Total pages in book: 95
Estimated words: 90433 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 452(@200wpm)___ 362(@250wpm)___ 301(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 90433 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 452(@200wpm)___ 362(@250wpm)___ 301(@300wpm)
“Tequila?” he eventually asked, offering the bottle. Only about a third remained.
“Sure.” She needed to conjure a greater variety of words, or this night would take awkwardness to the next level.
As she accepted and took the bottle from Ty, their fingers brushed, and a fiery zing traveled up her arm. She resisted the accompanying gasp, but barely. It wasn’t an unpleasant feeling. Not like the tremors of fear she experienced with most men. Then, she’d always responded differently to Ty for whatever reason. She wanted to experience it again so much that she almost reached out and grasped his hand.
The scowl on his face kept her from doing it. Clearly, he hadn’t felt the same alluring rush of sensation.
“Thanks,” she said right before knocking back a large mouthful of tequila. The burn reminded her of why she’d never been a fan of tequila—at least not without crushed ice, lime juice, and a rim of salt, or even better, strawberry puree and a sugary rim.
“Gah,” she said on an exhale as she fought the urge to cough. “Delicious.”
Ty laughed as he stole the bottle back and drank twice as much as she did in one swallow.
“Are you okay?” she asked after a few more moments of silence.
He stared at her for a beat. “Shouldn’t I be asking you that?”
Kelsie snorted. “No. We both already know I’m nowhere near okay. No need to ask.”
“Yeah.” He circled the pad of his thumb around the opening of the tequila bottle, and Kelsie’s lower belly clenched.
For a while, she assumed he’d chosen to ignore the question, but then he spoke.
“I was married awhile back. My ex-wife and I tried for years to have a baby with no success. Years. Can’t tell you how many nights she sobbed in my arms, claiming she wanted nothing more than to carry our child. God, it was fucking torture. Our marriage was shit, but this common goal kept us together way longer than we should have. Found out tonight that the entire time she’d been begging for a baby and blaming me for not getting her pregnant, she was taking birth control. It was all a fucking charade.”
“Oh, Ty…”
“To make matters worse, she managed to get pregnant once anyway, and she ended the pregnancy without a word to me. She never wanted kids. It was all some sick manipulation plan on her part, I guess.”
She blinked. “Holy shit, Ty, that’s…” What? How did she even describe it? The thought of deceiving someone she loved like that made her heart ache. “I’m so sorry. That’s extremely shitty.”
His grunt held a world of pain. “Yes, it is.” He raised the bottle in salute. “To marriage.” Then he tipped his head back and took another gulp before extending his arm to her again.
“Well,” she said, accepting the bottle of tequila. “I don’t know squat about being married, but I’ll drink to whatever you’re toasting. Gah,” she said after another swallow. “That is horrendous.”
He chuckled, eyes sparkling. “Keep drinking. Soon, you won’t even notice it.”
She eyed the bottle, shrugged, then took another sip. Then, one more for good luck. She could sure use some. “Huh, you’re right. That one wasn’t so bad.”
“All right, that’s enough.” He snickered as he snatched the bottle back. “Don’t be greedy, kid.”
Kid? She frowned. Was that how he saw her? Sure, about two decades separated them, but the idea of him looking at her like a kid had something ugly twisting inside. If there was anyone she wanted to view her as a woman, it was Ty. For whatever reason.
“Kid?” She chuckled. “I am not a fucking kid. I might be young in the years I’ve lived on this planet, but I haven’t been a kid in a long time. And I don’t mean the past few months. I grew up years before I was kidnapped and auctioned off to the highest bidder.”
“Christ, Kelsie.” He threw back more tequila.
She shrugged. “Some people are lucky enough to get through life without one traumatic incident.” She rolled her head in his direction, meeting his intense gaze. “And some of us get their share on top of our own.”
The bottle froze halfway to his mouth. Storm clouds darkened his expression. “Kels—”
She held up a hand, warding off whatever he planned to say next. “Don’t listen to me. Apparently, tequila makes me loose-lipped and maudlin.”
“Kelsie, if you need help—”
“All I need right now, Ty, is for you to stop looking at me like a child you pity. After everything I’ve been through…” Her voice hitched, and she swallowed the mountain of emotion. Now wasn’t the time to get all weepy.
Damn you, tequila.
Oh well, in for a penny, in for a pound.
“Give me that freakin’ bottle.” She held out her hand.
He continued to stare at her, and just when she was certain he’d push her to keep talking, he said, “How about this one? To an empty clubhouse, which never fucking happens, and the peace of sitting around a roaring campfire without a house full of fuckers driving me crazy.”