Total pages in book: 70
Estimated words: 68058 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 340(@200wpm)___ 272(@250wpm)___ 227(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 68058 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 340(@200wpm)___ 272(@250wpm)___ 227(@300wpm)
“Jesus.” Rogue had a disgusted look on his face. “Either get a room, go outside and fight, or shut up.”
I felt my cheeks turning red. I hated how easily TJ riled me up. Rogue had it right. I’d be just as happy to punch him or grind my dick against his. I really needed to get away from him.
The tension lessened when Jacob pushed back his seat and said, “Is anyone else hungry? I thought I’d make us some lunch while we finish talking.”
“I’m starving.” TJ winked at me, which tipped the scale toward me punching him.
I rose, ignoring TJ’s laugh. “That would be great, Jacob. Thanks.”
I walked toward the back of the barn so I could dump out a bucket of dirty water. I froze when I reached the door because outside, only a few feet away, a shirtless TJ was chopping wood. I watched the muscles of his back flex as he raised his arms and brought the ax down viciously, easily splitting the large log. He was angry at someone or a lot of someones, and he was taking it out on the wood. I set the bucket down and leaned against the doorframe.
My knees felt weak as I watched his powerful body go through the chopping motions again and again. Sweat rolled down his back, and he occasionally used his arm to wipe the dampness from his forehead. His jeans hung low, his well-formed ass keeping them in place.
He was perfection. And he was making a display of himself whether he intended to or not. I needed to walk away. I needed to forget just how gorgeous he was, how fucking powerful he was. I needed to stop thinking about how it would feel to have him on top of me.
I hated how much I longed to be handled as roughly as he was handling that wood. I would fight him if he tried it, but it would be fun as hell. I wanted him to use me, to be hard and rough, but I’d only give in once he’d proven his ability to subdue me.
I forced myself to focus on the bucket in my hand and dumped out the water like I’d intended. TJ must have heard because I felt him watching me. Instead of turning around and walking back into the barn as if I wasn’t mesmerized by his half-naked body, I looked up, and my eyes met his.
The heat of his gaze burned right through me. I let my eyes drop, scanning over his chest to the thin trail of hair that led to the waistband of his pants. I took in his thick thighs and the bulge between them that promised to fill me up. When I finished my perusal, he smirked at me before driving his ax into the chopping block and walking my way.
The bucket dropped from my hand, and TJ chuckled. I stood tall and widened my stance. I wasn’t about to let him think he could take control of me. No matter what I might fantasize about, that wasn’t going to happen in real life. He was not going to intimidate me.
So he was hot. Plenty of men were. That didn’t mean I pursued all of them, and it sure as hell didn’t mean I was going to do anything with TJ.
Except I could smell him, clean sweat, musky cologne, and something that was just him. He was close now. I felt the tension sizzling between us and saw the hunger in his eyes. I knew he saw the same thing in mine.
“I felt you watching me,” he said.
“What are you doing out here? You’re supposed to be in the house.”
“I already told you. I’m not sitting around the house all day. I needed something to do.”
“Do you chop a lot of wood back in Chicago?”
“If you can chop the head and the limbs off a man, you can chop a piece of wood.”
He was trying to piss me off. “Is that so?”
“You telling me you don’t know?”
“I’ve killed people, but I don’t torture them, and I have no need to mutilate the bodies.”
“Really? Never?”
It was like he knew what I’d done. I tried to keep my expression neutral, but I couldn’t. That was usually not a problem for me. I was the stoic brother, the one who didn’t show emotion, but TJ was so fucking infuriating I couldn’t hold back.
“We’ve got enough shit going on around here. We don’t need you putting yourself in more danger.”
“I’m the one who took out the asshole fed from the woods. Obviously, I’m also handy with an ax. I’m well armed, and I can take care of myself.”
“Apparently not since you were sent here.”
“I was really sent here because—” He shook his head and pressed his lips together. What was it he didn’t want us to know.