Total pages in book: 53
Estimated words: 49348 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 247(@200wpm)___ 197(@250wpm)___ 164(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 49348 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 247(@200wpm)___ 197(@250wpm)___ 164(@300wpm)
I move away from Carsynn. My head, heart, and cock don’t like the idea. Except the woman can’t survive on air alone. We need to eat, her especially. They continue talking. A few words catch my attention, but for the most part, I’m busy going through the motions of pulling out ingredients. I’ll have to pull something out for dinner, too, so I root around the fridge for ideas while finding ingredients to make grilled cheese with a twist. I grab the butter, bread, cheese, and at the last minute, I realize we’ll both need protein and more sustenance than dairy and carbs, so I pull the drawer open for lunch meat to add to our meal.
“I’ll call daily, promise,” I hear Carsynn say after I place everything on the kitchen counter.
“All good?” I ask, grabbing a pan from the cabinet. The floorplan of my house was a damn mess when I bought the place eight years ago. Gramps always told me a man with his shit together is better than one without a plan growing up. So, I bought the house before the shop, put a lot of blood, sweat, and tears into it. It’s no longer a bunch of small rooms in a hodge-podge layout. I knocked walls down until the house was just a shell of a place. The only thing I had to hire out was the headers, because that shit was above my paygrade. Everything else, from framing, drywalling, and electrical, was done by me. Gramps helped with the plumbing. I knew the basics, but he knew a fuck of a lot more. He stood beside me and told me how to do it as he explained everything. It was a labor of love, worth it in the end, and now seeing the woman I know is meant to be mine, for-goddamn-ever, it solidifies that even more.
“Yes, your grandpa is a good man, Gabe. You’re lucky to have him.” She pushes the phone toward me. I leave it where it is. The only person who’ll be calling while we’re snowed in is Gramps, and he won’t want to talk to only me.
“He is, and he’s also yours now. Grandpa Bernie doesn’t call me every hour on the hour for just anybody, fairy.” I stop what I’m doing, giving her my eyes, so she can see the conviction in them. “Speaking of, we need to talk.” Her face goes from pleasantly surprised to looking like someone ran over her kitten. Damn, I don’t know what’s happened in the past, but I’ll be damned if I’ll put that look on her face again.
“Oh crap, do you need me to find a way home?” Her thumb goes to her mouth, and she nibbles on the nail. I drop what I’m doing. There’s too much fucking distance between the two of us. The forlorn look on her face has got to go.
“No, you’re staying right where you are.” I walk around the island. She looks up, head tipped back with me standing and her sitting.
“Okay, then, did I do something wrong?” Yeah, my woman has a past, one that can’t be good if everything she’s coming up with is nothing but negative.
“No, sweetheart, you didn’t. This thing between us is building, and I’ll be damned if we start it with a lie by omission. I’m clearing the air, right here and now. The apartment you’re living in was built for Gramps, but he didn’t like the idea of living with me or by me. He’s too damn stubborn and too fucking independent.”
“Do you need me to move out?” she interrupts me, thinking the worst yet again. My hands engulf her cheeks, holding them on either side as I lower myself so we’re eye to eye.
“No. The only time you’ll move out of your apartment is to move into my house. This will be happening. You and I are very much together. I’m letting you know the realtor who rented out the apartment to you was hired by me. Gramps called me the minute he saw you at the diner, told me there was someone who needed a place to stay, and I got the ball rolling. Gramps even told me I’d fall for you after one look. He wasn’t wrong about that, either. One look, and I knew, the new girl in town, tiny like a fairy, sweet like nothing I’ve ever seen before, would be mine, and you are, Carsynn, you’re mine.” I let it soak in for a moment when all I really want to do is slam my mouth against hers and take everything I can from her.
“Gabe, you can’t possibly feel this way, can you? This isn’t real. Good things don’t happen to me. I’m not the girl who gets her duke.”
“I’ve got not one fucking clue why you think that or who the girl and the duke are. I do know I’ll bust my ass to prove to you that you’re worth more than you think you are. That I’m worthy enough to be in your life, and that includes showing you in every possible way. The next ball I’m about to drop on you is your apartment is on the same property as my house.” I’m not sure if she saw it on our way in. The way it’s set up is off to the side, closer to the road. I knew Gramps wouldn’t want to feel like he was up in my business, and I was trying to give him a piece of his own area to feel like he’d still be in a home instead of an apartment that’s more than half of his house now.