Total pages in book: 39
Estimated words: 37508 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 188(@200wpm)___ 150(@250wpm)___ 125(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 37508 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 188(@200wpm)___ 150(@250wpm)___ 125(@300wpm)
There was no doubt about it.
I’d fallen in love her.
As much as it terrified me, I couldn’t imagine a life without her.
Taking everything I had to give, she gyrated against me, grinding her warm, wet pussy over my cock. Fuck. This woman was going to be the death of me.
I could feel her clenching all around me as her second orgasm started to take hold. My body grew rigid as my release inched its way through me. I couldn’t hold back a second longer. I came, and I came hard. I kept myself seated deep inside her, relishing in the feeling of her pulsing around my cock.
After several seconds, I dropped to the bed next to her. Her hands fell above her head with a dramatic sigh. “Holy shit.”
“Holy shit is right.” I quickly tossed the condom, then slipped my arm under her and pulled her close. “Damn. You’re fucking incredible.”
“You’re the incredible one.” She rested her head on my chest as she whispered, “I love you, Thatch.”
My breath caught. I’d hoped she felt the same way I did, and now I had my answer. She cared for me just as much as I cared for her. “God, I love you, too. More than you’ll ever know.”
We’d been lying there, tangled in each other’s arms for almost an hour when Laken slipped out of my arms and sat up in bed. She got up and went over to my dresser, stealing one of my T-shirts and pulling it over her head like she owned it. She pulled it over her bare bottom as she announced, “I’m going to grab some water. You want anything?”
“Yeah,” I answered, stretching back against the pillows. “Grab me a beer.”
“Sure thing.”
Smiling, she darted out of the bedroom. I listened to her soft footsteps as she made her way down the hall. The fridge door opening and closing. The sink turning on and off. Domestic sounds. Familiar sounds. One I didn’t realize I’d been missing until she and Bay had moved in.
Seconds later, she returned with our drinks and the handful of mail I’d collected from her place on the way home from work. She handed me my beer, then climbed onto the bed beside me as she started flipping through the envelopes. And then, her whole body went still, and the blood drained from her face.
Concerned, I asked, “What is it?”
“The bill from the hospital. I wasn’t expecting it so soon.”
“What’s the damage?”
I watched her hold her breath as she tore it open. She stared at the paper for a second, then her head fell back and she groaned with frustration. “Three thousand dollars! How in the world am I going to pay this?”
Seeing her upset fucked with my head. I sat up and placed my hand on her thigh as I said, “It’s okay. We’ll figure it out.”
“There’s no we to it, Thatch,” Laken argued. “This is on me. Baylor is my daughter.”
“Yeah, she is, but you’re my girl. And I take care of what’s mine.”
Her eyes softened, and I could see that wall she liked to hide behind starting to crack. I didn’t say it to make a point. I said it because I meant it. Laken wasn’t ready to hear it, so she kept at it. “I don’t want you having to take on my mess. It isn’t fair. I won’t do it. I just need some time to think.”
“What’s there to think about?”
“Everything, Baylor. Work. Bills. My apartment,” she said, voice tight. “Things were going so well, and now, this. It’s like I’m not meant to have a good life.”
“That’s not true. You deserve it more than anyone I know.”
“Clearly not.”
I took her hand in mine as I said, “We’ve got something good here, don’t we?”
“We do,” she admitted. “But we have to be realistic about things. We’ve only known each other for a little while. Who’s to say you’ll even like me a month from now?”
“I will.”
“But how can you be sure?”
“Because I do. You’re it for me, Laken. Knew that the night I found you standing on the side of that road.”
“Is that right?” she giggled.
“No doubt about it.” I gave her a look. “You saying you don’t feel the same?”
“No,” she sighed. “I’m not saying that at all.”
“That’s what I thought.”
“It doesn’t change anything. I’m still in a mess.”
“Don’t have to be.” Her brows furrowed. “I have an answer to all your woes.”
“Oh, and what’s that?”
“It’s pretty simple.” I slipped my arm around her waist and pulled her close. “Stay here.”
“Oh, I thought you were being serious.”
“I am,” I said softly, my thumb tracing her jaw. “It’s been good having you here. I want you and Baylor to stay.”
“I appreciate the offer. I really do, but this is too soon. I can’t.”
“Why not?”
“It’s too soon.” She raked her teeth across her bottom lip and sighed before continuing, “I like what we have. I like it a lot. I’ve never felt about anyone the way I feel about you, and I don’t want to mess it up.”