Total pages in book: 23
Estimated words: 21569 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 108(@200wpm)___ 86(@250wpm)___ 72(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 21569 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 108(@200wpm)___ 86(@250wpm)___ 72(@300wpm)
I try to act busy. If Miller knows I’m just avoiding Gia, I’m sure he’d be happy to go up there and keep her company, and that thought has me seeing red. “Nope, I’m about to head up to the house.”
Miller starts to leave and then stops. “Hey, by the way. I meant to tell you, I found your girl.”
He comes at me, holding his phone, and I see Gia on the screen. “What are you doing with that? How did you get her picture?”
He grabs me on the shoulder. “Calm down. It’s on an app.” He hits play, and Gia starts to talk. She’s standing out in my driveway, and I peer closer. Is that my hat she’s wearing? It sure is, and hell, if that doesn’t just hit me right in the chest. Fuck, she looks good in a cowboy hat… my cowboy hat.
I’m so focused on looking at her, I miss half of what she says. “Send that to me,” I demand.
He laughs and then punches a few buttons on his phone. Mine dings in my pocket, and I pull it out, ignoring him. As I sit down on the bale of hay, Miller leaves, and I replay the video, making sure to listen this time too.
“Hey, romance readers. I’m doing a little something different this time. I’m hankering for a good steamy cowboy romance. Something sexy. Maybe he’s a little grumpy and set in his ways, but he can’t resist the woman.” She leans into the camera, her voice drops, and I swear my cock hardens in my pants. “Seriously, he’s fighting it but can’t resist her. Bonus points if she’s plus size and the cowboy has blue eyes.” She holds her hand up and then starts to fan herself. “Don’t ask. Anyway, drop your suggestions below.”
She’s talking about me. I look at the time stamp on the video, and she posted it this morning.
There’s a small picture of her in the corner. I click on it, and it opens another page. There are more videos. I start watching, and again, it’s Gia talking about romance books. She’s holding up a book, telling all the reasons she loves it. I scroll down to read the comments. After a quick scan, the majority of the comments are women cheering each other on and talking about the book. But there’s some men commenting too about how beautiful Gia is.
I close the app and pocket the phone. Shit.
I walk up to the house, contemplating what I’m going to do. First things first: I know I owe Gia an apology. I handled this morning like shit, and I know I did. It was a shock to be holding her and kissing her, and then when I finally remembered that my sons were right upstairs, well, I freaked out. There’s no other way to explain it.
I’m walking into the house before I realize we have company. Rhett is the first to see me, and he comes over with his son in his arms. “Sorry for intruding on you, Dalton, but I had to come see my favorite neighbors.”
“That’s us!” Evan hollers, pointing at Ethan and himself.
I chuckle. “Yeah, I got that.”
Rhett shakes my hand and pulls me toward him. “Congratulations, by the way.”
“Thanks, man.” I don’t have to ask him what he’s talking about. He knows how hard it was for me when my wife died and Ethan stopped talking. He’s the one that had to pick me up from a bar one night and listen to me fall apart, worried about my son.
From the moment I walked into the room, Gia hasn’t looked at me. Right now, she’s picking up pizza boxes and plates from the coffee table as Maddie walks toward me, holding both Evan’s and Ethan’s hands. “The boys want to go for ice cream and then spend the night. Is that okay with you?”
Just the thought of being alone with Gia freaks me out a little bit, and I’m about to say no when I look into the pleading eyes of my sons. “You’ll be good?”
“Yes!” they both say, pumping their little arms in the air before running past me toward their room.
Gia excuses herself. “I’ll go help them put a bag together.”
‘I can—” I start, but she keeps going.
“It’s okay, I got it.”
I let out a sigh when she walks out, and if Rhett senses any drama, he’s not letting on. However, Maddie doesn’t let it go. “What’s happening?”
I give her my most innocent look. “What do you mean? Nothing.”
She rolls her eyes and points toward the stairs that Gia and the boys went up. “I like her.”
I shrug. “So do the boys.”
She crosses her arms over her chest. “What about you?”
I chuckle and look at Rhett for help, but he just lifts up RJ a little higher. “Nah uh, buddy. We know when to stay out of it. You’re on your own.”