Total pages in book: 110
Estimated words: 102620 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 513(@200wpm)___ 410(@250wpm)___ 342(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 102620 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 513(@200wpm)___ 410(@250wpm)___ 342(@300wpm)
“You didn’t ask me if I had one. You said you didn’t.” I get up after I pull out the cork and then hand her the bottle. She grabs it from me and then glances around, probably looking for a glass.
When she finally realizes that she is not going to find a glass, she smirks at me. “Oh well.” She holds up the bottle. “Cheers.” She smirks before bringing the bottle to her lips and taking a gulp of it. “This is some good wine.” She looks at the label.
“Okay, well, I held up my end of the bargain,” I tell her. “What did you need to show me?” I look her up and down. “And will I be able to touch it?” My cock stirs in my pants.
“Good God.” She shakes her head and then hands me a newspaper that is folded in two. The black-and-white newspaper now looks like it’s yellow and black, so it must be old as fuck. I open it gingerly, seeing a picture in the middle of the article. Seeing two firefighters squatting down in the middle of them, is a small square cardboard box with what looks like a blanket in there and a small child in the arms of the big firefighter. My eyes go up to read the headline before I feel them go big as I look up at her, and she takes another swig of her wine. “In case you’re wondering”—she leans in—“that’s me.” She points at the newspaper, and I look back, reading the article and wanting to pull her into my arms and give her a hug.
“Wow.” I look at the little baby in the picture, then look at her. “You were always beautiful,” I admire softly. Her eyes twinkle as she tries to hide her smile by looking down and then back up at me. But she can’t fight it even if she tries and her whole face lights up as she smiles shyly at me.
“Smooth.” She brings the bottle of wine back to her mouth, taking a couple of pulls. “I met that man today.” She comes over to my side as she points at the fire chief, who is holding her in the faded picture.
“That’s incredible.” I look over at her. “You’re lucky.”
“Lucky isn’t a word I would use”—she sighs—“but I guess you can say that.” She shrugs. “That’s the whole reason I moved here.” She takes another sip of the wine.
“You moved all this way and bought a house to meet the fire chief?” I ask, confused.
She chuckles. “No, I’m not that crazy.” She takes a deep breath in. “I moved all this way because,” she blows out a deep breath, “I want to look for my birth parents.”
“Whoa.” I look down at the paper, making sure I read what I read before looking back at her. “What makes you think they come from here? Like, are you even sure they are from around here or maybe they drove into town and then drove back out?” I fold the paper and hold it out for her. Our fingers touch each other’s when she takes it from me.
“I have no idea,” she admits as she takes another gulp of wine, “but I figured I would start here and see where it took me.”
“Sierra,” I say. When she looks up at me, I see the bottom of her eyes are brimming with tears, and the need to hold her is so strong I don’t know how much longer I can hold myself back from taking her in my arms again and kissing her just like I did last night.
“I know it’s stupid,” she says in almost a whisper, her voice trembling with emotion, “I mean, they dumped me in a cardboard box, for goodness’ sake. What makes me think they even care where I am or what I’m doing? If they even thought about me over the years.”
My hand comes up to cup her cheek, and I stop. “My hands are dirty,” I tell her, looking at the white powder on it, along with some of the putty, “and I don’t want to touch you with dirty hands.”
“You can come with me and wash them upstairs in the bathroom,” she suggests. I nod at her as she walks toward the stairs, and I follow her up the steps, the bottle in one hand and the folded newspaper in the other.
“This is my bedroom.” She winks at me jokingly, opening one of the two doors and stepping in. “As if you didn’t remodel it. But now I have furniture in it. Although, it’s not done yet.” She looks over her shoulder. “I was thinking of getting a plush rug or something.” I step in and stare at the king-sized bed with the big gray headboard. The thick white cover on the bed with soft pink throw pillows makes it look like once you lie down, you won’t get up. The mirrored side table adds a modern look to the room, even with the antique chandelier. “You know where the bathroom is.” She points to the side and I nod, walking past her bed and to the bathroom.