Total pages in book: 28
Estimated words: 26597 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 133(@200wpm)___ 106(@250wpm)___ 89(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 26597 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 133(@200wpm)___ 106(@250wpm)___ 89(@300wpm)
“Hey, what do you think about my hair?” I ask, keeping my voice low so the guys don’t hear.
“Your hair?” Her eyes dart up to the top of my head. “What about it?”
“Is it too gray?”
“No,” she says, looking confused. “It looks good. Wait, is this about that girl from yesterday?”
“What girl?” I say, trying to sound calm and casual even though my heart is suddenly racing.
“That harp player,” she says with a grin. “The one you kept staring at.”
“No,” I say, backing away. “That was for… a… work, and…”
“Sure, Sheriff,” she says with a chuckle as I get tongue tied. “You have nothing to worry about with your hair.”
I’m about to tell her how she has it all wrong, when Santino calls my name.
“Sheriff,” he says as he comes back from the front. “There’s a girl here to see you.”
My stomach drops. No way… It can’t be…
I head to the front with my insides vibrating like crazy. If she’s here, I don’t know what I’m going to do.
Warm desire floods through my body as I turn the corner and see her. Ellie is standing in the reception area with a white box from the Warm Loaf Bakery looking more radiant than even my most vivid dreams can conceive.
Our eyes meet and it’s like my whole body comes alive. It feels right. It feels like I’m finally whole. Like I’ve finally arrived home after a long arduous trip.
Her blue eyes widen as she looks at my exposed arms and jacked chest. Maybe I should have put a shirt with sleeves on, but I kind of like the way she’s holding her breath as she checks me out. I’m not feeling so old now. Not with the way she’s looking at me.
With her eyes distracted, I check her out too. She’s wearing blue jeans that cling to those delicious hips in the most mesmerizing way. My mouth waters as I drag my eyes up to her tight white shirt, her beautiful breasts doing their damnest to steal all of my attention. I have to force my eyes off them before she thinks I’m as bad as Cooter.
She’s so beautiful. I can’t get over it. Her golden hair is loose today, glimmering and shining as it catches the sunlight pouring in through the front windows. The silky locks frame her flawless face. Perfect skin, luscious lips, and the most captivating blue eyes I’ve ever seen.
If I had any doubts that she wasn’t as perfect as I remembered, they’re being obliterated now. This girl is perfection. She’s my dream girl.
I’ve seen criminals, lowlives, and all sorts of ugliness in this station. Some of the worst people in the state have stood where she’s standing and that contrast stirs something primitive within me. I feel it again, that surge deep in my chest—protective, primal, possessive.
The need to take this sweet innocent girl and hide her from all the horrors of the world runs hot.
“Hi,” she says shyly as she clutches the white box nervously. Those adorable cheeks turn pink as she licks her lips. “I just wanted to thank you for yesterday.”
She holds out the box. “Macaroons. From the bakery. I hope you like them.”
I put my hand on the box and for a moment we’re connected through cardboard.
“Ellie,” I say, my voice rough like sandpaper. “You didn’t have to do that.”
“I know,” she says as she lets go. “But I wanted to. You were so brave and you were right there when I needed you.”
I smile as I place the box on the counter and head around so there’s nothing between us.
She shifts her weight from one foot to the other as she looks up at me. If she knew what she does to me—how my heart kicks every time she speaks, how the air feels charged just having her near—she’d run back to whatever town she came from.
“I’m just happy I was there in time,” I say, my fingers tingling with the need to touch her. I keep them locked by my sides instead. “I wouldn’t be able to bear something bad happening to you.”
Her cheeks flush, and she bites her bottom lip. “This town is lucky to have you.”
“No, I’m lucky to have this town,” I say, smiling. “The Greene Mountains is the best place on Earth. Are you sticking around? I’d love to show you some of the sights.”
“We’re leaving this afternoon…”
My stomach drops. This can’t be over before it’s even started.
“But… Maybe I could stick around for another day or so,” she says with a shy smile. “I need a break from the girls. They’re always arguing and I can’t take it anymore.”
“That sounds like a wonderful idea,” I say, feeling like my whole future is unraveling before me. And it’s a future I can’t wait to start. “How do you feel about hiking?”