Total pages in book: 151
Estimated words: 145823 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 729(@200wpm)___ 583(@250wpm)___ 486(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 145823 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 729(@200wpm)___ 583(@250wpm)___ 486(@300wpm)
“What’s so funny?” I asked, leaning against the bar. God, I could get used to this. Having Morgan here with Fin made everything seem complete—whole.
“Morgan had a cat, too! He spilled glasses of water on her mama every day!” Fin exclaimed, stroking Juno’s fur.
“Batted them right off the end table,” Morgan added with a smile and threw a wink at me.
Fuck, I loved this woman, and it was okay that she hadn’t said it back yet. Eventually my charms would wear her down.
“Oh? So just as people-friendly as Juno over here.” I eyed the tabby and kept my distance. Finley had dragged the thing out of the rain a little over two weeks ago and worked her magic on her…and me. A trip to the vet later, we now had a cat that despised me and hissed at every opportunity.
“Hey, Juno likes people!” Finley argued.
“Sure, people who aren’t your father,” I countered as the cat stared me down.
Morgan pressed her lips together to keep from laughing and finished Fin’s braid. “You’re all set, my dear!”
“Thank you!” Finley sang, already headed to the nearest mirror.
“Make sure you’re packed for your mom’s. We’re leaving in ten minutes!” I called after her.
Morgan walked straight into my arms, laying her cheek flat just below the patches on my chest.
“I hate that I have to work tonight,” I said into her hair, breathing in her scent as I held her close.
“Me, too.”
“You sure you’ll be okay?” I tipped her chin up to look in her eyes and got knocked on my emotional ass just like I did every time.
“I’m fine,” she insisted, dropping her voice to a whisper. “Don’t get me wrong, I’d rather sneak over and spend the night in your bed, but Sam and I are good. Mia and Joey are coming down. Figure between us, we can get the battery changed in the truck, too. Turns out all that opening and closing of doors wears that sucker down if you don’t crank the engine.”
“I can do it if you want,” I offered, already knowing the answer.
“I’ve got it. Once we get that done, we’re headed to the fireworks, and we’re meeting up with Christina, too.”
“Out on the town with Mia, huh?” My eyebrows rose. “Does that mean I can expect a call from Sam to come use my stellar rescue moves?”
She crinkled her nose. “That was one time.”
“Hmm.” Her lips looked so damn kissable. They always did, but it had been a good hour since I’d kissed her, and I was already going into withdrawals. I’d had her in my bed for the last three weeks—whenever we managed alone time—and I could never get enough. I always wanted one more touch, one more kiss, one more…everything.
“Jackson Montgomery, I know you’re not looking at me like that with your daughter in the next room,” she whispered with a little grin.
“Looking at you how?” I teased, sliding my hand down the small of her back. This sundress was going to be the death of me. It was the same one she’d been wearing the day I met her, and I was dying to know what underwear she had on under it.
“Like you’re not thinking wholesome thoughts.” She arched an eyebrow but lifted her hands to twine behind my neck.
I lowered my head so I could whisper in her ear. “Wholesome? I’m thinking of a whole lot of ways to get you out of that dress, if that counts.” I ran my teeth along the shell of her ear, and she shivered.
“Jackson,” she warned in that breathless way that wasn’t a warning at all.
“Morgan.” I pulled her hips against me and kissed the spot just beneath her ear.
“Mmmm.” She tilted her head so I took the spot just beneath that one, which happened to be ultrasensitive on her neck. Her breath hitched, and her pulse picked up beneath my lips.
“You smell incredible. What is that? Vanilla?” I took another nibble.
She gasped, then pushed out of my arms and made a fuss over her dress as her cheeks tinged pink. “Cookie dough.”
“No wonder you taste extra sweet today.” I smirked, knowing she wasn’t as unaffected as she tried to look. “Get over here and let me kiss you.”
Her eyes widened as her gaze darted to the living room. “Finley is going to be back down here any second.”
“And?” I moved forward, and she danced backward, just out of my grasp.
“And she’ll see!” She pulled the dining room chair between us, like that flimsy little thing would keep me away.
“And?” I restated as she backed her way around the table, toward the sliding glass door. I skirted the chair, and she made a mad dash for the other side of the table, putting her right back where I’d started.
“You cannot be serious.” She folded her arms across her chest, which lifted the swells of her breasts to her neckline and made me groan.