Total pages in book: 133
Estimated words: 134598 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 673(@200wpm)___ 538(@250wpm)___ 449(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 134598 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 673(@200wpm)___ 538(@250wpm)___ 449(@300wpm)
By now, Oliver was barely breathing.
“How . . .” Oliver gasped, staring up at her in shock.
“Enjoy those strawberries, asshole.”
Ethan searched out his girl.
She was in big trouble. She’d dove at a loaded gun. His heart was still in his throat as he remembered it.
What had she been thinking?
Sure, she was smart to think of giving Oliver strawberries, something he was allergic to. But that didn’t mean she got to risk her life like that.
Oliver was going to live, unfortunately. They’d gotten him to the hospital in time. But after explaining everything to the cops, it was now the middle of the night and Ethan was exhausted.
He just wanted to scold his girl and then hold her for the next month or so.
But when he walked into the bedroom, he found her packing.
“What’s going on?” he asked.
“I thought I would get a head start on the packing.”
She looked pale, in shock, and he knew he wouldn’t be scolding her tonight.
“Why would you need to do that?” he asked.
“So we can go back tomorrow.”
“All right, we can go back tomorrow, but that doesn’t mean you need to pack now.” He moved over to her and grasped hold of her hands gently.
She looked . . . vacant.
Like the woman he’d first met. Stuck behind a barrier. Scared to live. Protecting herself.
But why did she have to protect herself from him?
“What’s going on? What’s wrong?”
“Nothing.”
“Do not give me that, baby girl,” he growled. “If I have to put you over my knee and spank you until you tell me what’s going on, I will.”
It was an empty threat. Something he wasn’t proud of. But he was tired and worried.
“I’m just trying to make things easier for you!”
“How?” he asked in surprise.
“So that you can leave without a messy goodbye.”
“Leave? Why would I need to leave?” he asked.
“Because you won’t want to be with me anymore.”
He sat and drew her onto his lap, holding her there when she attempted to get off. “Why wouldn’t I want to be with you anymore?”
She stared into the distance. “Because the threat is over. You have a life in Montana. Why would you want to stay?”
“Hmm, I don’t know. Maybe because I would miss you? Because I want you. Because I love you.”
She was quiet for a long moment. Had she heard him? With a gasp, she turned suddenly. “You love me?”
“With all that I am. I want to be with no one but you. You are all I think about. I adore you, I love you, and I am not going anywhere.”
Tears dripped down her face. “I love you too.”
“So why would you think I would go anywhere?”
“I just . . . your life is there and mine is here . . . I just . . . I love you!”
He cupped her face between his hands. “Yes, I have a life in Montana. But that doesn’t mean that it’s more important than you. Where we live, what we do . . . those sorts of thing can be worked out as long as you want to be with me.”
“I do.”
“Good. Because all I want in this life is you. My precious, beautiful baby girl.”
56
Ethan woke up slowly, turning to glance at the clock.
Six-thirty.
Hmm.
Turning slightly, he glanced at the girl sleeping beside him. Her mouth was open slightly, small puffs of air escaped from her mouth. He’d put her hair into two braids last night and she looked adorable.
He should let her sleep.
But he had an urge to have her taste on his lips.
To drink her down. Hear her cries of pleasure. Could he do it without waking her? At least in the beginning?
Slowly, he inched her over onto her back. She was wearing a pair of thick pajamas even though he had the heat turned up to seventy-eight. Of course that meant that while she slept with three blankets on top of her, he had a sheet and was wearing nothing at all.
They’d flown into Billings a few days ago and he’d mostly been keeping her inside and out of the cold.
Not that it was cold for Montana.
But for a California girl who was sensitive to the cold, it was positively arctic.
Today, though, they were going to Ink’s new place for his housewarming. And to meet their new foster child.
He knew that Cate was nervous about meeting everyone.
They would all love her, though. And he would stick close to her.
He drifted his hand down to her hip, his eyebrows raising as he realized that she must have kicked her pajama pants off in the night. How had he slept through that?
Then again, she had been restless during the night.
He moved his hand lower and found them down around her knees. Well, that couldn’t be very comfortable.
Making sure he didn’t disturb the blankets on top of her, he carefully tugged the pajama pants off her feet.