Total pages in book: 25
Estimated words: 23649 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 118(@200wpm)___ 95(@250wpm)___ 79(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 23649 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 118(@200wpm)___ 95(@250wpm)___ 79(@300wpm)
She pops another cloud of periwinkle cotton candy into her mouth and savors it as it melts on her tongue. “I don’t think I’ve ever had this much fun at a carnival.” The metal cage shifts into gear, moving us slowly around the wheel as riders exit at the bottom. “The last time I was here, I had pimples and coke-bottle glasses.”
She bursts into a quiet giggle. “I can’t imagine you with nerd glasses.”
“Good, don’t ever try again. I’ve long buried all the photo evidence.”
“Surely I can sweet-talk your mom into sharing the goods?” she teases, and that sparks a thought in my mind.
“Hey, why don’t you come next time my mom does family dinner?” Her eyebrows rise as her eyes swirl with inexplicable emotions.
“And like…” she tilts her head adorably, “meet your people?”
“Yeah, I guess that’s what I mean.” The ferris wheel moves forward a few more notches.
“Are we really ready for that step?” She jokes—and I like it. I adjust my seat, the feel of her bare thigh pressed against mine over the last ten minutes enough to remind me of what she tastes like on my tongue.
“Oh, we’re definitely ready, Treasure.” My thumb pads her full bottom lip, gently sliding across the tender flesh before pressing our lips together in a tender kiss. I don’t give a damn if we look like lovestruck teenagers—I am lovestruck, twisted head over heels for this woman.
“You make me so happy…I didn’t know it was possible to feel so…” she licks her lips, “safe.”
My heart sinks at the word safe; it isn’t the first time she’s expressed sentiments like this, and it makes me wonder about the details of her life before I came in. “I vow to you right here and now, on my word as a man: you’ll always be safe as long as I’m around, Palmer. You never have to worry about that.”
She nods, happiness lighting up her cheeks. “You keep proving that to me, over and over.”
“I’m a man of few words but a lot of action—it takes some getting used to.”
“Not for me,” she says, spreading her palm on my cheek as her thumb traces the arch of my cheekbone. “It’s just one of the things I love about you.”
“Mm,” I murmur, placing another hungry kiss on her lips. “Let’s talk more about all those other things you love about me.”
The rusted metal door creaks on its hinges as a teen carnie swings it wide, gesturing us out. I clasp her hand, guiding her out and down the steps—laughter and the scent of fried dough filling the night air. “The comedy show just started on the main stage. What do you say we throw popcorn at the poor bastard every time he cracks a corny joke?”
“Sounds like the best idea yet.” She grins up at me, eyes dancing with fire, amusement, and everything sweet in life that I crave. Whoever wronged her in the past gets a one-way ticket to hell if I ever cross their path.
I pause, holding her to me as I push my fingers into her hair as we hold each other for extra long beats, the chaotic world spinning around us while I lose myself in her hair, her eyes, and deep down in her sweet soul. “It’s weird when I’m with you—I’ve never felt like a changed man and my truest self all at once.”
Her eyes grow heavy, silence weighing on us like raindrops as we lose ourselves.
“I’ve never been the kind of person who needed others to make me happy, but you make me laugh, smile, and want to dance, sing—do every other crazy thing on earth,” she confesses. “And eat cotton candy in bed every day.” I snag a pink tuft, dusting it along the button of her cute nose before teasing it at her lips. She nips it, and it dissolves on contact as her lips turn a deeper shade of pink.
“Here, let me get that.” I dart my tongue out to lick away the sugary sweetness.
She groans, her thighs shifting restlessly. “Maybe it’s time we go home.”
“Mm, I like the sound of that even more,” I growl, lifting her easily and spinning her as our lips stay locked.
“Wait!” she giggles, pulling away from my lips. “I dropped the elephant!” I turn with her in my arms, bending quickly to retrieve the elephant while keeping her safely secured in my embrace.
“I vote we name him Treasure.” I dust him off on my thigh before passing him to her.
But her eyes aren’t on me or Treasure—they fix on something over my shoulder, wide with quiet horror.
“Palmer?” I breathe, trying to catch her attention.
“Look what he’s doing,” she mumbles, fear and anxiety ricocheting in her tone.
“Who?” I spin, sliding her down my body as my eyes scan the crowd.
“Him.” She points, and there, across the dusty aisle and shrouded in shadows, an older man yanks on a young woman’s arm. The carnival drowns out their voices, but the rage on his face makes it clear the woman is scared. Before I can even register what to do next, the man releases her arm then shoves her forcefully into the dust, his arm cocked back as he glares.