Total pages in book: 41
Estimated words: 37970 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 190(@200wpm)___ 152(@250wpm)___ 127(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 37970 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 190(@200wpm)___ 152(@250wpm)___ 127(@300wpm)
She gapes at me, speechless.
"There isn't a damn thing wrong with you except for the fact that you don't know how fucking perfect you are. But that's all right, Red. I'm going to enjoy the hell out of teaching you."
"T-teaching me?"
Goddamn, I love the way she squeaks when she's nervous. It shouldn't make me want to fuck my kid into her nearly as much as it does, and yet… The thought of getting her pregnant is all kinds of appealing. Actually, the thought of her tied to me with my kid in her belly has me hard as a fucking rock.
If her brother set that fire, I'm going to be pissed about it. Because there's no goddamn way I'm going to be willing to let her go after spending a few days with her. It's been less than twenty-four hours, and I'm already hooked.
"Yeah." I grin at her. "Teaching you. Worshipping every little spot on that gorgeous body. Adoring you. Pampering you. Spoiling you fucking rotten. That's what you deserve. I'm going to give it to you."
She exhales a soft whimper, desire blazing in her eyes. Longing, too. This girl…Christ. It kills me a little to know she's been this close for the last five years, struggling on her own when I could have been here making her life easier.
"You're making me nervous again," she whispers, her voice shaking.
"That isn't nerves, Red. What you're feeling is longing and desire. It's excitement for the unknown. You want the same things. You're just afraid to let yourself admit it."
"Do not," she whispers, but I think even she hears the doubt in her voice. Sooner or later, she'll realize she's only lying to herself. I'm certainly not buying what she's selling.
But I back off for now.
Slow and steady, I remind myself. Slow and steady.
I need to figure this shit out with her brother and why he set that fire, figure out who the fuck is lurking around, and then I can work on planting my kid in her.
"Can we go see the house today?" she asks a few minutes later.
I hesitate and then sigh. "Are you sure you want to see it, baby? It's not pretty. The house was too involved by the time we arrived on scene. All we were able to do was keep it from spreading. There's not much left but rubble and ash."
"I'm sure." She swallows hard, meeting my gaze. The steel in her blue eyes is infinite. She isn't going to back down on this. "I need to see it, Emmett."
Well, fuck.
"Yeah," I reluctantly agree. "I'll take you to see it."
Chapter Six
Nina
Unknown: Tick. Tock.
Ishiver, staring at the text message. On the surface, it isn't threatening, but I can read between the lines. Whoever sent it wants me to know time is running out and they're running out of patience.
"Tell me about your brother," Emmett says suddenly.
I startle, dropping my phone as I whip my head around to look at him. "What? Why?" My heart pounds, anxiety shooting through me.
Did he get a look at the message? See something on my face?
"Because it's obvious he means a lot to you," he says, navigating through downtown Granite Hills on the way back to Silver Spoon Falls. "You raised him, right?"
I relax slightly, glancing down at my lap. He didn't see the message. He's just curious about my life.
God, trying to hide things is exhausting. I hate it.
"Yeah, I raised him." I lick my lips as I slip my phone into my pocket. "Our mom was diagnosed with breast cancer when he was six. She died not long after his seventh birthday."
"How old were you?"
"Fourteen."
"Jesus," Emmett rumbles. "You were just a kid yourself when you lost your mom. I'm sorry, Red."
"Me too." I glance out the window, watching trees blur by. "Nate remembers her a little, but not like I do. I'm the only parental figure he really knows. I mean, we had our dad, but he kind of fell apart after she died. He started spending a lot of time in bars. The sheriff at the time would call me to come pick him up before he started causing problems. A lot of nights, he'd end up in the drunk tank until I could get there to drive him home."
"How old were you?"
"Fifteen. When Dillon was elected, he helped me get my license to make sure I'd be able to take care of myself and Nate since my dad couldn't do it." I lean my head against the window. "He helped look out for us, made sure CPS didn't get involved and try to take us. I think he knew I was going to get us out of there as soon as I could. He was just trying to give me the chance to turn eighteen so I could do it."