Total pages in book: 104
Estimated words: 102361 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 512(@200wpm)___ 409(@250wpm)___ 341(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 102361 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 512(@200wpm)___ 409(@250wpm)___ 341(@300wpm)
“My family does,” Ava replies, tapping her lips with her finger. “I’ll ask Tucker if he could use some help next year. He’s my oldest brother and runs the Hendrix Ranch now that my dad has retired.”
“Good for him,” I say with a nod. “He has hi, I’m a hot-as-hell cowboy written all over him.”
“Ew.” Ava wrinkles her nose. “No, he doesn’t.”
I turn to Darby. “He’s hot. Around our age, tall, dark, and handsome.”
“He could look like a toad for all I care. I need a job.”
“I mean, it can’t hurt to look at a sexy cowboy while you work,” I reply, shrugging one shoulder.
“Who the fuck are you talking about, Wildfire?”
I jump, my stomach climbs into my throat, and Ava breaks out in laughter.
“You startled me.”
I turn to find Brooks’s sizzling gaze on me, his eyes narrowed, his jaw tight. “Who. Are you. Talking about?”
“Tucker,” Ava says helpfully. “We were talking about your friend Tucker. Who your girlfriend thinks is hot.”
Ava is a shit stirrer.
“Look, I can observe that a person is attractive without it meaning anything or threatening you—”
Brooks cuts me off by wrapping his hand around the back of my neck and covering my mouth with his. I can hear everyone around us whoop and clap their hands, and my face heats.
How can he turn me on so much with just a single kiss?
“You were saying?” he growls against my lips.
“I have no idea.”
His lips twitch into a smile. “Good. Hello, ladies.”
“I’m just so happy,” Bee says, wiping tears from her cheeks. “I want you two together so bad. Don’t mind me, it’s just the hormones.”
Brooks chuckles and reaches out to brush his hand down Billie’s hair. “Don’t cry, Bee.”
“I can’t help it.”
My phone buzzes in my pocket, and when I pull it out, my face falls.
Unknown Number: Send me ten grand. Today.
Brooks is looking over my shoulder, and I’m not trying to keep the words out of his line of vision.
“Dammit,” I mutter.
“Let’s go, Wildfire. You can take care of that at home.”
I nod, and then make the rounds, giving hugs and saying goodbye. And with the book club book, along with three others, tucked under my arm, I set off with my man.
“Did you leave work early?” I ask him as he takes my hand and links our fingers.
“I want to spend time with you.”
Excitement bubbles up in my chest. “Good. I was kicked out of my place earlier. Apparently, I’m in the way.”
“You’re not in my way,” he says and kisses the top of my head. “Let me show you just how not in my way you are.”
“That sounds like a really good idea.”
Chapter Sixteen
BROOKS
Ifucking hate the way the fire left her eyes when she got that goddamn text at the bookstore. My wildfire was having fun, laughing with her friends, and then the text came through, and her gorgeous face dropped.
I wanted to smash that phone to pieces for giving her even a moment of pain.
After pulling into the driveway behind Jules, we walk in through the back door, and she kicks off her shoes, sighs, and grabs a bottle of water out of the fridge.
“It was fun to see the girls at the bookstore,” she says as she twists off the cap and takes a sip. “Darby looks fantastic. I haven’t seen her since high school.”
I cross to her, set her bottle on the counter, then tip her chin up and cover her lips with mine, kissing her thoroughly.
“What was that for?” she asks, her breath coming faster when I pull back.
“It’s been too long since I kissed you.”
Jules smirks. “Yeah. Like twenty minutes.”
Her phone pings with another text, and when she pulls it out of her pocket, it’s another message like the last one.
Unknown Number: Are you listening? Send the fucking money!
“That’s enough of that bullshit,” I growl, and Jules bites her lip.
“She’s not supposed to be contacting me on my phone at all. Email only. She knows that.”
“Then ignore it.”
She sighs and nods. “I will. I usually do. Actually, from what I understand, I’m not supposed to approve any extra money for her. As a trustee, that’s the whole job, according to Google. But fuck, I hate being the trustee.”
Another text comes through, full of shitty, angry emoji, so I take the phone, turn it off, and toss it on the counter.
“We’re going to consult with an attorney, baby. There’s no reason in this world that you should be in charge of that shit. Not to mention, she’s abusive, and I won’t have it.”
“I’ll change my number, too,” she murmurs and hops up on the counter, reaching for me. I move close and cage her in, breathing in her flowery scent. “Let’s not think about that anymore.”
“Good idea.” Fuck, I love having free access to her again. My hands glide up her thighs and around to her ass, squeezing. She bites that plump lip, and her blue eyes go wide with lust. “I want to take you for a ride.”