Total pages in book: 168
Estimated words: 162369 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 812(@200wpm)___ 649(@250wpm)___ 541(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 162369 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 812(@200wpm)___ 649(@250wpm)___ 541(@300wpm)
I’m still pissed, but thank you. It’s nice having a little partner in crime again while I work. He’s exactly what I needed.
Kelley:
I know.
You’re still an asshole.
Kelley:
I know.
With a laugh, I toss my phone on the workbench, turn on some tunes, and get back to carving the tree for my silverware birds.
A little after midnight, Lily’s headlights flash across the windows. I hope she’ll see the lights on in the studio and come talk to me, but that hope is snuffed out fast when I hear the front door opening and closing moments later.
She probably gets her grudge-holding skills from me.
I take a break to walk the puppy around the yard. I tell him how Cherry used to sit on the porch at night and listen to the frogs and crickets and that he’ll get to do that, too. His black eyes gleam as if he understands every word. On the way back to the barn, I glance up at the house. Lily’s window is dark, but Penny’s has a faint blue glow. She’s been up late every night for the past two weeks working on poems and artwork that she wants to submit to a publisher. I worry she’s putting a lot of stress on herself, but I also understand the need to get things as perfect as they can be.
Hours later, I’m engrossed in my work when the barn door slowly slides open behind me. The puppy lets out a small bark that sounds like bruf.
Her giggle sends an instant flash of heat through me.
“Shouldn’t you be in bed?” I ask, turning to her. Oxygen is sucked out of my lungs when she comes into the full light. She’s wearing a white, off-the-shoulder sweater that reaches just above her knees, white knit knee socks, and black high-top sneakers. She holds my gaze as she crosses the room and lifts herself up to perch on my workbench. I try to shove away the memory of her doing the same thing at seven years old, wearing little pink work boots. Her lips curve to a slow smile when she catches me staring at her.
“I couldn’t sleep,” she tells me. “I couldn’t stop thinking about you. I miss sitting out here with you.”
The tone of her voice is once again stripped of its young sweetness, replaced with a mature, raspy edge that’s sexy as hell.
“I miss having you here. Is Lily—”
“Asleep? Yes.”
Even though Lily knows Penny has been hanging out in my studio for years, it suddenly felt less innocent after our first kiss. The friendship line wasn’t just crossed; it was totally mowed down. The worry of Lily getting suspicious put a stop to the nightly visits.
But that’s not to say that every night since I haven’t hoped she’d sneak out to see me.
She picks up a little silver spoon bird and smiles at it in her hands. “These are so whimsical. I love them!”
“Thanks,” I say on my way to the newly installed sink in the corner to wash my hands.
Placing the bird back with the others lined up on the bench, she asks, “Will you make me something like them someday?”
“I’ll make you anything your heart desires.”
Pink colors her cheeks. “Will you make me the happiest girl in the world?”
She parts her legs as I approach her, then grabs my shirt to pull me between them. Her sweater bunches up to her thighs, revealing a glimpse of white panties. I stifle a groan and touch her chin, lifting her face to mine.
“That will always be my number one goal,” I promise.
She smiles and tightens her thighs around me. “I love it when you say things like that.”
I move my hands down the length of her long legs to her sock-covered calves. “Did you wear this adorably sexy outfit for me? You didn’t have this on earlier.” My gaze flits downward, taking in her bare shoulder and the outline of her nipple poking through the thin knit sweater. Not a bra in sight. My cock throbs.
“Do you like it?”
I push her hair behind her shoulders, exposing her neck for me to kiss. “I forgot how to breathe when you walked through the door,” I whisper against the soft pulse at her throat.
“Good,” she whispers back.
Her arms wrap around my shoulders as I drag my lips up to her mouth. The scent of her vanilla body wash clings to her warm skin, making me want to eat her like dessert. A jagged breath escapes her when our lips meet. I grasp her hips as we kiss deeper, our tongues dancing and teasing, seeking more. She clenches her thighs tighter around me and presses herself against my cock. I’m nearly driven wild by the feel of her warmth behind her thin panties. Grasping her hair, I pull her head back and deliver a trail of wet kisses from her mouth to her shoulder, pushing the wide neck of her sweater down to uncover one perfect, full breast. Heat courses through me like lava as I cup her in my palm. The stubble on my chin lightly scrapes across her flesh as I lower my face to circle her nipple with my tongue. A gasp edges past her throat. Her hands shoot from my shoulders to cradle my head as I pull her between my teeth, sucking the pink bud until she’s panting and threading her fingers through my hair. Her nails on my scalp send jolts of ecstasy down my spine.