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)
Also glittering silver.
The woman was a motherfucking beacon.
I could hardly get my lungs to cooperate as I was struck with a lightning bolt of heat.
Blood boiling in my veins and sweat slicking my skin.
Instantly suffering from that fever I’d just denied.
Hails Bells.
I was in trouble.
TWELVE
HAILEY
“Over here! Over here!” Paisley’s voice was still carrying when I fumbled to a stop three feet away from her party. Two high-top round tables had been pushed together and a bunch of stools were arranged around them. Paisley sat on the opposite side of where I stood, along with a few other people I didn’t know.
But it was the man sitting closest to me that made me feel as if I’d slammed face-first into a brick wall.
My eyes colliding with that golden, fiery gaze that staked me to the spot.
Breath punching from my lungs as if I’d gotten the wind knocked out of me.
Cody Cooper.
The sight of him was sweet mayhem where he was rocked back in a stool.
Delicious as always, wearing a tight black tee that stretched across those broad, imposing shoulders. Tatted arms crossed over his chest, stubble thick on his indecently handsome face.
His tongue stroked over his bottom lip, and a rush of that desire he’d gripped me by last night trembled through my body.
His words.
That picture.
It didn’t matter that I’d avoided my phone at all costs today, refusing to even turn it on until after noon. It was emblazoned in my mind.
Carved into my consciousness.
All that rugged, masculine beauty that I recklessly wanted to reach out and touch.
And there he was, a solid, hard manifestation of every fantasy I’d given myself over to for a few reckless seconds last night.
I was snapped out of the trance by Paisley who was suddenly in front of me and throwing her arms around my neck. “Oh my God, I can’t believe it’s you! I wasn’t sure if you were going to show or not, and I thought I might need to have my Sheriff friend over here do some reconnaissance and get your new address…”
She tossed an errant hand at a man sitting next to Cody.
“Okay, sure,” she rambled, “I know that is illegal and all and it would put his job on the line, but it would absolutely be worth it so I could go to your house and drag your gorgeous ass over here. And when I say gorgeous ass, bullocks and ball-sacks—Look. At. You.”
Edging back, she held me by the shoulders and blatantly inspected me. “I mean, you were so pretty before…but like kind of cute and adorable, you know? But now? You are a freaking smoke show. What are we even supposed to do with you?”
Self-consciousness slicked through me while at the same second I glowed.
Paisley Dae had that power about her, and God, it felt amazing to see her again.
Even though right then I was a little terrified of the cost.
She knew Cody.
Why would I have thought otherwise?
I should have assumed it. They were both from Time River, and it wasn’t like most didn’t stumble into their neighbors at some point in a small town this size.
But I’d never imagined they’d be friends.
“This is coming from you?” I finally managed when I got my emotions far enough under control that I could speak.
I just needed to remind myself that Cody didn’t matter.
He was an acquaintance.
A memory.
And like I’d told my father, I could handle him.
Paisley tossed back a curled lock of silvery hair. “Well, I do admit I look pretty amazing tonight, but you in that dress and those boots? I’m afraid this place might go up in flames. Combust. Go boom!”
She made an exploding motion.
Only I wasn’t the one who was lighting a fire.
It was him.
Because there was no mistaking the flames licking softly across my flesh. So palpable I could have sworn they were physical.
I peeked to the side, no resisting the lure.
Cody sat there without saying anything, though he didn’t need to.
All that masculinity he was radiating spoke for itself.
She yanked my hand and started to haul me to the table. “Come meet everyone.”
I fumbled on my too-high heels to keep up with her, Cody’s aura inundating me as I staggered deeper into his space.
“Everyone, this is my old friend I was telling you about…Hailey Wagner, better known as Hails Bells.”
She exaggerated a wave like she was showcasing a prize before she started tossing out introductions. “This is my bestie, Dakota.”
She pointed at a woman who was maybe a year or two older than me. She had brown hair that was the color of toasted chestnuts pulled into a high ponytail, and she wore a floral dress.
She didn’t hesitate to stand to pull me into a hug. She squeezed me tight in the sort of welcome I wasn’t expecting, oozing the type of warmth you could sink into.