Total pages in book: 66
Estimated words: 65225 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 326(@200wpm)___ 261(@250wpm)___ 217(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 65225 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 326(@200wpm)___ 261(@250wpm)___ 217(@300wpm)
I just hadn’t expected his house to be in the middle of the largest pasture I’d ever seen, up on a hill, with the largest barndominium I’d ever seen smack dab in the middle of it.
So Easton was rich.
Noted.
I got out of my truck, leaving the majority of my things there, except for one thing in particular.
Well, really it wasn’t a thing. It was an it. A living being.
I hoped he didn’t mind.
Before I could close the door to my truck, his eyes were on me as he slowly opened the front door.
I felt my breath leave my chest.
Because Easton McKennick was in gray sweatpants.
Holy. Fuck.
He was wearing a t-shirt and socks with his sweatpants, but that was it.
He was also staring at me with a grin on his face and a welcoming expression that made me more willing to put one foot in front of the other.
When I made it from the gravel driveway to the concrete that led completely around his house, I looked left. Then right. Then at the man who was looking at me with amusement on his face.
He was looking at the cage in my hands.
I was looking at how hot the man was.
“You’re rich as fuck, aren’t you?” I asked curiously.
His smile kicked up a notch and then, “My mom passed away a few years ago. She left me a couple million dollars in life insurance payouts. Then I got her death benefits from the Army. I built this house on land we already owned. That’s why I’m nowhere near town.”
I felt bad almost immediately. “I’m sorry to hear about your mom.”
He shrugged. “I loved my mom. But she was hardcore. She was career Army. Had to come home when my dad died. Regretted it immensely. Made my brother’s life a living hell and kept him away from me. Long story short? There was no love lost between my mom and me.”
I breathed a sigh of relief. “Oh. That’s good to know. Well, not really good. Bad that she treated you bad. But good that you aren’t grieving her.”
His eyes kicked down to the cage. “What’s that?”
I swallowed and licked my lips. “Well…”
“It’s not an opossum, is it?” he asked.
I shook my head, thinking that it was worse than an opossum.
At least, at first, he would think so.
“I’d just like you to know that her stinker was removed,” I said. “But it’s a baby skunk.”
“Stinker?” he all but laughed. “Do you mean de-scented?”
My mouth kind of fell open as he walked toward the cage and peered inside.
His blond hair was brushing my hand, and he was all but in my space.
He also smelled very, very good.
As in, so good that I inhaled.
“How did you happen on a baby skunk?” he asked. “And aren’t they illegal to have in Texas as pets?”
“Yes,” I admitted. “But… I wanted her. I found her in the wild when she barely had her eyes open. She was de-scented by a veterinarian I know. This little cutie is about twelve weeks old now and…”
“And she’s your pet.” He pulled back and allowed me to precede him into the house.
My mouth all but fell open as I stared in awe at what I found.
The whole entire place was one big, open space. “Holy shit. I could fit my truck and trailer in here.”
He chuckled.
“It’s one hundred by one hundred,” he confirmed. “I’m sure that I could fit your rig in the garage in the back of the house. But yeah, with no doors, it’d be a bit hard to get your rig in here.”
His voice was like honey.
I wanted to taste it.
“There are stairs behind the kitchen there.” He pointed to the most state-of-the-art kitchen I’d ever seen. “Pantry is on the other side.” He pointed again. “Up there on the ledge is where the stairs will lead you. Left most door is mine. You can have the one in the middle or the one right off the stairs.”
“You only have three bedrooms?” I wondered.
In all of this damn space?
“Three bedrooms, five baths. Total sixty-nine hundred square feet air-conditioned. Another two thousand square feet not. That’s the garage. The garage has a bathroom, too.”
I shook my head in utter awe.
“Where are you hiding the bathrooms?” I breathed.
“There’s a guest bath downstairs opposite the pantry there.” He pointed to the closed door across from where I assumed was the pantry since I was still frozen in the entranceway. “There’s one at the top of the stairs in between the rooms. Then each room has their own bathroom.”
I scratched my head in awe.
“I just… wow.” I couldn’t come up with words. This place was my dream house. “I’ve always wanted something like this. I’ll bet it’s a bitch to clean, though.”
“It’s not bad with no animals to make it dirty.” He looked at the animal in the cage I was still clutching to my chest. “Can I see him?”