Total pages in book: 70
Estimated words: 68509 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 343(@200wpm)___ 274(@250wpm)___ 228(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 68509 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 343(@200wpm)___ 274(@250wpm)___ 228(@300wpm)
“She’s not wrong,” Hope said. “And this guy has already seen you caked in mud, freaked out about bugs, hungry, uncaffeinated, scared, dirty, and sick. And he still wants in.”
“Gee, thanks,” I said, rolling my eyes.
“Just saying, if he saw all that, and he still wants in, you’re gonna be married in under a year.”
“Okay. Well. On that note,” I said, checking the time on my phone. “I’m going to go pick up Wick.”
“We’ll let you have a long weekend of peace,” Layna said. “But we all want to meet him.”
“Maybe we can all go do the aerial obstacle course together,” I suggested.
My cousins shared equal looks of shock.
“Wait,” Gracie said. “You are suggesting a workout hangout? You?”
That was fair. I was always the one dragging my feet and grumbling when it came to exercise.
“What can I say? Almost losing your life dangling on a rope bridge, then realizing the only reason you were able to pull yourself up is because of some stupid obstacle course your friends made you do really kind of makes you rethink your hatred of it.”
With that, I headed out of the biker clubhouse that had been a second home to me growing up, climbed in my car, and drove like hell to the jail, not wanting Wick to think I’d forgotten him or changed my mind or something like that. When nothing could be further from the truth.
Luckily, I got there before he even finished getting processed out, leaving me sitting in the car, belly twisting, heart pounding, praying he hadn’t changed his mind either.
As soon as I saw him walking out—wearing the same outfit I’d turned him over in, minus the cuffs—I flew out of the car and ran toward him.
Wick froze, waiting for me, smile wide, arms outstretched.
He caught me as I leapt into his arms, wrapped me up tight, then sealed my lips to his.
His hands gripped my ass as he kissed me back—hard, hungry, eager to get back to a room and finish what we were starting.
“How’s life been treating you, duchess?” he asked, still holding me as he walked toward my car.
“Well, I’m sad to report that my caffeine tolerance has lowered. I was feeling racy after two cups yesterday.”
“Oh, you’ll fix that up real quick.”
“I ate a whole pizza by myself with my cousins earlier.”
“You needed to put some weight back on.”
“Oh, and they are demanding you meet them. On an aerial obstacle course.”
“I’m looking forward to it.” He genuinely sounded excited, too.
It hadn’t occurred to me before right then just how alone he was in the world. No family, no close friends. Just him and his travels.
Well, that was something I could give him.
Not just me, but my people. My parents, my aunts, uncles, and cousins. The family he hadn’t known since his grandfather passed away. Birthday parties and tons of presents under the tree at Christmas, people he could rely on, turn to, and build relationships with.
Getting to my car, but still not ready to let go, he turned and sat on the hood, me still clinging to him.
“I really missed you,” I told him, surprised how true it was.
I was never a clinging girl. If anything, I was the one who was detached and disinterested, ignoring calls and forgetting to return texts.
Out of sight, out of mind was my dating philosophy in the past.
Until Wick.
Who’d literally been on my mind twenty-four seven since I’d first dropped him off. And not just because my days were full of recounting our adventures.
Even when I was alone, all I could think about was when I could see him again, touch him again, hear that way he laughed when I was being ridiculous once more.
And, well, you can imagine the kind of dreams I’d been plagued with in his absence.
“Missed you too, duchess. Spent my nights thinking about sharing a hammock with you.”
“Well, I don’t have a hammock,” I said, teasing my fingers over his neck. “But I do have a keycard to a very nice hotel room for us.”
“Oh, yeah?” he asked, hands flexing on my ass.
“Mmhmm. Room overlooking the beach. With very close access to coffee.”
“And tacos?” he asked. “I suddenly have a craving too.”
“And tacos. The best taco place around, actually.”
Wick made that rumbling noise in his chest I’d grown so fond of. “So, when I get my fill of you, we get our fill of tacos.”
“Mmhmm,” I agreed, pressing my forehead to his. “And then what?” I asked.
“Whatever the hell we want.”
I had a feeling, now that I was back in his arms, that what I would want—eventually—was a rainforest wedding and a tropical island honeymoon.
But first… sex and tacos.
CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR
Epilogue
__
1 Year Later
Violet
“What the hell was that?” Hope yelped, plowing into Layna’s back.
“A bird-eater spider,” I told her, the resident field guide of our little group.