Total pages in book: 80
Estimated words: 76782 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 384(@200wpm)___ 307(@250wpm)___ 256(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 76782 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 384(@200wpm)___ 307(@250wpm)___ 256(@300wpm)
“She sounds like a great old lady.”
She laughed, a fond look on her face. “She is that. And she is my only family. I love her.”
I nodded, thinking of my aunt Roisin. I felt the same way about her. She had been a second mum to me for so long, and I adored her.
“What about you?” she asked. “Are your parents alive?”
“No. They had me late in life, and they died when I was in my twenties. My mum went and my da not long after. We lived close to my aunt Roisin’s house, and she stepped in, sort of like your Lynn, but I think a bit more, ah, Irish.”
Autumn looked confused. “What does that mean?”
“Vocal, happy to put me in my place and remind me who I am. She’s bossy as hell, and we all love her for it. She can drink me under the table, knows all my sordid past, and likes to remind me she changed my nappies and she’s seen what little gift God gave me and I need to be sure to work on my personality since I haven’t much else to impress the lassies.”
Autumn laughed long and hard, and I joined her.
“I think your aunt missed a growth spurt,” she said with a cheeky grin. “I’ve seen your gift, and it impressed me.”
I leaned over and kissed her. “So good for my ego.”
For a few moments, there was silence. I took a sip of coffee, and I cleared my throat before asking my next question. “You said you can’t have children.”
She shook her head. “Severe endometriosis. The doctors said my chances were slim to none. I was diagnosed in my twenties.”
“Was that difficult for you?”
“For a while. But I have friends with kids and I love my job, so it’s enough.” She paused. “You?”
“Sporting accident. I didn’t even know until my, ah, girlfriend at the time was trying to get pregnant without my knowing it. She got angry when it didn’t happen. We broke up, but I got checked out. Like you, I was told the chances were slim to none.”
“I’m sorry for her deception and that you had to find out that way.”
I shrugged. “Better I found out then than after we were married. I never had dreams of kids, really. I wanted to be a solicitor. Make lots of money. Travel. I felt sad for a while, but I came to terms with it. Much like you did. We find other joys, right?”
She nodded. “Sometimes I wonder if I would have made a good mom, but most times, I’m happy with my life.”
“Me too.”
I studied her. “You bring me joy.”
She laughed. “You hardly know me.”
“Doesn’t matter. I look at you, and I feel…” I shrugged, unsure how to express it.
“Horny?” she said with a grin.
I pulled her close and kissed her. “Without a doubt. But happy too. If this happened with anyone else, I’d be trudging to the village, demanding someone find me a way back to Edinburgh. But with you, I’m very content to stay here. Ravish you. Eat and relax. Let the fecking snow fall all it wants.”
She giggled. “You are one diverse man, Sully Black. Oddly romantic but so…”
“Manly? Sexy?”
She stroked my jaw. “All of the above, plus down-to-earth. You throw out curses, making them sound delightful.”
“You should see me in the office. Nothing delightful when I’m cursing then. People cower. Run as if an ogre were chasing them.”
“I doubt that.”
I lowered my voice and deepened my brogue. “You want ta see? I can be a horny ogre and chase you around like the fair maiden terrified of how I’ll devour you if I catch you.”
She glanced around the room, and I leered at her. “I’ll give you a head start.” I pushed her off my lap. “But I’m coming for ya in five…”
“There’s nowhere to run!” she exclaimed, panicked and laughing at the same time.
“Four.”
She ran down the hall, slamming the bedroom door. Which had no lock on it. I chuckled as I stood and stretched. “Three,” I called, tearing off my shirt.
I wasn’t going to need it.
My sweats followed. “Two!”
I opened the door, wearing only my boxers, a smile, and the hard-on I couldn’t control around her. I was constantly needing to be inside her. She was like my own Viagra.
She was easy to find, huddling under the covers as if I wouldn’t spot her instantly. I threw back the blankets and grinned down at her.
“One.”
AUTUMN
I woke, wrapped in Sully. The man was huge and took up a great deal of the massive bed in the room. And had an affinity, it seemed, for draping himself around me.
And I loved it. I felt safe, cared for.
I wasn’t sure how I was going to go back to sleeping alone. I shifted a little, rolling so I faced him. In slumber, he looked peaceful. Still hot as hell, but without the intensity that clung to him like a shadow. I could only imagine him in the corporate world, dressed in a sharp suit, staring his clients down so they would listen.