Total pages in book: 32
Estimated words: 29132 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 146(@200wpm)___ 117(@250wpm)___ 97(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 29132 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 146(@200wpm)___ 117(@250wpm)___ 97(@300wpm)
“Not at all.” She stepped closer, tilting her head back to hold his gaze. “You should always wear jeans. Always.”
“Oh yeah?” He lifted a brow, his lips curving into a sexy smile. “And why’s that?”
“How’s your ass?” she asked by way of response. “All recovered?”
“All better.” He bit his bottom lip, sending a flash of heat through her as she imagined doing the same. By the time the night was through, she fully intended to know what that full, sexy lip felt like trapped between her teeth. “You ready to get our picnic on?”
“Past ready. I’m starved.”
“Good, because I brought half a pig and a quart of every side on the menu.” He held up the picnic basket and nodded toward Jasper Hill. “Let’s head this way. Bruce let me in on his favorite picnic spot. It sounds pretty sweet. As long as you don’t mind a little walk.”
“I love a walk. Especially this time of day.” Yasmin fell in beside him, lifting the long hem of her dress as they crossed the street and started through the freshly mown grass on the other side. “Sunset is the best.”
“It is,” he agreed. “It’s a forgiving time of day. Every pretty thing is just a little prettier at sunset.”
She smiled, pleasantly surprised. “It is. Are you a poet as well as a computer programmer and social worker, Mr. O’Sullivan?”
He chuckled. “No, I just love this town. This part of the country. Guess it brings out my cheesy side.”
“I like cheesy,” she said, reaching out to take the quilt tucked under his right arm. “Here, let me carry something. I like to be useful.”
“What else do you like?” he asked, sidling closer. “I know we’re supposed to be talking about heavy things, but maybe we can pretend we’re just on a date for a little while?” He smiled down at her, squinting against the sun, the corners of his eyes crinkling. “I’d like to know more about you.”
“I’d like to know more about you, too,” she said, laughing beneath her breath. “But I guess I should go first. Since I’ve read an entire folder on you and your genetic history and your abnormally swift swimmers.”
“True.” He inclined his head. “Tell me about Yasmin North.”
She took a deep breath and let it out in a breezy sigh. “Well, I was born in Lonesome Point, but left to find myself when I was in my late teens. Or at least, that’s what I told my parents. In all truth, I was more interested in finding a good time. I spent most of my early twenties traveling the world, working odd jobs, and going to too many rock concerts.”
He scoffed. “Is there such a thing?”
“No, I don’t think so,” she said, nodding her approval. “So I went to a healthy and reasonable number of rock concerts and finally settled down a few years ago. I thought I was going to end up being a Texan. There was a little town not far from here where I made a lot of good friends and had a sweet job working at a historic hotel…but life had other plans.”
She forced a smile, refusing to think of Clint or the Lonesome Point friends she missed or anything else that would bring the fear that had haunted her for the past few months creeping back to the surface. “So now I’m back home, living on my parents’ property in their old farmhouse, working as a social media consultant, and getting ready for the next big adventure.”
Noah ran a hand through his thick hair. “A baby.”
“A baby,” she confirmed in a soft voice. “Kind of the biggest adventure of all, I guess. Bringing a life into the world and hoping you won’t screw it up. I guess I shouldn’t admit that I’m a little afraid of doing the parent thing all wrong, but tonight feels like a night for honesty so...”
“I appreciate it. And I think it’s healthy to worry a little about screwing up.” He smiled. “Since we’re back to the heavy things I guess I might as well ask. Why now? Why have you decided this is the time to start a family? All by yourself?”
“Well, I’m thirty-four, so I don’t have a lot of time to waste,” she said, laughing when Noah’s features twitched with surprise. “I don’t look it, right?”
“You look like you’re twenty-four,” he said. “Tops.”
Yasmin preened. “Thank you. For someone who’s done more than her fair share of shooting whiskey and rocking out to the break of dawn, I will admit that I’m remarkably well preserved.”
He laughed. “I agree. I’m a tequila man, myself.”
She scrunched up her face, sticking out her tongue. “Oh God, I can’t do tequila. I go from zero to silly drunk and feverish in two point five shots.”
“I would like to see you silly drunk, but I only brought beer tonight.”