Total pages in book: 24
Estimated words: 23191 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 116(@200wpm)___ 93(@250wpm)___ 77(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 23191 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 116(@200wpm)___ 93(@250wpm)___ 77(@300wpm)
She hasn’t realized that her sunglasses are in the river, but I don’t want to waste this moment by looking for them. I’ll buy her a new pair. I’ll buy her a hundred pairs.
We come together—fitting so perfectly—and I take her mouth once again.
I’m laying my claim on this sexy little tongue and these soft luscious lips. They’re mine now.
I’m never letting them go.
Our lunch got ruined in the river, so I took Vivian to McArthur’s for lunch. It’s a nice little restaurant in town with an old jukebox and the best french fries in the area.
I was a bit worried it wouldn’t be enough for her since she’s from New York with all of the world-class restaurants and famous chefs, but she’s loving it.
It brings a smile to my face as she looks around the place, marveling at all of the old shit hanging on the walls.
“Imagine having to plow a field by hand with that thing?” she says as she looks up at the old scythe hanging on the wall. “Mountain men must have been so tough back then.” Her blue eyes dart to my big arms and she swallows hard. “I guess they still are.”
April, the gruff waitress who’s so rude she’s practically a Greene Mountain institution at this point, brings our drinks.
She eyes Vivian as she places her cherry Coke in front of her. “Where did you come from?” she asks in a flat tone.
“New York,” Vivian answers with a gulp.
“I’m surprised a city girl is the one who got this hermit out of his shell.”
“I’m not that much of a hermit,” I say in a defensive tone.
She puts her hand on her hip and gives me a ‘bitch please’ look. “Then why are you always in here alone?”
“Because I’ve been waiting for you to ask me out.”
She rolls her eyes. “The answer is no. Always no.”
Vivian and I laugh as she shuffles away.
She takes a sip of her cherry Coke and makes a sexy little moan at the taste.
“Why are you out here all on your own?” she asks, studying me with those gorgeous analytical eyes. “I’m sorry, it’s just… Aren’t you lonely? How can you be so isolated?”
“How can you be so isolated and lonely?”
She jerks her head back, looking at me funny. “I’m surrounded by people all day. It’s impossible for me to be lonely.”
“Just because you’re surrounded by people, doesn’t mean you’re not lonely. Are you seriously going to tell me you’re not? I can tell that you’ve been feeling like you’re missing something in your life.”
She looks down at the table as she traces a circle on the thick wood with her fingertip. “Maybe a little…”
My girl doesn’t have to finish the thought. I know. She felt like she was missing something until she met me.
I feel the same way.
That’s what happens when soul mates find each other. Everything clicks into place.
“You asked me about my family last night.”
She looks up at me through those long eyelashes. “Oh, you don’t have to…”
“I want to.” I want to be open and honest with her. I don’t want there to be any secrets between us. We’re soul mates and there’s no place for that. I’ve never told anyone this, but I’ll tell her. “I’m a single child and my parents pretty much abandoned me.”
“Oh my god,” she says with a gasp. “That’s terrible.”
“I was a teenager,” I continue with a deep breath. “I was in grade eight and my father got a big job offer in Tokyo. He took it and instead of bringing me with them, my parents shoved me into a boarding school, left, and never looked back.”
She reaches across the table and puts her hand on mine. “I’m so sorry, Duncan.”
“They paid the school, but that’s about it. No phone calls, no visits, not even a birthday card. I stayed there over the holidays and over the summer with the other rejected kids. I took it hard. It seemed like every day I’d get into a fight with the rich preppy kids and then be dragged into the principal’s office even though they were the ones who jumped me.”
She rubs my hand with her thumb, encouraging me with her eyes to go on. I didn’t think I’d ever talk about this with anyone. I thought it was locked up in my past for good, but this angel has a way of making me want to open up to her. I want to tell her everything.
“By the time I graduated, all I wanted to do was be on my own. I traveled around, working odd jobs here and there, and then one day my parents’ lawyer caught up with me. They died in a train accident in Kyoto. I got a big inheritance and settled down here in the Greene Mountains. I got my house built and kept to myself. I volunteer to plow the mountain roads in the winter since they can never find anyone to do it, and that’s been all I needed. I never wanted anything else. Until now…”