Total pages in book: 79
Estimated words: 78487 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 392(@200wpm)___ 314(@250wpm)___ 262(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 78487 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 392(@200wpm)___ 314(@250wpm)___ 262(@300wpm)
I have a loving family now.
My son was born a week early. He was a big baby—nine pounds, fifteen ounces—and he was in a hurry. Ares delivered him in the back of my car three miles from the hospital.
And he has been obsessed with him ever since.
He’s a good daddy. His kid is never going to know how it feels to not be loved by his father.
Farther along, at another table, Lacey from the Spicy Crawdad is in deep conversation with Wyatt, an old biker with a handlebar mustache and a gravelly voice. They think we don’t know it, but they’re secretly dating. It will be a cold day in hell before Lacey admits to having feelings. But they’re there because I can see them now written all over her face as she looks longingly at Wyatt.
Speaking of romance.
On the makeshift dance floor, Gabe is dancing slowly with Cinnamon. They’ve been engaged for three weeks, and I have a feeling they’ll be married by Fall. Apparently, she was the perfect antidote to his heartbreak, and he was the perfect elixir to her aversion to being an old lady.
Old lady.
Oh, my God.
I guess that’s what I am now.
Ares’ old lady.
A warmth spreads through me as I think about the man who owns my heart and soul completely. Every day, I wake up in his warm arms, and every night he sends me to heaven with his hot kisses and deep moans while his big hands roam my body.
When I think about what he did to me this morning, my body becomes warm, and my cheeks flush.
From the garden below, Bronte looks up and waves. I wave back, and the flash of platinum on my finger catches my eye, and I can’t help but grin. My engagement ring is a band of diamonds and is the most beautiful ring in the world. But it’s nothing compared to the diamond-encrusted crown hanging from the chain around my neck.
I reach up to touch it, and my smile grows wider.
Wearing Ares’ crown is an honor, and it fills me with pride.
“That’s what I like to see… my wife smiling,” says the warm voice behind me.
Strong arms wrap around my waist. Gentle lips brush my shoulder.
“My wife. That has a real good ring to it,” I say, turning in his arms to look up at him. I wind my arms around his neck. “Say it again.”
He leans down and brushes his lips across mine. “My wife,” he whispers.
His tongue slides into my mouth, and I melt against him, dizzy with lust. He could kiss me for a thousand years, and it still wouldn’t be enough.
Earl clears his throat, and we reluctantly stop.
“Sorry to interrupt,” he says.
He and Dolly are standing in the doorway, our son in Dolly’s arms.
“Someone was beginning to fuss for his momma and his daddy,” she says.
I take my son from her, and he yawns, then smiles up at me. “It’s been a big day for him.”
Frankie is the most adorable kid on the planet. But then, I’m probably biased. He has his daddy’s features—dark hair, a hint of a dimple on the chin, long dark lashes—but he has my blue eyes.
“We were fixing to leave. You want us to take Frankie home with us?” Dolly asks. “Give you two some time alone?”
“No,” Ares replies. He looks lovingly at me. “I think it’s time I take my family home.”
I look at him, surprised. “The party is still going strong. You sure you don’t want to stay?”
His eyes twinkle across at me. “Let them dance. I want to go home and be with my family.”
The affection on his face turns me to mush.
I ease up on my tiptoes to kiss him. “I love you.”
“I love you too, little one.”
With a grin he takes my hand and we head for home.