Total pages in book: 60
Estimated words: 56651 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 283(@200wpm)___ 227(@250wpm)___ 189(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 56651 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 283(@200wpm)___ 227(@250wpm)___ 189(@300wpm)
I smiled on relief. I was reassured that I hadn’t done anything wrong. I instantly relaxed into the post orgasmic glow I’d been enjoying. The dopamine rush was off the charts. I knew that is what it was, but it didn’t make it any less powerful.
But Drake was clearly upset about something.
“What is it, Drake? What’s wrong?”
“Baby, I forgot to wrap.”
CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE
Mac
“This seems dubious,” my wife said, looking around the beautiful old glass and steel framed greenhouse. She had had it for years after inheriting it from her aunt, along with the house on the property. That was where we had first met. The house was still there, rented to a couple of college girls. But we had moved the greenhouse to the hill overlooking Devil’s Lake.
We had repaired the old metal and glass structure multiple times. It had been falling apart. Maintaining the rickety old building was an ongoing labor of love, filled to the brim with plants, gardening supplies, and memories.
She loved the hell out of that old thing. I’d come to love it, too. Whenever I pictured my wife there, puttering around in her worn in old jeans and overalls, I smiled. We’d picnicked in there. Made love in there, too. It was a central part of our lives.
And now it was a hazard.
We had several greenhouses on the property to support her heirloom seed company. Her business had really taken off. She wasn’t an overnight success, but she made me damned proud. The newer greenhouses were safer. They didn’t have real glass windows. It would be a hell of a lot safer for the little ones running around.
“I’ve been laying up at night thinking about it,” I said.
“Me too,” she admitted. “I picture everything that could go wrong. Babies getting cut in half by falling glass. All kinds of horrific things.”
I squeezed her hard. Just not too hard. She was pregnant, after all.
“Me too.”
“So what do we do? Take it down?” I could hear the resignation in her voice. She didn’t really want to take it down. I didn’t either.
“I have an idea…” I said, praying she would be on board with it. The look on her face was hope mixed with worry. I knew she loved this old greenhouse. It was more than just metal and glass. “How about a fence? A pretty one,” I added. “White picket. But just a little higher than usual. With a gate that locks.”
“Ohhhh…” she said, her eyes wide with admiration and happiness. “That would be incredible.”
“You can plant some of those ramblin’ roses you like so much along the edge,” I added, giving her a big squeeze. “And we can put some lower, matching fences around the other garden patches and sheds to make sure this particular area doesn’t become too fascinating’.”
“You are so smart, Mac,” she breathed. “And it will look so pretty. You don’t mind putting up all those fences and painting them, too?”
“Woman, I would do anything for you and our little critters,” I said, squeeing her again. “Don’t you know that?”
“I do,” she said, burying her face into my chest. I swear when she did that, my heart swelled up ten sizes. I was smiling ear to ear when we went inside to make breakfast. I make a pot of decaf for my wife and guzzle some diesel strength coffee myself. I gave her sexy neck some kisses while she cooked eggs on the griddle.
“I wish I could just stay in bed with you all day,” I said as I kissed her goodbye at the door.
“Me too,” she said with a giggle. “But then who would help Drake build his house or keep the bunnies from eating my heirloom vegetables?”
“I know, I know. But a man can dream, can’t he?”
“What if I promised you some tender loving care this evening? Would that help put a spring in your step?”
My eyes got wide.
“That would do it, woman. In fact, I might bounce all the way to the moon.”
I kissed her again and trotted off to my pickup truck, hearing her giggle at how bouncy I was.
But she was right. My woman knew just how to keep me happy and satisfied. Damned if there wasn’t a spring in my step the whole damned day.
CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO
Donahue
“We are going to need more concrete,” Mac said, chewing on a piece of hay. I nodded. Whiskey nodded. Jack nodded.
We stared as Jersey Mike’s truck unloaded concrete into the foundation of the house we were building for Dana and Drake. Of course, he was way ahead of himself in terms of having it perfectly designed for Dana’s tastes. But we had figured out the largest possible structure that the plot could handle, which way it should face for ultimate views, the number of bedrooms, and how many stories it should be.
So the foundation and framing was planned and already had permits. And Drake being Drake, he wanted the house basically done before he even proposed. Since he had a band of brothers with all kinds of construction skills, the building could happen about fifty times faster than if he was a regular citizen.