Total pages in book: 79
Estimated words: 74451 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 372(@200wpm)___ 298(@250wpm)___ 248(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 74451 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 372(@200wpm)___ 298(@250wpm)___ 248(@300wpm)
“Because I’m pretty sure that’s her inside the diner with Tucker,” Dakota responds and I hear the laughter in his voice, but I’m not finding a damn thing funny about any of this.
“Fuck,” I hiss as I look through the window and see Tucker and Tillie—my Tillie—talking at a table right in front of the window. She’s laughing, her head bent, her honey brown hair fanned around her face like a crown.
“I thought that might be your reaction.” Dakota laughs his ass off.
I shove him in the gut and go into the diner. I do it while trying to contain my anger, but that’s not easy. “I was coming to feed you, Buttons, but it looks like you didn’t wait for me,” I complain, and I know I’m acting like an asshole, but I don’t really give a damn. I think I made my intentions with her pretty clear last night and especially this morning. I thought we were on the same page. Seeing her here with my brother has me seeing red.
Tillie looks up at me in surprise. I expected to see guilt, but nothing like that flashes over her face—I know because I’m watching her pretty damn closely.
“I uh… didn’t know you were planning on coming by,” she says, her eyes wide.
I reach down and take her hand and pull her into me. I hold her tighter than normal, and I do it knowing I’m marking my territory. Tucker pins me in place with the daggers he's shooting at me with his eyes. He looks like he's ready to rip my head off.
The feeling is more than mutual.
Her body is slightly stilted in my arms, and I don’t like that. I want the warm and giving Tillie that I had this morning.
“I missed you,” I whisper softly, being totally fucking honest.
“You did?” She doesn’t bother hiding the pleasure my words bring. Then again, Tillie doesn’t hide her emotions. She doesn’t play games. She’s honest… real.
I slide my hand against the side of her throat, extending my thumb out to brush it against her cheek. “So much, sweetheart.” That makes her eyes go soft and fuck me, a man could drown in those liquid pools. She’s so beautiful like this. It reminds me of the aftermath of her climax and I’m fast becoming addicted to it. “How about you? Did you miss me?” I fish, needing her to admit it.
“Maybe,” she responds playfully but her smile gives her away.
“You’ll pay for that later, Buttons,” I whisper in her ear. I’m rewarded with a little, all-over body shiver, and I give her a squeeze. I keep my arm around her when I face a pissed off Tucker. I guess Dakota and I will just join you guys. “Hey, Tucker.”
“Ryder,” he replies, not bothering to hide his unhappiness.
Unhappiness shit. The man is pissed.
For some reason that makes me feel better.
Dakota finally pipes up and sits down beside Tucker as I slide in beside my girl. “Hey, Tucker. Boy, is Dad pissed at you. He sent me to find you and I ran into Ryder here. Isn’t that a coincidence?”
“I told Dad that I had shit to do and would start on the fencing this afternoon,” Tucker grumbles.
“I don’t think he liked that decision,” I respond way too helpfully.
“That seems to be in the water,” Tucker replies. “It would appear my brothers make decisions I don’t agree with either and yet, they still do them.”
The waitress comes over and we give her a quick order. She smiles at us. I don’t recognize her but the way Dakota and her keep looking at each other tells me she just might.
“I just put in Tucker and Tillie’s, so I’ll just add these, and you can all eat together,” she says way too cheerfully.
“That’d be great. Wouldn’t that be great, Tucker?” I ask.
“Can hardly express how great it is,” he says drolly.
“How’s work been today, sweetheart?” I ask, focusing my attention on her before I bust out laughing at just how pissed my brother is.
“Slow. Very slow.”
“I would think that’d be a good thing,” Dakota chimes in, but Tillie immediately disagrees by shaking her head.
“Slow makes the day go by at a snail’s pace. Drives me crazy.”
We spend a little while discussing the store and her parents being gone on vacation. She blushes when she’s forced to talk about herself. She accidentally meets my eyes, and I give her a wink, which turns her cheeks even darker, and I must admit I like that. Hell, I like everything about her—even the way she drops her gaze from mine because she’s embarrassed. I love that she’s shy. That’s something I haven’t truly experienced, and I find it’s almost addicting as pretty, pink lips…
“You’ve got great parents, Tillie. They’ve been a cornerstone of this town for a long time. They planted roots and worked hard to build a good life. That’s what I want to do. I don’t see myself leaving Pine Ridge.”