Total pages in book: 46
Estimated words: 43024 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 215(@200wpm)___ 172(@250wpm)___ 143(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 43024 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 215(@200wpm)___ 172(@250wpm)___ 143(@300wpm)
I chuckle softly and shake my head. I wish it were that easy, but I don’t tell him that. Instead, I accept the compliment just as the ride pauses at the peak. I look out over the dark sky with the moon fuzzy and barely visible in the distance. City lights glow down below, and for a moment, I feel a million miles away from my problems while I’m right next to the bearded cowboy who thinks I’m hot.
“It’s beautiful,” I say, staring into the night.
“It sure is,” Flint agrees.
I turn to look at him so I can see what he’s looking at, and I'm surprised to find that his gaze is on me.
I glance down at his lips, wondering what he tastes like. I wet my bottom lip and call his name.
His gaze tracks the movement, reminding me of a hungry predator.
“Kiss me.”
He leans forward, our lips connecting. I didn’t know a kiss could be like this. It’s gentle and tender, like coming home at the end of the day and finding warmth. He angles my head, his big hand moving me where he wants me as his tongue sweeps into my mouth. Tingles race down my spine, and my blood heats. His kiss is safe, and that makes it all the more terrifying.
I kiss him until there’s no more oxygen left between us, until my lungs burn and my heart feels like it will explode if I don’t get air. I desperately try to remember how to breathe when we part, feeling the slickness between my thighs. If this is what he can do with a kiss, I’m in for a crazy night.
I call his name when we’re off the Ferris wheel, and I’m stumbling around on legs made of jelly. “Come back to my room with me.”
Chapter 3
Flint
I pull to a stop in the pharmacy parking lot, the red neon glow filling the truck cab and outlining her. She looks beautiful, same as she did at the pool, the bar and the fairgrounds. I don’t think I’m ever going to get tired of staring at her.
“If this night is going where I think it is, I need a couple of things. Can I bring you anything?” I ask, figuring it’s better to just be honest.
“I haven’t done this in so long, it might as well be my first time,” she admits, her hands twisting in her lap.
“Hey,” I reach for her hands, giving one a gentle squeeze. It’s soft and warm and so much smaller in my work-roughened one. Is she this soft everywhere? Am I going to get the chance to find out? “We don’t have to do anything you don’t want to do.”
She still looks lost for a moment, the same way she did when she was talking about the Ferris wheel and how she used to be fearless. My heart broke for her a little bit right there. I remember trying to get back to “normal” after the blast. I felt anything but brave.
“No, I want this. Just get whatever you normally use,” she finally says.
Fuck if I know what I normally use. I’m not about to tell her it’s my first-time though or that I’ve spent all twenty-four years of my life waiting to find the woman I knew was my soulmate before I slept with someone. That feels too heavy a thing to put on her just yet.
Now that I’ve found her, I’m not going to lose her. I’ll do whatever it takes to prove to her that she’s the love of my life.
I hurry through the pharmacy, grabbing what I suspect we’ll need plus a few extra things. I was really hoping she’d tell me what she likes. Since she didn't, I make my best guesses.
When I return to the truck, I pull an extra-large chocolate bar from the bag and pass it to her.
“What's this?”
“It's for you,” I answer, thankful that the darkness hides my burning ears. I never expected that when I found a girl I'd be so nervous around her. My friends think that I have a lot of experience because I talk a good game.
It started in high school when it was easier to act like I was getting laid regularly rather than admit that I was saving myself for the woman who would become my wife.
I saw how guys who said that sort of shit were treated, and I wanted no part of being picked on. So, I talked like I was sleeping around, and it's a habit that followed me into the military and even at the ranch.
I drive to the motel in silence, neither of us speaking a word. I help her down from the truck, my fingers feeling the heat from her body through her slick dress. I hope I get to see her without it tonight. I already know her curves are going to be just as pretty underneath it.