Total pages in book: 27
Estimated words: 24601 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 123(@200wpm)___ 98(@250wpm)___ 82(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 24601 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 123(@200wpm)___ 98(@250wpm)___ 82(@300wpm)
"You want to go get my stuff?"
"Yes."
"But…why?"
I hold out a hand, waiting until she slips hers into mine to pull her up from the couch. Once she's tucked up against my chest, staring up at me like she isn't sure if she wants to flee or kiss me, I answer her. "Because this ranch is your home now, Calamity. For as long as you need one. You belong here."
She flings her arms around me, her face pressed to my chest. The way her body shudders like I just gave her the moon has my heart threatening to beat straight through my ribcage.
I groan, disentangling myself before I do something I'm pretty sure she'll regret when I'm done—like tumbling her to the floor and fucking her raw. She isn't ready for that yet. Frankly, I'm not sure I am either.
Whatever this is, it's fast. And it's a little bit terrifying, too.
Chapter Five
Blaze
Istop by the Sheriff's Office to talk to Dillon on my way to Burkett's. As soon as Dillon sees me step into the closet that he swears is an office, he sighs so loud that I feel his breath across the room.
"It's ten in the morning, Blaze," he mutters, eyeing me from beneath the brim of his hat. "I don't want to do whatever bullshit you're here to try to convince me to do."
"Too bad, you prick. You wanted this job."
"Literally no one wants this job," he growls. "You assholes just won't stop electing me."
"You ever thought about, I don't know, not running if you don't want to be elected?" I ask, leaning against his door with a grin.
"Motherfucker, I haven't put my name on a ballot for the last two elections. And somehow, here I am." He flings his hands out to indicate his office.
"So…campaign to not be elected next time."
"You…" He pauses, frowning. And then his face breaks out in a shit-eating grin. "That might be the smartest goddamn thing you've ever said."
I just chuckle, shaking my head. He loves his job, even if he'll never admit it. Hell will literally freeze over before he leaves the protection of this town in someone else's hands. But he's Dillon, so he's going to bitch about it. It's what he does.
"Why are you here?"
"You mean aside from coming to solve your election problems?" I smirk at him. "I came to solve another one."
"If you're here to tell me that you're the reason there are currently dicks popping up all over downtown, I may shoot you," he warns me.
I glance down at my cock then at him, chuckling. "Uh…no? My dick isn't popping up all over town." I leave out the part about it popping up all over the damn ranch this morning. My cock, my business.
"Not yours, you idiot. Someone is dicking the town." He holds up a picture. Sure enough, it's a cock, standing straight up in a planter outside the flower shop. "We've been getting calls all week."
"It's not me," I say, laughing. "I'm here about Roger Burkett, not about your cock problem."
He drops the photo onto his desk. "What about him?"
"Morgan Lott didn't steal the jewelry that he said she stole. He's running some sort of insurance scam."
Dillon eyes me levelly over his cluttered desk. "And you know this how?"
"If I tell you, I want a guarantee that she isn't going to jail until I have a chance to prove it," I mutter.
He opens his mouth and then snaps it closed. "You know what? I'm not even going to ask if she's yours. It's written all over your damn face," he says with a heavy sigh. "She's at the ranch?"
"I want a guarantee, Armstrong," I growl, ignoring everything else he said. I'm still trying to wrap my head around the way my heart is beating out of my chest for her. I'm not sharing the news with him. The whole damn town will know before lunch.
I have a feeling that won't help my case any. If she runs because everyone in town is nosy as fuck, I'm going to lose it.
"Jesus Christ," he mutters. "Of course I'm not going to haul her in if she's innocent."
I relax slightly.
"What do you know?"
"Not much," I admit. "I found her sleeping in the barn. She's terrified she's going to go to prison for this and swears she didn't do it. I believe her. Flint thinks Burkett hired her because he assumed people would take his word over hers when he pulled his little scheme. And she says she thinks he's done it before."
"Does she have any proof?"
"Not that I know of," I mutter.
Dillon jerks his chin in a nod. "It'll be easy enough to look into. The insurance companies will have records of payouts, which means a paper trail."
"You'll look into it?"
"I just said I would, didn't I?" He glowers at me. "I may need to speak to her, though."