Total pages in book: 129
Estimated words: 122216 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 611(@200wpm)___ 489(@250wpm)___ 407(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 122216 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 611(@200wpm)___ 489(@250wpm)___ 407(@300wpm)
I purse my lips, not enjoying the idea that I might have a tell that people can read.
“Wait. What is the tell?” If I have this valuable information, then I might be able to stop myself from doing it in the future.
“When you push your glasses up your nose.”
“Sometimes they need to be pushed up.” I lift my chin.
“Sometimes they do,” he agrees easily. “And sometimes they don’t, and you give them a push anyways.”
Damn. He’s right.
“Thanks.”
He squeezes my hand. I didn't even realize we were still holding hands.
“What are you thanking me for?”
I let out a heavy sigh. There is quite a list at the moment.
“I’m listening.” He glances over at me with those dark eyes and a half smile on his face, making him look even more handsome. I’m not sure that others would call him handsome. His nose looks as though it was broken a few times. His features are hard cut, like they were carved from stone. As if he were one of those warriors that the world had decided to honor so they made him from a mountain and breathed life into him.
“For saving us. Trusting me to lead.” I glance down. “Kissing me.”
“What!” Aurora’s head pops up between the seats. I gently put my hand over her face and push her back down.
“Just watch Bells,” I remind her.
“Don’t throw me into this,” Bells pipes up. “I want to hear about this kiss.”
I groan and sink farther down into the seat.
Charles immediately begins to scowl.
I shake my head. “Don’t be mad, I’m just—”
“Shy.” Bells supplies from the back.
“Aren’t you in pain or something? Maybe you should pass out.”
Bells ignores me. “I can’t believe our little Clover is all crushing on a mountain man.”
This time I do cover my face with my hands. I liked it better when Bells and Aurora were quiet in the back seat.
“Can we get there already?” I drop my hands to look at them. “He's a lumberjack, too, for your information.”
“We’re here, pretty eyes.”
Thank God. Both a feeling of relief and disappointment fill me. I’m glad we’re somewhere where we can seek shelter and Bells can get the medical attention she may need, but I’m also sad that I’ll no longer be practically alone with my mountain man.
“He nicknamed her.” Aurora’s whispers break me from my thoughts. Probably because they’re nowhere near close to being whispers.
I peer out the front window, but I don’t see a rough cabin or anything at all, really. “All I see is snow.”
“Spread your legs,” Charles says.
I instantly do it. It’s not until my girlfriends are like What the fuck? that I notice just how quickly I’d spread them for him. My body obviously has a mind of its own. I’ll have to work on that.
Is he smirking? I think he’s smirking. Oh God. My cheeks are on fire. I watch as he opens the glove box. I see a keypad, and he types in a ten-digit code. If I had to guess, he thinks he doesn't have to hide it from me because he did it so fast and there were too many numbers for me to remember.
Too bad for him that’s not really how my mind works. I could tell him those ten numbers right now and then do it backwards if he liked. But I keep all those little facts to myself. When it comes to men, it’s often better to play dumb. Still, there is something inside of me that thinks Charles would be impressed by that skill.
“Welcome home, ladies.” What looks like snow over mountains starts to open up. My mouth falls open in surprise as he pulls into a giant garage. The door closes behind us.
My eyes land on the three men that come to stand in front of the vehicle. All have their arms folded over their chests, and none of them look happy at all to see us.
“They’re more bark than bite,” Charles says.
“I prefer the bite.”
“Bells.” I growl her name. She gives me a weak smile that has me worried. She uses jokes to mask her pain. I turn my head toward Charles. “Promise me you’ll make this right.”
He doesn't say anything at first. I unlock my seatbelt, getting right in his face, not caring that everyone is watching us.
“Promise me.” I stare into his dark eyes.
“Promise,” he finally says before he once again gives me one of those kisses that make me question everything about life.
6
CHARLES
I can’t stop mauling this beautiful woman. It’s like every logic switch in my brain shuts down when I look into her eyes.
She answers my kiss, her tongue swiping against mine as I pull her to me, her soft body molding to my hard hands.
Her friends gasp, but I ignore them. I ignore my friends, too, losing myself in the taste of this unexpected angel with the pretty eyes. She’s too much, and I want every bit of her. How did this woman just get dropped into my path? I certainly don’t deserve this sort of good fortune, but I’ll take it all the same.