Total pages in book: 155
Estimated words: 154379 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 772(@200wpm)___ 618(@250wpm)___ 515(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 154379 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 772(@200wpm)___ 618(@250wpm)___ 515(@300wpm)
“Whatever is going on between us is just temporary.” I ignored the quivering of my heart when I said it.
Knowing eyes speared me as she continued to chop. “And when did you two decide that? Before or after he came slinking out of your room right before dawn this morning?”
“Nelly.” It shot out of me like reproach.
“What? Did you think I wasn’t going to notice that you two nearly burned the house down last night?” She casually tossed the carrot slices into the pot.
Aghast, air rushed from my lungs. “We did not. We were…just talking.”
She picked up the pot and shuffled for the stove. “Whatever you kids want to call it these days.”
I placed my hand over Finn’s ear and pressed the other against my chest to keep him from the sordid details. “I didn’t sleep with him.”
“No need to lie on my account.”
“Nelly. I didn’t.”
She turned the knob for a burner, bringing a ring of fire to life. She settled the pot over the top. “Well, if this thing is only temporary, then I sure don’t understand why you’re wasting time. I’d be all over that like glue.”
I gave an exaggerated huff. “Great, my grandmother telling me to get naked with the hot guy next door.”
“I have to be good for something.”
“Hugs!” Finn shouted, wiggling out from under my hand that kept his ear against my chest.
“Awesome. Best mom ever,” I mumbled.
Nelly fully turned around, and all the teasing drained from her face.
“That’s exactly what you are, Piper. The best mom ever. Willing to sacrifice it all. But maybe you don’t have to.”
Emotion clotted at the base of my throat. “You’re the one who’s the best, Nelly.”
She let a playful smile take to her face. “Now who’s trying to charm who?”
With a soft giggle, I turned to Finn, bouncing him a little as I carried him back into the living room. “How about we check out what we have to decorate the tree with?”
“We got lights?”
“I bet we do,” I told him as I set him onto his feet next to the pile of bags.
He immediately dropped to his knees and started digging through them and tossing everything out.
Lights and ornaments and bows.
“Wook it, Mommy!” Finn squealed in glee. “I got a owl.” Finn held up a red box that contained a large snow owl ornament.
Warmth crawled and whispered and wound.
How was Theo so thoughtful?
“Wow, that is so cool.”
“Owls is Finn’s favorite.” He patted his chest.
“That’s right. And Theo got it for you.” I forced it out around the lump in my throat.
“I wike Feo.”
I did, too. So much. And that was terrifying.
A sudden flash of headlights glinted through the crack in the curtains on the window next to the door.
Relief.
The gush that rushed through me couldn’t be described as anything else.
I couldn’t do anything but move toward the window.
Drawn.
I pushed back the drapes an inch and peeked out to find Theo’s giant truck coming into the small round drive. The big tires had no issue as he pulled off to the side and parked half on the pavement and half on the snowbank.
The light inside flicked on when he popped open the door, and his shock of black hair struck beneath it.
The man looked like an avenging angel as he slipped out and into the drizzling snow.
His sinewy strength rippled and shook, and his steely gaze swept over the area before it landed on the cabin across from ours.
Ferocity fired from him.
The man was a ball of volatility as he stood there appearing as if he were about to come unglued.
Violence a vapor that skimmed his being.
My stomach twisted.
I could almost see the fury he emitted.
Steam radiating from his body as he clenched and unclenched his fists, his movements slow and stealthy as he began to move across the round drive.
Unease billowed through my spirit.
A snare that reminded me that I’d known this man was dangerous from the start. But there was something about him tonight that sent a chill rushing across my flesh.
The way he slunk around the perimeter, disappearing into the shadows for moments before he would reappear again.
Hunting.
Or maybe the only thing I felt was jealousy and confusion. The way pain sliced through me when he again reemerged from the forest.
I thought he’d be coming for my cabin but, instead, he diverted, his footsteps slow as he took the single step onto the porch of the other cabin.
I could barely make him out from my vantage. Just a minimal outline of his profile as he rapped his knuckles at the door. The door that opened a fraction.
A wedge of light illuminated him as Alicia appeared in the gap.
A few words were exchanged between them. Theo’s demeanor was acute and Alicia’s was timid. She shook her head, her lips moving as her own gaze traveled the area.