Total pages in book: 44
Estimated words: 42171 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 211(@200wpm)___ 169(@250wpm)___ 141(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 42171 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 211(@200wpm)___ 169(@250wpm)___ 141(@300wpm)
After a few moments, I back away from him. Did he reluctantly let me go or is it my imagination? Embarrassed, I brush my hair off my face. “I’m sorry. Obviously, I haven’t made the best first impression.”
He chuckles. “Neither have I.”
Surprised, my eyes meet his. “Start over?”
He tilts his head to the side. “Sure.”
I hold my hand out, and he takes it. “Hi, Asher Wild. I’m Madelyn Weston, and I’m your new employee.”
He nods. “Come on, let’s grab your stuff and I’ll help carry it in, and then I’ll show you around the house.”
I try waving him away, but he’s not having it. We grab the bags from my car, and surprisingly he doesn’t make a comment about the number of suitcases I have with me. I follow behind him and keep my lips shut tight so I don’t give him any reason to change his mind. Yeah, Asher doesn’t seem the type to like small talk, so I quietly follow behind him. Once inside, he sets the bags at his feet and then takes the ones from my hands and sets them down too. “Come on, I’ll give you a quick tour and you can get settled.” He looks at me with frustration. “I need to get to work.”
All I can do is nod my head. This man is hot and cold, and I’m doing my best to keep up with his moods.
CHAPTER 4
ASHER
You ever do something and know immediately your life is going to be changed forever? Well, that’s how I’m feeling right now, and I’m not sure I like it. I fought it. I fought it hard and tried every way to tell her that she won’t be happy here, but she didn’t want to listen.
After telling her I need to get to work, I just stand here staring at her.
She smiles at me, and that smile tells me that she knows what I’m thinking, but there’s no way. If she knew what was going on in my head right now, she wouldn’t be here smiling at me. But somehow I can’t stop wondering how it would feel to have her long legs wrapped around my waist.
“So, uh, I’m ready when you are.”
My heart starts to race, and my palms get sweaty.
“Asher,” she says. “You wanna give me the tour so we can get to work? Or you want to just point out my room, and I can get my things put away.”
I turn away from her, clench my eyes, and drag in a deep breath to try and get a hold of myself. Fuck, get yourself together, Wild. I point toward the stairs. “Upstairs are bedrooms. That’s where Beau’s and my rooms are.”
“Down here.” I start walking through the house. “This is the living room.” I keep walking and point to the office. “The office, dining room, kitchen.” I’m walking fast through the rooms and stop in the kitchen. “Beau and I eat at six in the morning. Everyone is sort of on their own for lunch and dinner. There’s always stuff to make sandwiches. Whoever cooks just makes extra, so there’s usually leftovers in the fridge if you don’t make dinner.” I point to the board on the wall. “If you need something added to the food order each week, just write it on the board.”
She’s nodding her head, taking it all in.
“You have any allergies?”
She shrugs her shoulders and scrunches her nose up. “Bees.”
I close my eyes and open them, shaking my head. “You’re allergic to bees and you’re going to work on a peach farm.”
She laughs. “It’s no big deal. I have an EpiPen.”
I could go on and on about how dangerous it is here. I see bees every day. Heck, I was stung just last week, but I know that no matter what I say, she’s going to want to stay. “If you go outside, carry the pen with you. We have a few bees around, and I’ll call the beekeeper to come in and move them.”
She is shaking her head. “No, don’t do that. That’s crazy. I’ll be fine.”
Ignoring her, I walk past the kitchen and stop at the door that leads to her suite. I wave for her to go in and follow behind her and stop right inside the door. It’s not that I don’t trust myself alone with her in a room with a bed, but there’s no reason to add to the temptation. “This is your room. There is a private bathroom through that door, and the other one is a walk-in closet.”
I look around the large room with the sitting area and the bay windows with a view of the orchard and do my best to avoid looking at the big bed in the room.
She looks around the room and then back at me. “This is beautiful, Asher. The whole house is.”