Total pages in book: 80
Estimated words: 80969 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 405(@200wpm)___ 324(@250wpm)___ 270(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 80969 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 405(@200wpm)___ 324(@250wpm)___ 270(@300wpm)
For all his brash and bravado, River is also incredibly insecure and shy.
I turn my face to his. “It’s perfect. Olive is going to love it. I love it.” I press my hand to my chest.
He smiles, and it’s blinding. My heart swells, feeling like it’s tripled in size.
River and I rarely touch each other. I don’t know if it’s a conscious thing on either of our parts, but it’s just not something we do.
Neither of us are tactile people. But I want him to know just how much this means to me. That he took the time to make this for Olive.
So, I reach up on my tiptoes and press a kiss to his cheek. I wrap my arms around his shoulders. “Thank you so much, River,” I whisper close to his ear. “It’s the best gift I’ve ever received.”
He doesn’t hug me back. I feel a shudder run through his body. Not knowing what it means, I release him and step back.
“Sorry, I just—”
“No,” he says low.
His hand reaches out and catches hold of mine.
Our eyes meet. For once, his aren’t guarded. I can see right into them, and they’re telling me everything I haven’t been sure about.
I can feel his hand trembling as he lifts mine and places it against his chest. Over his heart.
I flatten my palm. I can feel his heart pounding beneath his solid chest.
“You make it do that,” he roughly tells me.
My stomach flutters, and whether it’s the baby or him making it do so, I can’t tell. But it’s definitely him that has my heart fighting to catch pace with his.
His hand leaves mine. He gently runs his knuckles down my cheek. His thumb traces a path over my lips. My breath hitches.
I swallow down.
The tenderness of his touch … the intensity of the moment is almost overwhelming.
Almost.
“Red,” he whispers, lowering his face to mine.
A kiss to my forehead. The barest of touches. His stubble brushes over my skin. It’s softer than I thought it would be.
I close my eyes.
His lips press gently to my temple.
To my cheek.
My jaw.
His nose grazes mine.
I feel his warm breath against my lips.
“Carrie.”
I open my eyes. He’s staring straight into mine. Those dark depths of his are wide open to me in a way they’ve never been before.
Then, he closes them.
And presses his mouth to mine.
The softest of touches.
His lips brush over mine.
Once. Twice.
I sigh, parting my lips.
His tongue runs along the seam.
I curl my fingers in his shirt.
“Jesus, Carrie,” he groans.
I feel that groan everywhere.
He cradles my face in those big, talented hands of his and fits his mouth over mine.
My toes curl into the rug beneath my feet.
He kisses me hard and soft, all at the same time.
He kisses me like it’s all he’s ever wanted.
He touches me with reverence.
Like it matters.
Like I matter.
Then, Olive decides to start kicking. And I mean, kicks hard. River feels it.
He chuckles against my lips. “Feisty, like her mama.”
“Her?” I question.
“Definitely.”
His hand slides into my hair, bringing my head to rest against his chest. I wrap my arms around his waist.
“Carrie …” he says in a quiet voice, filled with something that instantly squashes my good feeling.
“Don’t …” I say quietly. “Don’t spoil the moment.”
So, he doesn’t.
He doesn’t say another word.
Carrie
River is driving us into the city, so I can go shopping for a stroller. I could have come alone, but he said he’d like to come with me. I think he worries about me driving the more pregnant I get.
I’m seven months pregnant now. Olive is the size of a cabbage. I made a slaw with the one River brought me. He, of course, refused to eat it.
He’s so weird.
It’s been seven weeks since River kissed me. And nothing.
He hasn’t talked about it or made any move to do the same.
And neither have I.
But I still go to sleep every night with the feel of his lips on mine.
I’m not sure why he hasn’t kissed me again. I can still feel the attraction there between us, and it’s only gotten stronger since the kiss.
It’s hard to keep my feelings in check at times when I’m around him as much as I am and as hormonal as I currently am.
But he’s choosing to ignore what’s happening between us. Or not, as the case might be. That means I’m doing the same.
I think it’s because I’m pregnant. Why he hasn’t kissed me again.
And I can understand that.
I’m carrying another man’s child. A man who River has no clue about.
Of course he doesn’t want to get into any form of romantic entanglement with me.
Because it’s not just me he’d be getting tangled up with.
It’d be the baby as well.
No, it’s better that we’re just friends.
I need to focus on becoming a mom, which is fast approaching. Hence the stroller shopping.
“You okay, Red?” River’s deep voice carries across the inside of the truck. “You’re quiet over there. And you’re never quiet.”