Total pages in book: 158
Estimated words: 154037 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 770(@200wpm)___ 616(@250wpm)___ 513(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 154037 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 770(@200wpm)___ 616(@250wpm)___ 513(@300wpm)
“Fine, I can take you back to your house if you’d prefer.” He acted like he was going to flip a U-turn in the middle of the road.
My hand flew out to grab him by the arm. “You will not.”
“Then I guess this discussion is settled then.”
“I’ve obviously been cramping River’s style enough. I don’t want to be cramping yours, too.”
Otto scowled, his thick brow curling in disbelief. “You know I don’t bring women back to my place.”
“In case you missed it, Otto, I am a woman.”
That piercing blue gaze swept over me. I would have gotten all flustered by it except he said, “You don’t count.”
I narrowed my eyes at him. “Flattered.”
He laughed that sexy sound that flooded through me like a wash of warmth. Like I was being hugged by the sound and his scent. The man was mayhem to my senses.
“Don’t get your britches in a twist. You know my only exception is this family,” he defended.
“Britches? Now who’s eighty?” I tossed back.
He reached over and squeezed my thigh. I almost came out of my skin. Not the way I’d done when Tanner had done it.
No.
This was out of the riot of desire that smacked through my body. I tried to inhale, but it was unsteady.
One second later, that hand was back on the wheel as he maneuvered up the winding road that led to his cabin tucked deep in the forest.
Baby sister.
Baby sister.
I did my best to remind myself that was what he thought of me. That this didn’t mean anything.
I sobered a little as I stared over at him. At the vicious strength of his profile. The line of his nose and brow. His lips that were forever curled with his grin. “I don’t want to be in your way, Otto.”
Intensity filled his expression when he swept his attention toward me. “You’re my favorite fuckin’ person in the world, Raven. What makes you think I wouldn’t want you at my house?”
Tingles scattered.
It was moments like these when I became a fool who believed.
A fool who thought he might actually see me the way I wanted him to.
But I knew better than that.
Two minutes later, Otto made the right onto the dirt lane that dipped down the side of a ridge and then rose back on the other side. His house sat on the upper portion of it.
I called it a cabin since it was completely surrounded by soaring pines and a swath of leafy oaks, though his place was as modern as they came.
A tall rectangle made of metal and glass. The bottom floor was a huge garage where he kept his motorcycles and restored cars and trucks, and the upper floor was the living area. A balcony ran along the sides, overlooking the break in the trees that gave a view to the southern part of the lake low in the distance.
I was sure there wasn’t a more beautiful view in all of Moonlit Ridge.
He tapped into his app and turned off the security system, then pushed the button to open the garage. The big metal door slowly wound up, and he eased his truck inside and parked it next to the motorcycle he normally rode.
There were at least four more scattered inside, along with two cars and three more trucks.
He called them his babies. His only loves. The only things he could truly give his heart to.
Was it wrong I was a little jealous?
He glanced over at me as he pressed the button to drop the garage door behind us, and he was grinning that grin when he said, “Welcome home, darlin’.”
My heart sped an extra beat.
“I won’t be in your hair for long. I just need to find a place of my own, and I’ll be on my way.”
It was too bad Charleigh’s apartment that was directly above Moonflower had already been leased once she’d moved out. It would have been perfect.
But I was sure there would be a place that would be equally as perfect. I didn’t need much. Just a place that I could call my own.
Excitement blazed through me at the thought.
I’d felt this coming for a while now. The need to…do something. Make a change. Like Otto had said, walking in on Charleigh and River wasn’t that big of a deal.
But it’d made me feel…like an intrusion.
A burden.
In their way.
And also, really freaking embarrassed and wishing for a way to purge the vision from my mind.
I was going to use it as the motivation I needed to take the jump.
Concern played through Otto’s severe features, though I could tell he was trying to maintain the lightness he normally wore. “You can stay for as long as you need.”
“Thank you, Otto. I truly appreciate it.”
“Like I’d leave my girl out on the street.” He reached over and tugged a lock of my hair like he was my big brother trying to annoy me before he tossed open his door. “Come on, let’s get upstairs.”