Total pages in book: 146
Estimated words: 143842 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 719(@200wpm)___ 575(@250wpm)___ 479(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 143842 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 719(@200wpm)___ 575(@250wpm)___ 479(@300wpm)
This was her favorite time of day. When most of the hands had finished their jobs and had gone back to their cabins or left the property if they lived offsite. The horses fed and quieted as the bright light melted into ambiguity and the vague, innocuous shadows came out to play.
Hailey continued to stroke the brush down the horse’s side, and the sweet girl gave her a chuff as Hailey pressed close, loving her with attention.
She shouldn’t have smiled when she felt the presence emerge from behind. The way it took her whole and surrounded her like an embrace.
Brooke would hate her if she knew the secret fantasies Hailey kept of Cody Cooper.
The way she dreamed of him at night and sought him out far too often during the day.
She’d spent the entire summer sneaking out to catch glimpses of him, purposefully placing herself in his vicinity, too often ending up at his side and under the bath of those warm, honey-kissed eyes.
A tingle spread across her flesh, and she peeked back at the man who’d invaded her senses. Sparked her desire and curiosity. A man who’d never even touched her, but she couldn’t stop from imagining the way it would feel if he did.
“Hey.” His voice was rough where he was hidden in the shadows, so low she knew he was keeping her a secret, too.
“Hey.” She whispered it as she fully turned.
Dread clenched her chest when he stepped forward and into a spray of light that slanted in from an open door in the distance.
His expression was contorted in an apology.
That same grief she’d seen him wear so many times that summer etched deeper than before.
Stark and distinct.
Cody glanced over his shoulder, undoubtedly worried someone might catch them. When he found it clear, he slowly moved through the gate she’d left open.
Energy ricocheted through the enclosed area.
Powerful and dark.
Her heart pumped with something she barely understood. With something she didn’t quite comprehend.
“I wanted to tell you goodbye.” It was coarse coming from his tongue.
He was so handsome it was hard for her to speak. “Are you done for the day?”
Mirthless laughter rolled from his throat, and he shoved his hands into his jeans’ pockets. “No. I’m done here, Hailey. With the job. With the ranch.”
Anguish jumped into her consciousness.
Sharp and gutting.
That tightening in her chest twined so tight she felt a piece of herself break.
“Oh.” Her teeth clamped down on her bottom lip as she fought the moisture that instantly burned at the back of her eyes and raced the length of her trembling throat.
“Fuck,” Cody grunted when he saw what was so clearly written on her face. She couldn’t hide it. Not right then.
He crossed the three feet that were separating them, and one of those big hands she’d been dreaming about came to her face. He cupped her cheek, his thumb stroking along the hollow of her eye. “Don’t cry, darlin’. It fuckin’ kills me to see you sad.”
She shouldn’t be.
She had no right to be.
Sad.
But she tasted that sorrow like a bitter pill.
A tear streaked free, and the words were dropping without her permission. “I don’t want you to go.”
An emotion passed across his face that she couldn’t discern. “I don’t want to go, either.”
Hailey got brave, and the brush in her hand dropped to the ground as she curled both hands into his tee. “Then stay.”
His forehead dropped to hers. Pain poured from his being. She’d gotten good at reading him. When he was torn or sad or struggling. And he was struggling right then.
Just as she had been since the moment that she’d first seen him standing across that field.
Struggling with what she felt.
His aura was all around her.
Spice and cedar and earth.
She wanted to slip into it. Disappear. Give herself over to something that called to her like she’d been missing a piece of her soul and it had finally found its way back to her.
Insane since this man could never belong to her.
He shifted a fraction.
Their mouths were so close to touching.
His breaths pulled into her lungs the same as hers were given to him.
A war went down in his eyes, and his hand curled tighter on her cheek when she whispered, “Cody.”
“I can’t do this, Hailey.”
She was jarred back when he suddenly pulled away with an agonized groan, and the man turned and stormed out without giving her an explanation.
Shaken, Hailey watched him go, that piece of her she was just recognizing splitting in two.
But it was the pained gasp that echoed from the other side of the stables that broke Hailey’s heart.
Brooke stood across from her, and she could barely make her out where she was hidden in those shadows, though she could clearly see the betrayal that was slashed all over her best friend’s face.
“Brooke.” Hailey croaked it.