Total pages in book: 36
Estimated words: 34140 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 171(@200wpm)___ 137(@250wpm)___ 114(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 34140 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 171(@200wpm)___ 137(@250wpm)___ 114(@300wpm)
Carson wanted to laugh in her face, but he couldn’t.
“How long do you have left?” he asked.
“Three months.”
“I’ll take care of Willow.”
****
Three Months Later
Willow stepped into the fabric store and flicked on the light. Everything was as it should be. Nothing out of place. She sniffled. Today had been an awful day, just like the day she’d buried her father, her mother, her grandfather, and now, her grandmother.
When her grandmother had told her the news, she’d been so angry. For months, she had kept it from her, and Willow then felt guilty for being so angry.
She walked through the shop and was sure she could sense her grandmother there. Grabbing a tissue from inside her jacket pocket, she wiped at her nose. The tears could fall, but she couldn’t handle the snot. She came to a stop, and put her hand on a piece of quilting cotton. It was one her grandmother had admired in the last few days.
There had been a lot of people at her funeral. Friends and customers alike, all of them wanting to pay their respects to a woman who had touched them.
The sound of the door opening and closing made her whirl around to see who had stepped into the shop. They weren’t open.
Carson Dexter.
He stepped in and she couldn’t look away as he closed the door and quickly closed the distance between them. One moment, she stood alone, the next, his arms were wrapped around her. She breathed in the scent of his very expensive cologne. She hated that she needed this so damn much.
He wasn’t a good man.
Willow wasn’t a fool. She knew what Carson was capable of, who he was. Why people feared him. His name alone invoked fear in many. Yet, he was the only person who offered her any comfort. After her grandmother had told her about the diagnosis, Carson had come to the shop late one night and told her that if there was ever anything she needed or wanted, all she had to do was ask, and it would be hers.
She saw him at the funeral today. Even as people glared at him, he’d stood there, paying respects to her grandmother.
Tilting her head back, she looked up at him and was taken aback as he slammed his lips down on hers. At first, she accepted the kiss. At twenty-one years old, she’d never truly been kissed. He growled against her lips, and Willow felt an answering spark within her body.
This shouldn’t be happening.
“No!” She pulled away and screamed. “Today is my grandmother’s funeral! How dare you!”
Carson looked at her, and then cupped her cheek. “You’re right. Today is not the time for this, nor tomorrow, but know this, Willow. You belong to me, and there’s going to come a time when you’ll be ready.”
He pressed a kiss to her lips and within seconds, he was gone.
Chapter One
Six Months Later
The pain always lessened over time.
Willow paused as she stood in the shop at the cutting table, preparing some of the online orders for dispatch. It had been six months since she stood at her grandmother’s grave. The pain never truly went away. There were moments like now, when she was alone, dealing with orders.
Before she passed, her grandmother had told her that she couldn’t leave the shop, nor could she allow it to go to ruin. Her responsibility was to the customers and to herself, to continue with her love in the sewing world.
So, each day she got up and came to the shop, and she realized her grandmother had been right. Little by little, the pain had eased and it helped to do something. Her grandparents had loved this store. It had been in the family for nearly ten years—her grandfather’s gift to her grandmother for her retirement. Lauren never wanted to retire, just run her own fabric business.
The sewing bug had escaped her mother, but Willow had captured it. From a young age she had loved to sew. It was why she’d built a special bond with her grandmother.
Finishing the order, she placed it in the sealable brown paper bag, secured it, added the logo, and placed it with the other items due for collection tomorrow morning. It was getting late, a little after nine, and she didn’t like the prospect of going home alone.
She had her own place. The apartment above the shop was still empty. She’d already gone through her grandparents’ things. Her grandmother hadn’t wanted her to deal with all of that, so before she died, she had gone through her personal belongings and either sold or kept what she wanted Willow to have.
Willow had struggled during that time, seeing her frail grandmother go through her lifetime of memories. Once again, her grandmother had been looking out for her.
She finished the last of the orders and then, like so many other times before, she glanced toward the door. When would he show up? Carson had kept to his word. He’d given her time and space, but now she was growing tired of waiting.