Total pages in book: 94
Estimated words: 88936 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 445(@200wpm)___ 356(@250wpm)___ 296(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 88936 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 445(@200wpm)___ 356(@250wpm)___ 296(@300wpm)
“Look out there. See the lights? Each row is lit up, and”—I reached behind her and took out a flashlight to hand to her—“I brought this in case you wanted extra lighting.”
She took it from me, then reached for her door handle.
“Wait, you might want to change into these too,” I added, getting the pair of rain boots I’d borrowed from Briar. “I think they’ll fit. I guessed your size.” Her feet were small, like Briar’s, so I figured this would work. If not, I had two sizes up that I’d gotten from Maeme.
She looked at them, then at me. “You thought of everything,” she replied, then bent over to slip off her heels.
I almost asked her to hand those to me so she could put them back on when we got to the dinner portion of the evening, but the way they made me forget what I was doing, it was probably best they didn’t come with us.
“Perfect fit,” she said, then turned to climb out of the car.
A flash of shiny silver panties—barely covering a smooth, round butt cheek—had me mentally cursing as I turned to get out too. I didn’t need to know what her ass looked like. From that small glimpse, it was world-class.
The click of her flashlight reminded me that I hadn’t gotten out to check the damn text. I’d been too busy looking at her legs and ass. Shit.
• Thirteen •
“Then, you’ve been dating the wrong men.”
Royal
This was like walking into a fairy tale. The lighting along the ground lit up the trees, which were heavy with red apples, with a warm glow. Nothing too bright, but just enough to see what we were picking. I had never been apple picking before. I’d heard friends talk about it in the fall, but it wasn’t something I’d ever done. Trying not to act giddy about it was difficult.
Standing on my tiptoes, I reached for a shiny one to take from the branch and almost fell forward, losing my balance. Amory came up so close behind me that I could feel the warmth from his much larger body, and it caused me to shiver.
“Like this,” he said as his hand took the apple, then twisted it before easily plucking it free. “Twist and pull.” His breath was hot on my ear as he leaned over me to drop the apple in the white paper bag I was holding by the sturdy handles.
I didn’t trust my voice just yet since his being in my personal space was causing my heart to flutter in my chest. I nodded my head instead. When he moved away, I wanted to spin around and tug him back to me. I wouldn’t do that, of course, but the scene playing out in my imagination was having a fine time with the idea.
“Just up ahead is our stop. Do you have enough, or do you want to fill another bag?” he asked me.
I stared down the row of trees to see the end was more lit than where we were now. What was up there that was going to be a stop for us?
Curious, I held up the bag. “These are great.”
His hand touched my lower back, and I bit my bottom lip, holding in the sound that was about to slip out if he kept this up.
“What is up there?” I asked him, hoping I didn’t sound as affected as I was.
“Dinner,” he replied.
I turned my head and looked up at him. “Dinner? How? We are in the middle of an apple orchard.”
The corner of his mouth inched up slowly. “I have my ways.”
This wasn’t my first date by far. I’d been on many dates since Grams allowed me to start dating at seventeen. However, this was the most unique, romantic, and well-planned thing any guy had ever done for me. Granted, there might be a blanket with a bag of fast food up ahead, cold from him having left it here hours ago, but somehow, I doubted it. Amory was thorough with everything he did. Including his pursuit of me. I was starting to question why I’d fought against it so hard.
I liked him, and the more I was around him, the more that like was turning into affection. Maybe it was closer to lustful emotions because the man was all the things. Whatever it was, I didn’t see a reason to keep pushing him away. He hadn’t run off once he got a look into my home life. He’d even bailed my dad out of jail.
“What are you thinking? You’ve gone quiet.” His voice was slightly husky.
“That if charm were an Olympic sport, you’d get the gold.”
His deep, smooth laugh gave me chill bumps. Oh, yes, he was getting to me. There was no way out of this now. I wanted to be here. I wanted him. I’d never wanted Merce like this. Thinking of him put a slight damper on my mood. He’d texted me in the car, saying he missed me and wanted to see me. I still wasn’t convinced he wasn’t the one who had told Professor Brereton about me.