Total pages in book: 90
Estimated words: 87179 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 436(@200wpm)___ 349(@250wpm)___ 291(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 87179 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 436(@200wpm)___ 349(@250wpm)___ 291(@300wpm)
“Still good to see you.” I pull away from the curb and head back for the ranch. “How was your day?”
“I sound like a broken record, and I know it’s annoying, but it was busy,” she says with a half laugh. “Do you care if I roll the window down for fresh air?”
“Not at all.” I actually prefer to ride with the windows down in the summertime, so I roll mine down, too, and smile over at Summer, who’s letting her hair fly all over the place, with her eyes closed and a small smile on her delectable, plump lips.
God, she’s fucking gorgeous, with all that golden hair and smooth skin. I want to pull over to the side of the road, pull her into my lap, and kiss the fuck out of her for hours.
But she made it clear long ago that she’s not interested in that.
And it just might kill me.
I turn off the highway onto the ranch road, and before long, we’re parked in front of the garage.
“God, it’s gorgeous out here,” Summer says, surprise hanging heavily in her voice.
“Haven’t you ever been out here before?”
“No, Erin and I did all of our planning in my shop. Look at that view of the mountains.” She stands, hands on hips, staring at the mountains with awe written all over her face. “You know, I was born and raised in Montana, and it runs through my blood, but I never get tired of looking at the mountains.”
“I couldn’t agree more.” After a moment, I gesture to the garage. “It’s in here.”
“Oh, right. Sorry, I got distracted. This is amazing, Chase. You built this?”
“With my own two hands,” I confirm. “But Erin is concerned that you won’t be able to hang the flowers the way you discussed.”
Summer taps her finger on her lips, the same way Erin did earlier, as she examines the arbor. “Yeah, we can do it. I’ll have you add a few discreet hooks here and there, and it’ll be totally fine. We can also use zip ties and twine. I can hang flowers on just about anything.”
She turns to me and narrows her eyes. “Chase Wild, you could have shown me this over a FaceTime call, and it would have been a lot faster. I feel bad that you came all the way into town to get me, when I could have saved you the trouble.”
“But then I wouldn’t have the pleasure of showing you around the ranch, would I?”
She gazes longingly at the mountains. “Well, I would like to see it. And you have pizza.”
“Pizza and a tour sounds like a good deal to me.” I hold her door open for her, then round the front of the truck and climb into the driver’s seat. “We’ll keep these windows down and eat on the way, if that’s okay.”
“Are you kidding? I can eat pizza anywhere.” She opens the box and takes out a slice, passes it to me, then takes one for herself. “I do notice, however, that you’re always feeding me.”
I glance her way, and my breath catches in my throat. Christ, she looks good on my ranch, the sun shining through her blonde hair, watching me with happy blue eyes as she munches on her pizza.
“Why do you think that is?” she continues.
“We have to eat,” I reply with a shrug. And I love watching this woman eat. The way she eats is sexy as fuck, and she’s unapologetic about enjoying every bite.
“Plus,” I continue, “I like spending time with you. Two birds, one stone.”
She glances my way and then back out the window. “So, what was it like to grow up out here?”
“Heaven.” I finish my pizza and move to get another slice, but Summer’s already holding it out for me. “Thanks. Growing up here was the best there is. We were hardly ever inside, unless there was a blizzard. We spent most of our time with our dad in the barn or on horseback.”
“I’ve never ridden a horse,” she mutters, and I frown over at her. “What? I may have grown up in Montana, but my dad was a senator. I lived in the city.”
“Well, we’re going to change that and get you on a horse in the near future.”
“Maybe,” is all she says as she chews on her pizza. “That barn is big.”
I grin and nod as we approach the barn. Lucky and Bruiser, two of the ranch hands, are just walking outside.
“Hey there,” I say to the men. “This is Summer Quinn. She owns the floral shop.”
“We’ve met,” Bruiser says with a nod. “Hello, ma’am.”
“Hi,” Summer says with a smile.
“How was your niece’s recital?” I ask the big man, whose eyes go gooey at the mention of his niece.
“She was the star of the show,” he says proudly. “I’ll show you pictures tomorrow.”