Total pages in book: 104
Estimated words: 97836 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 489(@200wpm)___ 391(@250wpm)___ 326(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 97836 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 489(@200wpm)___ 391(@250wpm)___ 326(@300wpm)
He leaned around Bunny’s long nose and glared at me. His stare was intense on a regular day, but now? Now, it would have been intimidating as hell… if it wasn’t also sexy as fuck. His lips pursed, and he uttered a single word. “No.”
“No?” The arrogant son of a bitch. Just like that, my annoyance came rushing back. “What do you mean no?”
“I mean, I have never heard anyone say something so wrongheaded in my entire life, Waylon Fletcher. You’re one man. You cannot be everything to everyone. And you know what? I don’t give a shit if you don’t want me to fix things for you. I don’t care if all you really need is my presence or whatever—”
I scowled. What the heck was he talking about?
“—because I’ll be damned if I stand around for the next two months watching my husband kill himself trying to be everyone’s hero.”
“I don’t want to be a hero.” I stepped closer and jabbed a finger into his chest. “I’m doing the things that need done, Silas, because they’re my responsibility. I can’t ask anyone else to do them because I can’t count on anyone else to do them. Who’s gonna find a new hand to help herd two hundred head of trail horses at the end of the week, huh?” Jab. “Who’s gonna test climb Clara in the next five days?” Jab. “Who’s gonna get someone to swap out the transmission on a twenty-year-old pickup truck without fucking charging me more than the two hundred bucks I have in my checking account right now?”
Silas grabbed my hand before I could jab him again. “I am,” he growled in a low voice.
“You? You don’t know how—”
“I already have someone coming to help with roundup. I’m sure I can get a rock climber here in twenty-four hours. I’ll pay for your goddamned transmission replacement. And then I’ll stop fucking helping if that’s what you really want.”
I stared at him, unsure exactly what he was saying. “I don’t understand.”
He stepped closer and put a hand on my chest. My heart rate didn’t slow.
When he spoke, his voice was softer. Less angry. “I don’t want to make your life harder, Way. I was… attempting to take some of the weight off your shoulders by doing what you asked. You wanted the town to think this was a real marriage, so I tried to be the kind of guy you really would have married.”
I felt a laugh bubble up, even though the timing was terrible. “I wouldn’t have married a guy at all.”
The edge of his lip twitched. “No shit. But maybe you should have married someone. If you’d been thinking strategically, a ranch hand or mechanic would have been a good choice, sounds like.”
But then I wouldn’t have gotten to marry you, I thought. And in spite of everything, I couldn’t imagine never having had this.
Instead of continuing the fight, I stepped forward and tucked my face into the side of his neck. I was so damned tired, and he looked steady and strong, like he could handle my irrational anger and all of my imperfections and hold the weight of the world off my shoulders for a little while.
“Sorry,” I murmured against his warm, salty skin.
His arms came around me and pulled me in tight. “Me too.” Strong hands moved up and down my back. He took a deep breath and let it out, the warm exhale brushing against my ear. “I’m a fixer. It’s what I do.”
“That sounds ominous,” I said, closing my eyes and sinking into his touch. “Organized-crime-level shit.”
“Not quite. But I’ve been told I can occasionally be a bit… officious.” He cleared his throat and added wryly, “It’s a real struggle, knowing what’s best for everyone and how they should achieve it.”
I snorted, eyes still closed. “I bet.” I didn’t want this to end. So I held on tighter.
“You going to let me take you to bed, cowboy?” Silas murmured into my hair.
I would’ve given my eyeteeth to say yes. To accept what he was offering. To go home and lose myself in his body and the pursuit of pleasure again.
But I couldn’t.
I stood back and straightened my shoulders. “Can’t. I’ve got chores to do. Afternoon feed. A few vaccines. The farrier’s coming to replace some shoes, and I’ve gotta grab the right horses from the paddock for her.” The list seemed to unfurl on an endless scroll in my head.
Silas opened his mouth to say something but snapped it shut instead. He nodded once. “I’ll let you get to it, then.”
Instead of offering to help with any of it the way a decent fucking friend would have—and yes, I recognized my hypocrisy—he turned on his heel and walked away. Even Bunny remained half-brushed, staring after him in surprise.
As I listened to the sound of his rental car crunching its way out of the graveled parking area, I couldn’t help but curse myself as our heated words from earlier came back to me.