Total pages in book: 87
Estimated words: 83085 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 415(@200wpm)___ 332(@250wpm)___ 277(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 83085 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 415(@200wpm)___ 332(@250wpm)___ 277(@300wpm)
“Want me to drive since you drove the whole way here?” Josh asked when we got outside.
“Sure.” I tossed him the keys and went to the passenger side. I was trying not to come off as jittery and unsure as I felt. The fact that it was something I had to try not to do, confused and stressed me out even more.
We were quiet on the short drive—the village wasn’t too far from the cabin.
Our studio cabin with one bed.
Our studio cabin with one bed that I was still obsessing over.
“It’s pretty up here. I love the mountains.” Josh’s words broke through my thoughts.
“Yeah, it is nice.”
“My buddy and I, when we were kids, we used to head toward the mountains any chance we got. We found this old cabin out there, and we’d go hang out. Our parents didn’t know about it—no one did. It was just our spot.”
I looked at him, but Josh’s gaze was firmly on the road ahead of him. I wasn’t sure why this conversation struck me as important, but there had been something different in his voice. Something a little huskier, like it was thick with emotion. “Was no one supposed to know about it?” I found myself asking.
“It was just a thing. I don’t even know why I brought it up.”
I couldn’t remember a time I’d ever thought that Josh was purposefully lying to me—hell, to anyone—until that moment. It was so unlike him I didn’t know what to make of it.
I studied his profile, wondering what a guy like Josh could have to hide. I’d known him ever since he’d moved to Havenwood, a few years earlier. He and Kellan were the best of friends. I knew his grandma had lived in Havenwood and he’d come visit her in the summers as a child, but we’d never met him back then. When she passed away, she left Josh the house and some money. I knew he had family he wasn’t close to, who never came to see him.
But I also knew he was confident and funny. That there wasn’t a damn thing in the world he wouldn’t do for my brother and maybe anyone he cared about. Josh enjoyed sex and laughing and didn’t seem to have a worry in the world, didn’t seem to have anything to hide, but as I watched him avoid looking at me and thought about how he’d just spoken, I wondered if I was wrong about that last part.
He looked at me and gave me a cocky grin. “You think I’m pretty, don’t you?”
An unexpected laugh jumped out of my mouth. His words shouldn’t have surprised me, not coming from Josh. Maybe it was just that I didn’t expect it right then. “Shut up. You wish.”
“You do. I can see it.”
“Pretty conceited is what I think you are.”
“It’s cool, man. I’m used to it. There’s something special about this face. It’s brought stronger men to their knees.”
“Are you saying I’m weak?” I teased.
He frowned. “No. That came out wrong. Not sure there’s a stronger person than you. Not sure at all.” My pulse shot through the roof. It wasn’t often that Josh, or hell, anyone, said things like that to me. I opened my mouth, unsure what was going to come out. Josh beat me to the punch. “Shut up.”
“I didn’t say anything.”
“You were gonna, though. Let’s go eat.” He pulled the truck into the lot in front of a Western-style diner. I hadn’t even realized we’d arrived in town.
When we got out, he shoved my keys into the pocket of his loose-fitting jeans. He got to the door first and held it open, signaling for me to go inside.
I did. It was a small diner, filled with dark woods just like the cabin and the outside of all the buildings. There wasn’t a hostess, but a woman looked up from the counter in the back and gave us a kind smile. “Y’all can go ’head and seat yourselves anywhere. I’ll be right there.”
I nodded and went for a booth, sitting down as Josh slid in across from me. The waitress came straight over and handed us menus, asking if we wanted anything to drink.
“I’ll take a Coke,” Josh said.
“Same,” I agreed.
“Two Cokes coming up. I’ll be back to take y’all’s order.”
“I’m starving.” Josh opened his menu and began scanning. I did the same, but every few seconds, my eyes kept finding their way to him. To the way his dark hair swept across his forehead, or to the mole above his lip that Kell always called his Marilyn Monroe beauty mark. To the strong set of his jaw, or the way his tongue snaked out to trace his lip, or—
“You keep starin’ at me, I’m gonna go and think you’re in love with me or something.”