Total pages in book: 76
Estimated words: 73947 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 370(@200wpm)___ 296(@250wpm)___ 246(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 73947 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 370(@200wpm)___ 296(@250wpm)___ 246(@300wpm)
I’ve wanted women before. I’ve flirted and kissed and touched and taken pleasure when it was offered, but I’ve never felt like someone put a hand directly on the hidden part of me.
“Wren.” Her name comes out low, and I don’t know if it’s a warning or a plea.
Whatever it is, she steps closer, and I’m sorely tempted to wrap my arms around her, when there’s a creak of boots on the back porch.
No one comes in, but the sound is enough to jolt me into the present reality. There’s a threat out there in the mountains, and I live here under the same roof as my brothers.
If I touch Wren now, I won’t be able to pretend it’s casual.
She seems to read it in my eyes. Her expression changes, her gaze drops to my mouth, then she takes a step back, saving us both.
“Thank you for dinner,” she says.
I huff a quiet laugh because my heart is hammering, and my hands are still aching to touch her. “You’re welcome.”
She picks up her mug of tea and starts toward the hallway. At the corner, she pauses and looks back, and even though she’s in pants and a sweater, I’m imagining her bare legs and how she looks in the mornings, wearing my shirt.
She’s across the room, but I can still smell the scent of her shampoo in my mind.
“Boone?”
“Yeah?”
She tilts her head and her hair slides over her shoulder. “I don’t think friendly is bad.”
I swallow. “No?”
“No.” She gives me a small smile, then continues around the corner, and I stand in the kitchen long after she’s gone, hands braced on the counter and head bowed.
When Cade comes in from outside, he takes one look at me and stops. Rhett comes in a few seconds later, and his gaze moves from my face to where Wren disappeared.
Neither of them speaks. They don’t have to.
Cade’s expression tightens with something like understanding, and Rhett’s jaw shifts once.
I straighten. “I’m fine.”
Cade looks at Rhett, and Rhett looks back at him. Then both of them look at me with identical expressions of disbelief.
I almost laugh. “Shut up,” I mutter.
“Nobody said anything,” Cade says.
I shake my head, grab my jacket from the hook by the back door, and step outside to clear my head.
Beyond the clearing, the trees are black and silver in the moonlight. All the shadows are familiar, and so are all the sounds coming from the forest.
Our land. Our cabin.
Our woman inside it.
Maybe I should correct that thought, but I don’t.
CHAPTER 15
WREN
The cabin walls are solid, and the men I’m staying with notice things before they become problems. I feel safe here, but I’m also bored.
I’m tired of staring at the cabin walls, and tired of trying not to stare at the three Wilder men.
When I find out the men are planning to lead the one corporate day trip Rhett refused to cancel, I tell them I’ll be going into town while they’re out.
Rhett doesn’t say anything right away, but his body language tells me plenty. His jaw is set, and there’s tension in his shoulders.
“Boone has an errand he needs to run in town,” he says finally. “He’ll drive you.”
Boone’s eyebrows lift. He looks almost as surprised by this announcement as I am.
“Isn’t Boone going with you? I’ll be fine.”
Rhett’s eyes are hard. “Fine isn’t a plan.”
“No, but staying inside until I lose my mind isn’t a plan, either.”
Rhett turns his full focus to me, and the kitchen seems to shrink by half. Cade is by the door, silent as usual, watching with an expression that gives nothing away. Boone looks down into his coffee as if it’s suddenly become fascinating.
Rhett steps close enough that I feel the heat of him. “Town is probably safe,” he says in an impossibly deep voice, “but probably doesn’t mean you go alone.”
I should argue, and I want to argue, partly because he’s overbearing and partly because the way he’s overbearing affects my body in inconvenient ways.
I fold my arms across my chest, and three pairs of eyes zero in on the spot for a quick second. “So Boone has an errand.”
Boone lifts his mug in a salute. “An important one.”
“What errand?”
“I’ll know it when I find it.”
Cade’s mouth twitches, but Rhett doesn’t smile.
“What are you planning to do in town?” Rhett’s demanding tone irritates me, but the care beneath it is clear.
“I don’t know. Shop, have lunch, enjoy the change of scenery. I don’t need a bodyguard.”
“You can do all of that, but Boone will be nearby. Make sure your phone is fully charged and keep it handy. Call him if anyone so much as looks at you funny.”
“Yes, sir,” I say, because I can’t help myself.
Something dark flickers in Rhett’s eyes, and Boone clears his throat. Cade opens the door before I can think too deeply about the moment.