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)
She holds her phone up. “Okay, but I’m taking your picture and sending it to my friend so if I wind up dead, they know who to question.”
I think I’ve smiled more in the last ten minutes than I have in the last three years. I’m not sure why, but I catch myself doing it as she’s taking my picture. She looks at the picture she just took, shakes her head, mumbles something like “have mercy,” and then pockets her phone. She grabs her purse out of the car, and while I shut her door, she walks around to the trunk and removes a suitcase.
I take it from her hand and walk back to my truck and throw it in the backseat before opening the passenger side door for her. She climbs into her seat, and I suck in a breath as I wait for her to settle so I can close the door.
I have a little talk with myself as I walk around to the driver’s side. She’s a woman stranded on the side of the road, and she doesn’t need some old cowboy hitting on her, that’s for sure. As I pull out on the road, I ask her, “What are you doing on this road anyway?”
“I hate driving on highways, so I take back roads.”
“Where were you headed?”
“Jasper, for work.”
“This way would add almost two hours to your trip.”
She just shrugs like she doesn’t have a care in the world. “I know. I had the time. I wasn’t in a hurry, and like I said, I hate driving on main highways. I’ll do it, but I avoid them if I can.”
I can feel her watching me, and even though it’s only five miles to my ranch, it feels a lot longer. I’m not sure what to make of this reaction to her, but I do know I need to get her far away from me. Oh, there’s no doubt I want her, but she’s a complication that I don’t need.
CHAPTER 3
GIANNA
I’m staring at the cowboy next to me so hard that I almost miss the woman with a baby on her hip and two children standing on the porch. It’s like a kick to the gut, and shame fills me. Damn, after the thoughts I’ve been having these last five miles, I can’t even look the woman in the face when I get out. If only she knew what I was thinking about her husband. Hell, I feel guilty, and even though nothing happened, I still feel like I’ve done something wrong.
Luckily, I don’t have to face her because the two boys—twins—run down to meet me, and the one starts asking a thousand questions. “Who are you? What are you doing here? How do you know my dad? Are you staying?”
The other boy grabs on to my hand and doesn’t let go.
I squat down to look at them. “My name is Gianna, but my friends call me Gia. Wow, you two are big boys. How old are you?”
“Five,” the one says excitedly. He points at himself and then his brother. “I’m Evan, and this is Ethan. We’re twins, and we’re on summer break. Next week we start camp. It’s not an overnight camp because Dad would miss us, but we go five days a week and come home every night. We’re going swimming, to the park, riding horses and…” He gets so excited he starts to jump up and down, and I laugh, pulling both boys in for a hug. Their happiness is contagious.
“Wow, it sounds like you’re going to have a great summer. Are you excited too?” I ask the quiet one.
He just nods his head, smiling.
I grab both the boys’ hands, and as I go to stand back up, I notice that Dalton and the woman are both staring at me. Almost as if they’re in awe or something. Dalton clears his throat and looks at the other woman. “Thanks again, Maddie, for watching the boys.”
Wait. Watching the boys? I look between Dalton and the woman… so this isn’t his wife? Before I can say anything, the woman nods, waving him off. “It was no problem.” She comes down the steps toward me. “I’m Maddie, and this little guy is RJ. We live two ranches down. I know you.”
My mouth falls open, and I look at her. I’ve started to get accustomed to being recognized, but I never know how it’s going to go. People either hate what I do or they love it, but hopefully by the way Maddie is looking at me, it’s the latter. She moves her son to her other hip. “You’re the romance blogger.” She snaps her fingers together. “Find me a Book Boyfriend.”
I laugh. “Yep, that’s me.”
I can feel Dalton staring at me, but I stay focused on Maddie as she continues, “You introduced me to some of my favorite romance books. If you talk about it, I love it.”