Total pages in book: 112
Estimated words: 106839 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 534(@200wpm)___ 427(@250wpm)___ 356(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 106839 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 534(@200wpm)___ 427(@250wpm)___ 356(@300wpm)
I laugh and slap his arm playfully. “That’s sick.”
“You don’t need to tell me. But listen, it all just came full circle last week when I caught you coming out of your little shop. I mean, one minute I’m just picking up some soup bones for my dogs and the next I’m caught in Charlotte’s Web.”
“Well, now I’ve heard it all. I’ve lived here my whole life and I’m pretty fluent in colorful analogies, but I’m afraid you’re gonna have to explain Charlotte’s Web.”
“Ya caught me in your web, Rosie. And it’s all sexy and shit. But it’s sweet too. Like a fourth-grade chapter book.”
I just shake my head. “How did you get along in the outside world with all these colorful comparisons, Amon? Because I’m trying to picture you in the marines talking about fourth-grade chapter books.”
“Well, funny you should ask. Because I wasn’t ever the wordsmith the way some people are around here. Collin, for instance, but Lowyn too. She’s always got something cute to say. And you, of course. ‘Kiss like a prince, fuck like a villain.’ I don’t think I’ll ever get over that. But I never talked like this until you and I met up. I gave up the accent long before Collin did and I never did have his vocabulary. That’s why Charlie Beaufort, our DC contact, liked him better than me. But here in this place, it came rushing back the moment I saw you in that dress outside your print shop. I mean, where else in the world can I date a woman like you? Nowhere, Rosie. You’re one in a billion. And that’s my long, winding answer to your ‘why me’ question. You’re just one in a billion.”
“Wow. I don’t even know what to say to that, Amon.” I look up at him, feeling slightly shy as our eyes meet. “But I would like to go on record here that I feel…” I let out a breath because I was gonna say ‘the same’ or similar, but it’s not enough. “I feel… like I just stepped into a fairy tale and I’m like… the star of the show. And I don’t really know what to think about that. No man has ever said things like this to me.”
“Well, I would also like to go on record here and say that I have not said these things to any other woman. And I know it’s kinda abrupt and seemingly comin’ out of nowhere. But I think that’s just how love works for some people. Sometimes you get caught in the storm and there’s no way to stop the lightning strike. You just get struck, ya know?”
I smile up at him, marveling at how this gorgeous, charming, honest, protective, and romantic man has become mine. “Yeah,” I say. “Sometimes you just get struck.”
“So, hey. I’m gonna be at the Revival this Sunday working security.”
“You are? Well, how’d that happen? I thought you boys were washing your hands of the Revival for good?”
Amon shrugs. “Eh. Hatin’ the Revival is Collin’s thing. I actually don’t mind it. I just wanted you to know I’ll be there.”
“This Sunday. That’s Fourth of July.”
“Yep. It’s a big one, I hear.”
“Oh, it’s huge. It’s as big as Christmas Eve. Lots of dancing, and a big garden party, and there’s a massive rumble with the Revenant bikers.”
“A rumble, you say?” When I glance up at Amon he’s got one eyebrow raised in surprise.
“Yep. Oh, how the tourists love the fuckin’ bikers. They come and crash the garden party and tear up the grass. Oh!” I look at Amon. “So that’s why Jim Bob wants you there. You’re gonna be a gangster and there’s gonna be a shootout. There’s almost always a shootout. Sometimes it’s a knife fight, but mostly people like the shootouts.”
Amon gives me another one of those winks of his. “Yeah, that must be it.” But he’s got a funny smirk on his face. “Anyway. Here we are.”
We stop walking and I notice that we have ended up at a dead end under the big sugar maple on the edge of the maze and there’s a bench here. Nice and shady too. “I don’t think I’ve ever seen this bench. Now how can that be? I’ve walked this maze hundreds of times.”
“Because you gotta take a wrong turn, Rosie. That’s the only way to find this dead end. And most people don’t like to take wrong turns.” He points to the bench. “You wanna sit? Or do you have people to see and places to be?”
I let out a breath. Again. And once again I wonder just how I got here in the span of a week. “Oh, Amon. I’ve got all the time in the world for you.”
And this makes him happy so we sit, and talk, and kiss a little. But I’m distracted because I’m thinking about what my next move is. Not to impress him, or anything. I just like this game because there doesn’t seem to be any risk. He wants to be mine and I want to be his, so why not keep playing, ya know? Why not keep this going a little longer and stretch it out for as long as possible?