Total pages in book: 18
Estimated words: 17853 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 89(@200wpm)___ 71(@250wpm)___ 60(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 17853 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 89(@200wpm)___ 71(@250wpm)___ 60(@300wpm)
“I shouldn’t have eaten that last piece.”
“Come on.” I toss some cash on the table and reach out to help Joy to her feet. “Let’s go walk this off, shall we?”
“You might have to just roll me back to my car.”
She dramatically grunts when I pull her up, and then we wave to Heather and walk back out into the snowy night.
“The snow is coming down harder,” she says with a frown. “Last I heard, the storm was going to go around us.”
“Looks like it’s not going around us,” I reply, and mentally kick myself for not going home to tend to the ranch. Sure, I have hands who will cover for me, but I don’t like to do it that way.
I should be there.
But then I look down at Joy, and frankly, I’m not ready to leave her yet. What started out as a chore this evening, taking Melissa to town, has turned into a lot of fun.
I like Joy.
“Where do you live?” I ask her.
“Well, that’s complicated.”
I narrow my eyes down at her as we cross the street. “Don’t tell me you live in your car after all.”
“No.” She smiles up at me and almost loses her footing on the ice, but I grab her arm and right her. “Oops, thanks. Stupid ice. Anyway, I don’t live in my car. Not yet.”
“What does that mean?”
“I’ve been renting an apartment for two hundred bucks a month over on Riverside Drive. You know the brown apartments there?”
“Sure. They’re not bad.”
“No, my place is cute, actually. But they’re raising the rent in two months, and I don’t see how I can afford to stay. So, I’ll probably be looking for a new place soon. Moving sucks.”
“It definitely sucks,” I agree. “Why are they raising the rent?”
“Because they can.” She shrugs. “Because more and more people are discovering Bitterroot Valley and moving here, and they’ll pay higher rents. But, if worse comes to worse, my mom said I could hang with her for a while. We’ll see.”
“I was sorry to hear about your dad. He was a nice guy.”
“Yeah, thanks.” She nods and sniffs, her nose dripping from the cold. “Cancer also sucks.”
“How’s your mom doing?”
“She’s actually really good. Not ready to date or anything, but she’s not quite so visibly sad as she used to be. It’s been a rough couple of years for her. Thanks for asking.”
She smiles up at me and then loses her footing again, and I can’t catch her this time. Down Joy goes, right into the snow of the snowbank.
“Well, so much for impressing the hot guy from high school.”
“Who’s that?” I ask and laugh when she sticks her tongue out at me. “Now, that’s charming. Here, let me help you up.”
She takes my outstretched hand, but instead of letting me pull her up, she yanks me down beside her in the soft snow.
“Hey!”
“We can lie down here for a minute, and I can wallow in my embarrassment.”
I grin over at her, loving the way our breath puffs out in the cold. “Your cheeks are pink.”
“I’m sure they are. I wish the stars were out tonight.”
“Instead, you’re getting covered in snow. Before long, I’ll have to dig you out with a shovel.”
“It doesn’t feel cold.”
“You look cold,” I counter.
She turns her head to the side and watches me with somber chocolate eyes. “Thanks for the pizza.”
“Thanks for hanging out with me.” My eyes drop to her lips, and she licks them in response. “Do you have any objections to being kissed?”
“No.”
I cup her face and feel the cold of her skin through my glove as I lean over to press my lips to hers.
It starts out…cold. But as our skin warms, I sink into her, and she leans up to wrap her arms around my neck and hold on to me.
She makes a little mewling sound in the back of her throat, and I know without a doubt that I’m done for. I can’t get enough of this girl.
“Come home with me,” I growl against her neck. “Let me take you home.”
CHAPTER 4
JOY
“You want me to go home with you?”
“Hell yes, I do,” he says and kisses his way down my neck. “Before I make love to you right here in the snowbank in the middle of town.”
Honestly, that doesn’t sound so bad. With all these Christmas lights twinkling, and the snow falling around us, it doesn’t sound bad at all.
But I’m not one to typically do something like this. I don’t screw on the first date.
“You think that’s a good idea?”
“Possibly the best idea I’ve ever had,” he replies, but then he pulls back and stares down at me with intense eyes. “But if you’re not game, I apologize. I might be getting ahead of myself here.”
I can’t take my eyes off his lips, remembering just moments ago when they were on mine, on my skin, and all the delicious sensations they sent through my body.