Total pages in book: 151
Estimated words: 145823 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 729(@200wpm)___ 583(@250wpm)___ 486(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 145823 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 729(@200wpm)___ 583(@250wpm)___ 486(@300wpm)
“Yeah, it did.” I smiled right back at her, marveling that I could discuss Will and still feel that warm glow in my chest for Jackson. “Are you guys…okay with Jackson? Not that I’m going to walk out on him if you don’t like him or anything, of course. But he’s so good to me, and I know it’s foolish to even think of being with someone who flies the same damn helicopter—”
“Stop,” Josh interrupted. “We’re going to love whoever you find worthy enough to love, Morgan. Jagger and I are both flying again, too, and I’m sure Paisley and Ember feel that same fear, but they put up with us anyway. You wouldn’t call that foolish, and I’m not going to let you think you’re foolish, either. We can’t help who we love.” He shrugged. “But if you could help it, he’s a damn good choice from what we’ve seen.”
“Totally.”
“Whatever makes you happy.”
“I wish he flew a real helicopter, but he’s cool enough.”
“I put my stamp of approval on that man the minute he swam up the beach and ran by. The fact that he’s just as nice as he is hot is a bonus.” Sam winked.
My soul…settled. Calmed.
Josh cleared his throat. “I’m sorry that I didn’t do this a hell of a lot sooner.”
“Do what?” Jackson asked, coming to stand behind me with his hand on my shoulder. “Thanks for the coffee. Sorry it took so long. She’s…Claire.” He pressed a kiss to the top of my head.
“Pull up a stool,” Josh instructed, motioning toward the bar that separated the kitchen from the dining room.
Jackson fetched the nearest stool and sat beside me, holding my hand in his lap and setting his coffee on the table.
Josh glanced at Ember, and she nodded, offering her own hand across the corner of the table. He took it and sighed so hard that his entire posture changed.
My stomach didn’t just twist—it sank. What was he about to say that had him that flustered?
He looked up and met my eyes down the expanse of the table. “I was studying in my room that day in Afghanistan when Will walked in with a shit-eating grin and a bag of strawberry cheesecake cookies, asking if I was ready for his area orientation flight. That’s all it was supposed to be. A quick, easy flight.”
Chapter Twenty
Jackson
“You can’t be serious,” Morgan drawled as she settled against me on her couch. She fit under my arm like she had been made for that exact spot.
“It’s a modern classic,” I argued, barely hiding my grin as I hovered the cursor over the buy button on Morgan’s TV. Man, I freaking loved teasing her.
“I am not watching Sharknado on the only night I get you alone. Nope. Not happening.” She shot me a look that said she meant business as the microwave dinged.
“Come on, Kitty. It has it all. Action, suspense—”
“Sharks falling from the sky?” She got off the couch and headed for the kitchen, and I quickly followed after her, shamelessly checking out her ass in those tiny blue shorts. She wore a sweatshirt that hung off one shoulder, and with her hair twisted up into a knot, I got a sneak peek at her purple bra strap. There was nothing sexier than when Morgan was fully relaxed at home. Her home. My home. I was game for either.
I told my dick to behave, but it wasn’t really interested in listening. It had one status when Morgan was in the room, and that was erect.
She reached into the new microwave and pulled out a freshly popped bag of popcorn. “Grab the M&M’s.”
I lifted a rather skeptical brow but did as she asked, then slid the package across the gray granite that had been installed in the kitchen almost two weeks ago. Hard to believe it was already the middle of June and even harder to think that I’d only known her for three months. She was a fixture in my world now, and every minute I spent around her only convinced me more that she was a permanent one.
I hadn’t just fallen for her—I was head over heels in love with her. I’d known it in the hour it had taken Josh to tell her the story of how Will had died. She was the strongest woman I’d ever known, even if she didn’t think so. I loved everything about her, from the way her face formed the expressions of the characters in whatever book she was reading to the determination with which she attacked each day. Hell, I even loved the colorful lesson plans she spent her days constructing, getting ready for the school year to start. I couldn’t think of a single thing I didn’t love about her.
She dumped the popcorn into a bowl, then poured the M&M’s over it. I wasn’t about to argue with the woman’s choice of snacks, but it was definitely one of the odder things I’d seen.