Total pages in book: 97
Estimated words: 95273 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 476(@200wpm)___ 381(@250wpm)___ 318(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 95273 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 476(@200wpm)___ 381(@250wpm)___ 318(@300wpm)
Married. Holy shit. “We haven’t talked about that.”
“You will. It’s just a matter of time. When these Wilds fall in love, they do it for life.” She pulls away so she can smile over at me, and then she sobers. “What’s wrong?”
“He leaves the day after tomorrow.”
Erin sighs. “I know. But just for a few days, right?”
“I guess so. I haven’t asked him much because I think I’ve been in denial that he’s leaving at all. And I knew that he was focused on getting through today so the ranch would be in a good place for him to go for a few days.”
“He’ll be fine. You know he will, Abbi.”
I nod, sure that she’s right.
“You’re here!” Our heads come up at Jake’s exclamation, and then we grin when we see him run over to Katie, who’s walking his way, a huge grin on her beautiful face. He wraps his arms around her and swings her around before planting a kiss on her.
“He’s so smitten with her,” Erin says as I chuckle. “It’s adorable.”
“I hope Ryan had the talk with him,” I reply, watching as Jake gets Katie set up with the makings for s’mores by the fire. She’s so beautiful in a simple pair of wide-leg jeans and a black V-neck T-shirt. Her long red hair is down around her shoulders, and Jake brushes it back so he can whisper in her ear, making her grin.
“I hope so, too,” Erin says with a laugh.
“I got everything closed up for the night,” Katie says to Polly, who’s sitting in a lounge chair nearby. Katie works for Polly at Polly’s dress shop, Pocket Full of Polly. “There weren’t any issues.”
“Thank you, Katie. Now, relax and have some fun.”
“This is fun,” Katie says, smiling at Jake. “Did I miss the sad parts? With the calves?”
“Yeah, we did all that earlier.”
“Good.” Katie shivers. “I don’t like that part.”
Erin and I grin at each other.
“Are you two telling secrets over here?” I look up and see that Brady and Remington are standing behind us. Jesus, even upside down they’re both movie-star gorgeous.
“All the secrets,” I confirm with a grin, and Brady leans down to kiss me.
“You taste like chocolate and marshmallows,” he says with a devastating grin. “Delicious.”
“I’m stealing my girl,” Rem says, taking Erin by the hand and pulling her to her feet. “Come on, Doc. Let’s roast some marshmallows.”
“Yes, sir, Grumpy.” Erin winks at me, and then they’re gone, and Brady joins me by the fire.
“What did you think of today?” he asks me, linking his fingers with mine.
“It was…a lot of things. Fun, interesting, a little disturbing sometimes when those poor babies cried.” I glare at him, making him smirk.
“Aww.” He kisses my temple. “Babe, you’re a softie.”
“I mean, you did a lot to them today, and they’re just babies.”
“They’ll be okay, and everything we did was to keep them healthy. No one wants a sick ranch, Blue Eyes.”
“No, I suppose not. I liked watching everyone work together. You can tell that you all have a routine down. A system. Like you’ve been working together for a long time.”
“We have,” he confirms. “We’ve done things this way since long before I was born.”
“I do have a question, though.”
“Shoot.” He wiggles some marshmallows onto a stick and rests them in the fire. “Are you wondering about my stellar roping skills?”
“I mean, that was impressive.” And it really was. The man has a way with a rope. “Also, sidebar, how are you with ropes in…other areas?”
His gaze whips to mine, his eyes narrow, and his voice is low as he leans in to whisper in my ear. “You want me to tie you up, babe?”
“Just asking a question. Your marshmallows are on fire.”
“That’s not all that’s on fire,” he mutters as he blows them out. “Ask your question before I haul you back to my cabin and fuck you, Abs.” His voice is still low, and he’s staring into the fire, but I can feel the lust coming off him in waves.
I swallow hard, my attention averted to way better things.
“Abbi.”
“Sorry.” I clear my throat and then giggle when he nudges me with his shoulder. “I see that there are a lot of neighboring ranches here.”
“Yep.”
“But no Lexingtons. They’re right next door, aren’t they?”
“They are,” he says, looking over his shoulder.
“Who are you looking for?”
“My dad. He doesn’t like that name to be spoken on his property. No, they aren’t here.”
“Why?”
“You’ve heard of the rivalry.”
“Yeah, I guess I didn’t realize that it was a Hatfield and McCoy situation.”
“Pretty much.”
I frown, blinking at him. “Did you kill each other in the Wild West days?”
“Sure.”
“Stop it. You did not.”
“Rumor has it that they did. These days, it’s been a bunch of lawsuits over property lines and moved fences. Bad attitudes, mostly from Old Man Lexington, who is a complete asshole. Neighbors help them out, and not because they feel any friendship or kinship to that old man, but because of the kids and the hands they have out there that need the help.”