Total pages in book: 107
Estimated words: 104386 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 522(@200wpm)___ 418(@250wpm)___ 348(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 104386 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 522(@200wpm)___ 418(@250wpm)___ 348(@300wpm)
Hitting his number, it went straight to voicemail. I left a message and pulled up the directions on my phone again. It appeared I was less than ten minutes away.
Soon I was pulling up to a driveway with a large iron gate.
“Holy shite,” I whispered as I punched in the gate code Melanie had given me. The drive was long and winding, but when I finally reached the house, I couldn’t help but smile. I was instantly taken back to Ireland, and the summer home we had on the coast.
Me heart ached at the thought of Ireland. I was going to have to go back and visit soon.
At the end of the drive, I found a three-car garage. I’d have to ask Melanie what the code was to open it so I could park inside. I was still trying to get used to this Texas heat and leaving me car out to bake was not ideal.
Reaching for my phone, I sent Melanie a text.
Me: Just got here. Looks beautiful from the outside!
Before I put my phone back in me purse, she replied,
Melanie: You haven’t gone in yet? What are you doing? Sitting in the car? Go in! Go in! Go in!
I dropped the phone in me purse, grabbed me bag, and headed up the stairs to the grand entrance.
“Does everything have a code to get in?” I mumbled, pressing the numbers for the door code. It made a noise and the door unlocked.
Stepping inside, I felt giddy. The home was glorious. It wasn’t like I didn’t love me little apartment above Aisling, but growing up in a home that had twenty bedrooms and bathrooms, and then switching to one that had two of each, was an adjustment. This home had ten bedrooms Melanie said, and two of them were master suites. Making me way up the grand staircase, I decided to drop me luggage off first and change into me swimsuit. I’d try Cord again and let him know where I was and see where exactly he was. I was missing him already.
“Left or right?” Melanie had said the masters were at the very end of each hallway. I went left as I made me way down the hall. I had a strange feeling Melanie had something up her sleeve but couldn’t pinpoint what it was.
It wasn’t a coincidence that Cord was out of town the same weekend as me, or was it?
Lake house. Melanie’s excitement for me to get here. It was all falling into place.
Me chest tightened as I peeked into the bedroom, and I stopped when I saw a bag thrown onto the bed. Me heart raced, and I quickly looked around the massive room. Cord’s broken message made sense now. We had both been heading up here for the weekend.
Me gaze landed on the large picture window that overlooked a lake and I gasped. It was stunning.
And romantic.
The perfect place for someone to push two people together.
“Melanie!” I hissed. Grabbing me phone, I dialed her number.
A noise in the bathroom made me jump.
“Hello?”
“Melanie! What did you do?”
“What was that? Maebh, sweetheart, I can’t hear you. Are you whispering?”
Taking a step toward the bathroom, me heart pounded in me chest. “You double booked the house!”
“I didn’t double book, dear. I knew exactly what I was doing.”
I froze.
Holy. Shite. She did. She set us up.
“What did you do?”
Melanie laughed. “Enjoy your weekend with my son!”
The line went dead, and I spun around to look at the bag on the bed. Moving closer, I saw a wallet. Me hands shook as I reached down and picked it up, instantly recognizing it as the same wallet that Cord had dropped a few weeks back.
“Cord.”
I dropped the wallet like it was about to bite me and took a few steps backwards.
“Oh, she wouldn’t!”
A hard object stopped me, and I held me breath as I felt a rush of electricity.
“She would, and she obviously did.”
I spun around, and I jumped back when I saw him.
Cord Parker was standing in front of me with a towel wrapped around his waist. Very, very low on his waist. Me greedy eyes roamed over his perfect body. From the V that dipped below the white cotton towel, up to the perfect set of abs, to the chest that should have been registered as a danger to women’s health, and finally up to his deep blue eyes.
By the time I remembered how to breathe, I was sucking in a breath and saying his name.
“C-Cord?”
It sounded strained and somewhat frightened.
“Maebh, are you stalking me?”
Me eyes widened, and I quickly started to back away from him.
“What! No! I…your ma…I wasn’t…I’ll leave.”
I headed to the door, grabbing me bag and walking as fast as me feet would carry me.
“Maebh! Wait!”
His arms wrapped around me, bringing me to an immediate stop.
His warm breath on me neck made me legs tremble. Not to mention I was against his naked body. Now I knew how he felt a few nights back when I was naked under me robe.