Total pages in book: 21
Estimated words: 20660 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 103(@200wpm)___ 83(@250wpm)___ 69(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 20660 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 103(@200wpm)___ 83(@250wpm)___ 69(@300wpm)
I glance at her. “You say that like it’s a joke.”
“Because it is. No one’s immune. Not even Jack Rivers. Especially not Jack Rivers. He needs it more than anyone.”
Josie charges up the ladder again.
Winter turns to me, her voice softer. “You’ll be good for him. Both of you. A man like that needs to be opened up. Needs someone who challenges him, makes him uncomfortable with new feelings, and makes him realize life’s better when it’s shared. Now he’s got something to lose—his heart.”
My chest tightens.
I want to believe her.
God, I want to.
But belief’s never come easy for me.
Not when it comes to men.
Not when it comes to Jack.
He’s only been back in our lives for a day, and already I feel like I’m standing on a trapdoor. One wrong move and it’s all going to collapse.
Because there’s still one thing I haven’t told him.
That Josie’s not just a surprise roommate.
She’s his.
He doesn’t know.
No one does.
I swallow hard, blinking back the nerves crawling under my skin. Winter’s still talking, but her words fade under the roar of my own thoughts.
I was nineteen when I got pregnant. Fresh out of high school, terrified, alone. Jack had just shipped off to his next assignment, and I had nothing but a couple of letters and one unforgettable night.
My parents were furious. Conservative. Controlling. They put a lock on my life and tossed the key into a vault. Said I could keep the baby, but only if I did things their way. Finish college. Get a degree. Let them raise Josie as their own. Never speak of Jack Rivers again.
They held Josie over my head like a hostage.
So I played along. Got my dual major. Science and English. Now I work from home writing for a science magazine and make custom jewelry in my free time. But the cost?
Jack never got to know his daughter.
He missed her first steps. Her first word. The first time she called me Mommy.
All those moments he should’ve had... I stole them.
And now he’s back. Under our roof. Looking at Josie like she’s a mystery he hasn’t solved yet.
I have to tell him.
But the fear won’t stop whispering.
What if he hates me for it?
What if he kicks us out?
What if I lose everything?
I glance back at Josie, who’s now hanging upside down on the monkey bars like she’s auditioning for a circus.
She deserves to know her father. She deserves to be loved by him. And Jack...
He deserves the truth.
But I’ve only had him back for one day.
And already, I’m terrified of losing him again.
Chapter Four
Jack
The last thing I need is a distraction.
Especially this kind of distraction.
But there she is again—Holly—bent over my workbench like she owns the damn place, hair tied up in some lazy knot, wearing one of those ribbed tank tops that hugs her just a little too tight. Her jeans are worn in all the right places, and her boots are scuffed like she’s not afraid to get her hands dirty. I think of what the guys said yesterday–how Slate just had a feeling that Emma was for him. Did it feel like this? Like losing her might leave a heart-shaped hole in my chest?
Holly’s humming some off-key holiday tune and organizing my drill bits.
Wrong.
She's reorganizing my drill bits.
I lean against the doorway, arms crossed over my chest, watching her from the shadows. “You trying to give me a heart attack?”
She jumps a little, spins around with a cocky smile that doesn’t match the innocent act. “Relax, mountain man. Needed something to do while Josie naps and they were a mess. You had a quarter-inch bit jammed in the five-eighths slot. That’s criminal.”
“They were organized my way,” I growl, pushing off the doorframe and walking toward her slowly. She doesn’t flinch—just plants her hands on her hips and tips her chin up like she’s daring me to argue.
Hell. I admire the nerve.
“Your way is chaos,” she says sweetly. “I upgraded you.”
“You don’t upgrade a man’s workshop without permission.”
“Oh, is that how it works?” She bats her lashes. “Should I go unstack the lumber you left leaning against the bandsaw too?”
I stop right in front of her, close enough to smell the coconut scent of her shampoo. She doesn’t move, just cranes her neck to keep her eyes locked with mine.
“Don’t test me, sunshine,” I murmur. “I’ve got a whole list of rules, and breaking them comes with consequences.”
“Oh?” Her tone lifts, flirty and dangerous. “Like what? You’ll reorganize my sock drawer in retaliation?”
I smirk. “No. I’d bend you over the workbench and remind you exactly who’s in charge of this shop.”
That wipes the smile from her face—but not in the way I expect. Her lips part slightly, and her breath hitches, just enough to give her away.
Gotcha.
But she recovers fast. Too fast.
“You talk a big game, Jack.” Her voice drops, smoky. “But I’m not convinced you’ve got the follow-through.”