Total pages in book: 28
Estimated words: 26774 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 134(@200wpm)___ 107(@250wpm)___ 89(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 26774 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 134(@200wpm)___ 107(@250wpm)___ 89(@300wpm)
Acacia was dressed rather lightly for someone heading up to a frigid mountaintop town in Wyoming. A pastel oversized sweater that revealed the delicate slope of her shoulders, a denim skirt with a knee-high slit in the front and a pair of open-toed sandals that were as pretty as they were useless.
Ah, well.
She was sure to freeze in no time, but it would be a good lesson she was unlikely to forget for the rest of her life.
And speaking of lessons...
"Anything I can help you with?"
It was pretty easy to tell she had no idea what she was doing—
"I'm fine, thank you."
Just as it was also easy to tell from the courteous firmness of her voice that she wasn't used to feeling helpless.
Ronan took a look at her phone over her shoulder even when he didn't have to. "So...Hartland, isn't it?"
His lips twitched at the way she refused to look at him even as her body stiffened in visible affront. He generally preferred his women to be the malleable type, but there was something about this girl...
He moved forward to stand next to her, and her reflection on the ticket machine's glass display revealed her incredulity and frustration.
Seeing her gnaw on her lip, however, was what changed everything.
I want her.
He had a feeling that would be the case, and since Ronan had surprised the other members of the Initiative by requesting that today's task be assigned to him, the same thought had likely occurred to them as well.
He could feel her stewing next to him as he bought her a ticket. Her profile report had heavily implied a certain aloofness in her behavior, but it had mentioned nothing about Acacia possessing a fiery temper.
Did this mean he was the only one to bring out the worst in her?
Ah, sweetheart.
If he could make her blow her top this easily, then he had a feeling he could just as easily make her do and feel other things. The more forbidden, the better.
The ticket machine beeped as it dispensed her one-way fare to Laramie. Ronan had to fight back a smile as he handed it to her. The plan had been simple enough—make sure she made it to Hartland without incident. Being her knight in shining armor had been a last-minute improvisation, one that had already reaped unexpected benefits.
He could see the war within her—pride versus practicality, independence versus necessity. The way her slender fingers hesitated before taking the ticket from him. The way her lips parted, no doubt to utter some frosty expression of gratitude.
But then her eyes had glazed over, and he'd known immediately she was lost in some memory. Something painful, judging by the subtle tightening around her mouth. The ex-boyfriend, most likely. Claude Something-or-Other.
The Initiative's files had a lot to say about him actually, but Ronan didn't like wasting his time on people he didn't give a fuck about.
Acacia, however...
A memory from the past drifted in is mind.
A girl who used to matter to him.
But as soon as he realized who he was thinking of, Ronan shoved the thought away and determinedly fixed his attention on the present.
He had a job to do, and that job had to do with Acacia, who still looked as if she were lost in the past, just as he was a while ago.
"You didn't hear a word I said, did you?"
He couldn't resist breaking into her thoughts, watching as awareness flooded back into those crystalline blue eyes. The momentary disorientation. The pink flush of embarrassment staining her cheeks.
"I'm sorry," she said jerkily.
"Via doesn't offer any direct routes to Hartland from San Antonio," he murmured. "But when you get to Laramie, you can transfer to a local bus to Hartland."
He watched the conflicting emotions play across her face. Gratitude warring with suspicion. Relief battling with distrust. Most women would have been melting into a puddle of appreciation by now. Not Acacia Greenway.
That was what had caught his attention in her file. She wasn't like the others. She had backbone. And strength that came from having ice running through her veins.
He couldn't resist stepping closer, drawn by some primitive instinct he hadn't felt in a very long time. The scent of her—something light and floral with notes of vanilla—filled his senses as he leaned down, his lips deliberately brushing against the shell of her ear.
"You're welcome, darling."
The small, almost imperceptible shiver that coursed through her sent satisfaction flooding through his veins. There it was. The chemistry he'd been looking for.
Ronan continued watching her as she boarded the bus ahead of him, appreciating the gentle sway of her hips and the curtain of red-gold hair that cascaded down her back. He'd given her enough time to settle in before following, taking his assigned seat across from hers.
It had been almost comical watching her fall asleep within minutes, her body finally surrendering to the exhaustion she'd been fighting. How long had it been since she'd properly rested? Days, most likely. Flight instincts tended to override basic needs like sleep and food.