Total pages in book: 117
Estimated words: 115683 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 578(@200wpm)___ 463(@250wpm)___ 386(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 115683 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 578(@200wpm)___ 463(@250wpm)___ 386(@300wpm)
Colt holds open the door for me. The door. The one that witnessed everything that first day.
I walk outside, and he walks out behind me. The door closes with a whoosh.
It’s quiet. Not another soul as far as the eye can see.
Good.
Whirling around, I grab the front of Colt’s shirt and press him up against the door. “You.”
His eyes toggle between mine. “What about me?”
I answer by leaning in and finally slanting my mouth over his.
CHAPTER 30
Unfamiliar Heaven
COLT
Fuck, this is it.
Two heartbeats in, I already know with a bone-deep certainty that this is the best kiss I’ve ever had. Probably the best kiss I ever will have too.
It’s Lainey’s hunger. The way her soft lips pull at mine, drawing a groan from deep in my throat. She sucks gently on my bottom lip, then digs her teeth into it, her breath skating over my skin with an urgency that makes my blood leap.
Her hands are on my neck now, her head pushing up my hat to give us more room to move. My hands are on her hips, her sides, her face. I lean forward a little, spreading my legs. She reads me like a book and steps forward, melting our hips together just the way I like.
I angle my head one way, then another. Pulse thundering when I open my mouth and her tongue licks inside.
She tastes herbal and clean, like tea. No artificial flavors like mint or cherry. She’s just showing up exactly as she is.
She’s showing her hand.
Kissing is the thing I miss most, and I don’t wanna miss you like that.
Here she is, though, confessing she’s gonna miss me like that whether we kiss or not. So she went in for the kill.
She took a risk. One she wasn’t willing to take until now. What changed? Was it my apology?
I have no idea. All I know is that something in me snaps. My control. My patience. My will to live.
Fuck if I know. I just kiss her like this is the last time I’ll get to do it. Because who knows what happens next? I’m not taking any chances.
I’m not holding anything back, even though I’m scared as hell.
I drink her in like a man dying of thirst. I tease her tongue with mine, angling my neck so I can bite the corner of her mouth. She meets me stroke for stroke, going up on her toes as the kiss deepens. My hands find her waist again, then her ass, and I press her into me, groaning at the friction.
The kiss turns messy.
It’s perfect.
It goes on forever and yet not long enough.
She holds my face tenderly, like I’m precious to her. The idea makes my heart seize.
I’m not anyone’s precious anything. I’m a work horse. Steady Eddy. I’m not cherished. I’m relied on.
But here’s Lainey fucking Brown, cherishing me. Her thumb arcs over my cheek, the pinkie of her other hand finding its way behind my ear. It sends a shock of heat through my skin.
I’m hard. From a kiss.
Lainey notices, because she moans into my mouth and rolls her hips. Seeking. Testing.
I’m about to slip a hand inside her shirt when I hear voices.
Familiar voices that belong to some of the ranch hands from the horse barn. No doubt they’re coming up here to grab their paychecks.
It’s agony breaking the kiss, but I’m not about to let those guys ogle my girl.
I also can’t fuck her against this door, much as I’d like to.
My chest is heaving as I grab Lainey’s hand. “With me.”
I’m not sure the instruction makes sense, but she must get the gist of it because she doesn’t protest when I pull her over to my truck.
My hands are shaking so bad that I drop the keys when I try to unlock the doors. I lean down to scoop them up, but Lainey beats me to it.
She holds up the keys and smiles at me. “Am I allowed to give you a lecture about words to the wise and how there’s no rushing on the ranch?”
“Not when I’m in a rush to get you naked.”
Cupping my hand in hers, she drops the keys into my palm. “That’s fair.”
I lean in and kiss her, because I’m allowed to do that now. “In the truck, honey.”
I peel out of my parking spot and head away from the office. No clue where we’re headed. Do I fuck her in the back seat? Shit, Dean spilled his water bottle this morning, so the upholstery’s probably still wet back there.
My place? Hers?
I hit the brakes when the old pole barn comes into view. Not gonna be empty for much longer—Billie’s claimed it as the new headquarters for her animal therapy program.
I always keep a blanket in the back.
I glance at Lainey. She glances at the bulge in my jeans.