, dropping my hand.
“What are you up to?” Jade chuckles.
“Who me?” Palmer places her hand against her heart just as she did earlier, feigning innocence.
“Yes, you.” Jade smiles at her.
“Well, we”—Palmer looks over and points at me before turning back to Jade and Orrin—“have a little wager going, and the two of you hold the answer.”
“This should be good,” Orrin chimes in.
“I bet her that Mom has already been asking you when you’re going to give her more grandchildren now that you two are getting serious,” I tell them.
“Oddly enough, she hasn’t mentioned it,” Orrin confesses.
“Hah! I win!” Palmer wiggles her hips in that tight-ass dress of hers, and my cock twitches in my jeans.
“Well, not exactly,” Jade speaks up.
“Please tell me my mother isn’t harassing you about grandkids.” Orrin’s tone is pleading. His eyes are closed, and his head is tilted back as if he needs the gods of patience to rain down on him.
“Well, she’s not harassing me. However, she did mention it last week at Sunday dinner.”
“Damn, I missed it.” I’m a registered nurse by trade, and I work at the Willow River General Hospital Emergency Department. My hours change in varying stages of twelve-hour shifts, and that includes working every third weekend.
“I’m sorry,” Orrin says sincerely. “I’ll talk to her.”
“No. Don’t tell her I told you. She was really sweet about it, and it didn’t bother me.”
“So we both win.” I grin over at Palmer.
She shrugs. “As long as I get my shelf put together, I’m good.”
“What did you win?” Jade asks me.
“This one”—I point at Palmer—“has to be my dance partner the rest of the night. I’ve been avoiding your cousin Jackie all night, and Palmer is my excuse to keep doing so.”
“She’s… a lot to take on,” Jade agrees. “She means well, but she has zero subtlety.”
“Subtlety? Is that what you call her grabbing my ass and telling me I owe her a dance?” I ask.
Jade, Palmer, and Orrin all crack up laughing at my expense. “Laugh it up, assholes. I’m telling you, those talon nails of hers bit into the skin even through my jeans.”
“Prove it,” Palmer challenges, and if I knew it wouldn’t send my cousin or my mother into orbit, I’d pull my pants down now to show her.
“How did she get an invite anyway?” I ask them.
“Is that a serious question?” Orrin asks. “Deacon invited what seems like all of Willow River. He’s shouting from the rooftops that Ramsey agreed to marry him.”
“She’s changed him,” Palmer says. I turn to look at her, and she has a soft smile on her lips as she watches Deacon and Ramsey where they’re talking to Mayor Hanson.
“Damn, he really did invite the entire town.” I laugh.
“Well, I guess I have a debt to pay. You think you can manage taking me for a spin out there?” Palmer indicates to the dance floor behind us.
I drain my beer and set it on a nearby table. Palmer takes a hefty drink of hers and then hands the bottle to Jade. “Finish this for me, will you? Hot beer tastes like cat piss.” As soon as Jade takes the bottle, Palmer finds my hand and leads me to the dance floor.
She stops and turns to face me, and the song turns slow. Sliding my arm around her waist, I pull her close and begin to sway.
“You’re not half bad at this,” she says, peering up at me under long lashes. Her hands that have been resting on my chest move to wrap around the back of my neck. The action causes her tits to press tight against me, and I have to make a conscious effort to keep my hardening cock from pressing into her belly.
“Not half bad?” I scoff. “I could dance circles around everyone on this dance floor,” I announce with confidence.
“You’re going to have to wait until another night for that, big guy.” She runs her fingers through the back of my hair. “I’m in the middle of paying my debt.”