Total pages in book: 142
Estimated words: 133849 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 669(@200wpm)___ 535(@250wpm)___ 446(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 133849 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 669(@200wpm)___ 535(@250wpm)___ 446(@300wpm)
Josh’s head shook. “Absolutely not. Woman goes there to ski or look at the mountains and bam, she comes out of it with two husbands.”
“Yes, Willow Fork has a lot in common with Bliss, apparently,” Nicole said under her breath.
“No, because they’ve cornered the market on crazy in that town, and I’m not sending my future wife there,” Josh announced.
Nicole felt her head threaten to spin. “Wife?”
Grim gave her a grin. “Yeah, baby, where did you think this was going?”
“I told you it was going nowhere since I was leaving as soon as my car got fixed.” Now that she thought about it, she had another question. “Did you have something to do with my car repairs taking so long?”
Josh’s face went blank, but Grim’s told the tale.
“How could you?” Her heart ached at the betrayal.
“How could I?” Josh stood in front of her, staring down with steel in his gaze. “How could I what, Nic? How could I keep you safe? How could I ensure you didn’t go out into a world of predators with no protection? With no money. How much have you saved up? Where were you going to live? In your car?”
“If I have to.” She stood because this was a fight that required her to go toe to toe with the man currently attempting to control her life. “And none of it is your business.”
“It’s damn straight my business,” he countered. “Everything about you is my business. You’re not going to Bliss. The only place you’re going is straight back to the ranch, and if you don’t want to ride all the way there with a blistered butt, you’ll go quietly.”
She poked her finger right against his chest. “You won’t lay a hand on me, Joshua Barnes-Fleetwood. You don’t scare me. You’re a big bully, and I’m not having it.”
He caught her hand and his expression changed, softening as he brought it to his lips. “That’s right, baby. You know I won’t hurt you. You know I’m not him, and that’s why you’ll forgive me in the end. I love you, Nicole. I love you so much I’ll fight for you. Even if the person I’m fighting is you.”
Manipulative asshole. He’d put her in a corner to see if she would fight her way out.
Because she could with him. She would have shut down and gone secretive with Micah. She’d shut out everyone for years, but she’d been ready to tell them.
Did it matter? Could she trust them? Or was she putting herself in a bad position again? She pulled her hand away. “I… Josh, I think we should talk in private.”
She was deeply aware of how many eyes they had on them. They’d been entertaining an audience all night long.
“I think that’s the best idea you’ve had all night.” Josh was so heartbreakingly handsome it hurt to look at him. “Let’s go down the hall to our room and we’ll talk this out.”
“This isn’t the kind of thing that can be fixed with a conversation,” she argued. “You broke trust with me.”
“And you told us everything was fine when you’re wanted for murder,” Grim said quietly.
It was nothing more than the truth. “I wasn’t trying to hurt you. I thought I could have some joy for a little while.”
“I want more than a little while with you.” Grim moved in next to Josh. “And I don’t only want your joy. I want your heartache and all your sorrows. I want a life, Nicole. But you should know that even if you don’t want that life with me, I’m going to make sure you have one.”
“Nicole’s right. She needs time,” Josh offered. He turned to Kim. “Mrs. Kent, I’d like to discuss the situation with you. I don’t merely want to hide Nicole. I want to get her life back for her.”
“You want me to prove she didn’t kill her husband.” Kim nodded, looking entirely satisfied. “I’d like to do that, too. That, though, is going to require some work. I can’t do it overnight, but I think it could be a fun project for me and my son.”
“Or I could run again.” The words were stubborn, and she didn’t mean them. She was tired, and the day had been such a roller coaster. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean it, but I also don’t think I can pretend none of this happened. The truth is I was thinking about telling you, thinking about putting all of this in your hands, but…”
“No decisions tonight,” Grim said. “Can we put the heavy relationship talk on the back burner for another time and place? Tonight, let’s go to bed. Separately, if that’s what you need. Tomorrow we’ll sit down and discuss how to handle the situation you’re in. We’ll go back to the ranch and wait for Mrs. Kent to figure out if she can resolve the case.”