Total pages in book: 56
Estimated words: 52598 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 263(@200wpm)___ 210(@250wpm)___ 175(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 52598 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 263(@200wpm)___ 210(@250wpm)___ 175(@300wpm)
“Kody, you ready to eat?” I ask her. I’ve got my arm wrapped around her shoulder, giving her my body heat. The sun has long since set, and she gets cold all too easily even with the light sweater she’s wearing.
“Yeah, where do you want to go?” she responds to my question with one of her own. She’s been in her head since we’ve been walking down the street in our small downtown area. I figure she’s thinking about every single thing for tomorrow. I get it. I’m like that when we’re about to start a new job. The mental checklists are never ending, the feeling of forgetting something important is right on the tip of your tongue, and you don’t figure out the missing piece until you’re on the project. Usually, it’s a tool, the plans, or a simple thing like making sure the fuel tank was refueled at the job site. Yep, the one fundamental item you need to work on. I’ve done it more times than I care to admit.
“It’s up to you. Tonight is your night. We’re celebrating you, babe.” She stops in her tracks, her body turning toward mine, and I rest my other hand on her trim waist. Her eyebrows are furrowed in confusion. She knew we were going out tonight. I sent her a text earlier in the day letting her know Josephine was spending the night at my mom's, she’d be at my house tonight, and we’d drive into town together tomorrow morning in order to get her photobooth set up. However, I’ll scoot away, grab her favorite coffee she hasn’t had in a few days, and attempt to make her see reason to eat breakfast. The woman loathes eating first thing in the morning. She much prefers waiting until she’s wired on caffeine and her stomach is eating a hole in its lining.
“What? Why are we celebrating me?” She’s confused, not sure why we wouldn’t have a date night out for her. As much as I’d like to hole us away in the house, she deserves to be wined, dined, and sixty-nined. Though, we did that last night. I’ll be switching shit up tonight. I haven’t had her in nearly as many ways as I’ve wanted yet.
“What do you mean, why? Kody, you’ve got a shoot that the whole damn town is salivating to be at. Your social media has been in a frenzy with all the moms, grandmas, and single dads.” I wink at that last one because we all know I’m the only fucking man who matters. “We’re celebrating your success, babe. Tonight is all about you.” I dip my knees in order to be at eye level. Kody’s eyes close in a powerful way. She’s reflecting, gathering her thoughts, and I wait. Hell, I’d stand like this forever. Kody needs to understand I’m in her corner always. Even when I’m being a dicksickle, Shaun is a wealth of information. Apparently, before I got my act together, he’d heard Kody and her friend Kari talking about me and the way I treated her.
“I’ve never had this before, and it’s not like the event is over. It could be a total failure.” She opens her eyes, but she’s focused on her feet. The sole of her shoe is being dragged by the tip of her toe. My woman is nervous, she’s second-guessing herself, and with that comes self-doubt. No fucking way am I going to let that happen. I don’t care if I’ve gotta scout the whole damn town, give them money to come to her mini-shoot. I’ll do what has to be done. That being said, I’ve got not one single fucking doubt that she’s going to be slammed well past the time the event is over.
“Babe, this is the first of many. You’re gonna have to get used to it. I don’t care if you have one shoot a month; we’re gonna celebrate.” I tip her chin up with my fingers, not wanting to tell her this to the crown of her head. “We’re a team. I’ve got your back, and you’ve got mine. This may be hard for you to understand right now, but I’m gonna make sure you know how valued you are each and every fuckin’ day.”
“Jameson, never in my life would I have thought the man who shot daggers my way would give himself so freely. I shouldn’t have tried to make you work your way back into my good graces, not like it happened anyway. You, Mr. Evans, can weasel your way into someone’s heart very easily.” I cut her off.
“Not someone’s. Yours, Kody, only yours.” My head dips. I need her mouth, to shut her up. I’ll be Goddamned if either of us says those three words we mean to one another in the town square, where I can’t take things further. My lips land on hers, hand sliding beneath her hair, this time in soft waves cascading down her back. Fuck, what this woman does to me. Our kiss starts out soft, then I take it deeper. Her taste is what I need, her body is what feeds my craving, and her voice is the balm to my soul when there’s a storm swirling inside my head. I could go on and fucking on about all the things Kody does for me. I show her instead of telling her. Tonight isn’t the time, and it’s not the place. The soft hum in the back of her throat does nothing to stop me from having a full make-out session here in the busy streets on a Friday night. If Lane County didn’t know she was my woman before, they sure as fuck do now.