Total pages in book: 90
Estimated words: 84982 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 425(@200wpm)___ 340(@250wpm)___ 283(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 84982 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 425(@200wpm)___ 340(@250wpm)___ 283(@300wpm)
Being a jockey was my dream. I wanted it.
But being the one to reach Thatcher’s darkness was more important. He wasn’t taking racing away from me. Just this one race. This one horse. Sure, I could set records on tracks with him, and thinking about not getting a chance did twist my gut, but I was in love with Thatcher. I knew without a doubt that I was now. I wanted his peace more than I wanted my dream. If he needed to feel as if he were keeping me safe, then I would let him.
I had no idea where this was headed with us or how long I’d keep his attention. Right now, I felt really damn important to him, but would it last? Would he still screw other women? I didn’t think I could handle that. I had to address it with him, but today didn’t seem to be that day.
We’d been through a lot, and I wouldn’t push him.
The tree line opened up ahead of us.
A white stone or brick—I couldn’t be sure—home that sat in the clearing wasn’t what I had expected Thatcher to live in. It was larger than any one man needed. It was larger than any family of five needed. Tall windows that arched rather than being rectangular lined the front of the home. A small balcony sat over the two front doors that also rounded at the top. The wide front porch was low to the ground with only three equally wide steps that led up to it. Flickering gas-flamed lights were on the columns at the top of those steps. There were two large white oak trees that framed the house on each side with what I believed was called a sweet gum tree in the front of the left side of the home.
“Home,” he said as he pulled around the back side of the house.
The door to a five-car garage that couldn’t be seen from the front opened, and he pulled inside. There were other cars here. This was the only truck. I glanced down the line of them, then back to him. His sole attention was on me. I could see the need for my approval. Again, something I’d never expected from Thatcher.
“This … is your house? You live here alone?”
He nodded.
I let out a small, surprised laugh. “Thatcher, this house is stunning. I …” I shook my head in disbelief. “I never imagined this was what you lived in.”
The corner of his lips quirked. “What did you expect?”
I shrugged. I didn’t know. But not this. “I hadn’t thought about it that hard. I just didn’t think you lived in a house that could be on HGTV’s Million Dollar Homes.”
He frowned. “I have no idea what that is.”
I laughed. “Of course you don’t.” Then, I reached for the handle on my door to get out.
“You’ll stay here then?” He said the words almost as if he were asking.
I didn’t think I had a choice really. Not the way he’d been talking when the others found us at the cabin.
“Do I have a choice?” I asked him.
He scowled. “No.”
Grinning, I opened the door. “Good thing I think you’re hot,” I replied, jumping down from the truck.
I heard his door slam and waited on him to make his way around.
His dark gaze was locked on me. The scowl was gone, but there was something else there. Once, I would have been frightened of it. Now, it just excited me.
“This isn’t a joke, little doll,” he warned me, closing in on me until I had to back up against the truck.
I looked up at him. “What is it, Thatcher?” I asked.
He’d not defined it. We were stepping into real life now. No more locked away in our own world. No more stalking me. I was here. He had me.
He ran the tip of his finger down my cheek. “Mine.” The demented gleam was back. The one that sent others running. Where you weren’t sure if he was fully in control.
“Okay,” I agreed because he was right. I was his. He’d made sure of it. “But … am I the only one? We’ve been having sex without a condom. Do I need to worry about … about others?”
He stilled for a moment, then placed both of his palms on the truck beside my head as he leaned down to look me in the eyes. “Do you think I would let anyone hurt you? Have you not seen by now that I would kill to keep you safe?”
I swallowed, not sure I understood why he had to bring up killing. “Yes,” I whispered. “But the day I quit, it was because you were having sex with someone else. You’d just been in my bed hours before.”
There was a flicker of pain in his gaze that did more for my heart than he realized.