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)
Like maybe I wanted—
I cleared the memories before I got lost in them and slanted my regard back toward the house.
To what was important right then.
“Are they going to be okay here? Not sure I like the idea of leaving Maddie and Lolly alone.”
Indecision curled through her features, long lashes dipping with the turmoil before she seemed to settle.
“I honestly think he’ll try to get what he wants through me first.”
“But what better way than using Maddie against you?”
Regret pulsed through her demeanor. “I think he thinks Maddie sees him as some kind of hero, and he won’t want to taint that if he doesn’t have to, even though I know her little soul knows.”
She glanced back at the house, sorrow in her voice. “I’ve seen it. Her fear. Like she sees deeper than the surface.”
She turned back to me. “I hate that I exposed her to that.”
“You’re doing the best you can, Hailey, and you being here? Making the change? Being brave enough to leave that bastard to give you and her a better life? That’s what counts.”
“I just want to be a good mother. Give her peace and safety and the knowledge that she is safe.”
And my hand was still there on her sweet face, my heart stuck like glue in my damned throat, every oath I’d made to myself going haywire.
Getting crossed.
My voice deepened. “There is no chance you could be anything other than a good mother, Hailey. I’ve seen it, and I promise you that little girl knows how much you love her. I’ve never seen so much joy shining out from a child than it does in her. Makes my own heart burst every damned time I look at her. And she’s going to be safe. You and I are going to make sure of that.”
“Cody.” My name was a breath.
Before I got stuck in it, I cleared my throat. “Come on, let’s get you to work.”
Her nod was shaky. “Yeah.”
I set my hand on the small of her back and led her around the front of the truck to the passenger side. Fire stroked through my insides, guts a tangle of greed, that little connection nearly too much to take.
Fuck.
I wanted her.
Wanted her in a way I didn’t think I’d ever wanted anyone in all my life. It was a terrifying, unsettling fact, but one I was going to have to learn to deal with.
I opened her door and helped her in. “Fuck me, Shortcake, those jeans should be illegal, too.”
I cracked the tease because I didn’t want her to spend the day washed in dread. Besides, her glorious ass was in my face and my mind was treading to alternate things.
She popped onto the seat, and the smallest smile kissed the edge of her mouth when she reached out and grabbed her buckle and pulled it across her body. She exaggerated the action to prove she was fully capable of doing it herself. “What, you think all my clothes should be illegal?”
I pushed in closer and took her by the chin. “That’s right. I’d much prefer if you weren’t wearing anything at all. You should have seen the way I wanted to burn that little number you came waltzing out in this morning. Trying to drive a man straight out of his mind.”
A rush of air escaped Hailey’s lips, though this time it was needy.
Hot and pulsing between us.
Fuck, I had the urge to kiss her.
That should be my warning right there because kissing was something I didn’t do.
Never had.
That intimacy something I didn’t give into. Funny, I’d wanted to kiss her then and that unfortunate fact still remained true. She was the one person who’d ever made me contemplate it before.
Look where that had gotten me.
Still, there I was, playing a dangerous game, some kind of twisted Russian Roulette.
I stepped away before I got lost in it, shut her door, then hustled around the front and jumped into the driver’s side. I pushed the button for the ignition.
I could feel the depth of those blue eyes washing over me.
Devouring me from the side.
My spirit fisted, and I reached out and squeezed her hand. “I’m going to protect you, Hailey. You and Maddie. I won’t let that bastard get near you. Whatever it takes. I promise you that.”
I’d end him before he ever got the chance.
TWENTY-TWO
HAILEY
“There we go, girl. You are gorgeous, aren’t you?” I was in one of the exterior covered corrals that ran the backside of the main stable, gently running my hand down the neck of the filly that had just arrived this morning, whispering love and peace into her ear.
She was a blue roan, a perfect melding of white and black, her coat appearing almost gray though her face and mane were dark.
She had those soulful inky eyes, which this morning were just a little on edge since she’d made the trek from my father’s ranch to Cambrey Pines.