Total pages in book: 151
Estimated words: 142976 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 715(@200wpm)___ 572(@250wpm)___ 477(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 142976 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 715(@200wpm)___ 572(@250wpm)___ 477(@300wpm)
“Margot’s boyfriend’s shirts, aye?”
“No, they’re my shirts now. They haven’t been his shirts in over ten years.”
“You like my shirts better though. They’re a better fit, softer cotton.”
She folded her arms over her chest.
“What happened to them, Cade?”
“I don’t know what happened to them.”
“I feel like you do,” she challenged. She was mostly amused by this turn of events. She’d always suspected he’d had a hand in the mysterious disappearance of her shirts. What she hadn’t known was why.
“No, I’m serious, Fern,” he maintained earnestly. “I don’t know what happens to shit after it gets thrown out.”
She covered her mouth with her hand, mostly to hide her smile.
“You threw them out? Why?”
“Because I didn’t like seeing you in another man’s clothes,” he admitted, running a hand over his head as he avoided her eyes.
“Aah, well then…” She dragged the T-shirt up and off, tossing it over her shoulder without a backward glance. His eyes sparked at the sight of her in only knee socks and bright pink panties. He drank in her obviously pregnant body with the little baby bump and her now bottom-heavy breasts with their dark, pert nipples.
He was so busy staring, he was taken completely unaware when she stepped toward him and tugged at the hem of his T-shirt. She had it halfway up his chest before he could react.
“Bend your head,” she commanded and he automatically obeyed. She had the shirt off him and on her in seconds after that. Leaving him to blink at her in shock.
“You stole my shirt,” he said, sounding a little dazed.
She laughed at him.
“You’re right, I do like your shirts better.”
She walked out of the room with a brazen swagger to her hips.
Cade followed after changing into another shirt and ushered her straight to the sofa—even though she insisted that she was fine. He covered her with a lap blanket, plumping up the cushions around her, and making her a mug of hot cocoa with marshmallows.
“You know it’s summer, right?” she asked him from the depths of the cocoon he’d created for her.
“Are you trying to tell me you’re not comfortable right now?” he asked with a skeptically arched brow.
She tossed him a mutinous glare before taking a sip from her delicious cocoa and grumbling beneath her breath.
“What’s that?” he asked, cupping a hand around his ear. “I didn’t quite catch it.
“Maybe I’m a little comfortable.”
“I have a couple of meetings. It won’t be too long,” he told her. “I’ll be in my office. The door’s open. Call if you need me.”
“Fine. Thanks for the cocoa.”
He grinned and dropped a kiss on her mouth.
“Love you.” He seemed to get a kick out of saying it.
“Love you too,” she replied…. Okay, maybe she got a kick out of saying it too.
She lifted her phone and immediately started texting Beth, until he leaned over the back of the couch to confiscate her phone and replace it with the tv remote.
“Hey, come on, man, it was just a text,” she protested.
“You heard the doctor, lay off the small screens and reading for the next twenty-four hours. The television screen is larger, better for your bruised brain.”
“Fine,” she grumbled. She was a little more familiar with his entertainment system now and began flicking through his streaming services. He watched her for a moment, before leaving her to it.
When Cade checked in on Fern an hour later, she was fast asleep. Still curled up on the sofa, buried under a couple of cushions, with the blanket drawn up to her chin. Her small feet were sticking out on the other end of the blanket.
He grinned, feeling a pang in his chest at the sight of her, so perfect and content, exactly where she belonged. He couldn’t quite believe that she loved him. It all felt like a surreal dream, and he was petrified that he would wake up from it at any moment only to find that she’d never really existed.
He shuddered at the thought and sat down by her feet, scooting over, until they were in his lap. He took one of them into his palm—so small—and peeled off her socks before giving her a foot rub. He wasn’t very good at it, just did what came naturally, gently digging his thumbs into her soft heels and soles.
She sighed… and stretched. Then opened her eyes with a throaty little moan.
“Hmm, that feels nice,” she told him with a sleepy smile.
“You have a good nap?”
“Uh huh.”
He moved onto the other foot.
“I wanted to let you know that Abernathy was arrested after you fell. On assault charges. The police have already questioned me, but they’re going to want to speak to you at some point as well. Would you be willing to do that?”
“Yes, of course,” she said with a dark little frown.
“There are plenty of witnesses who will attest to the fact that he grabbed you against your will,” Cade told her. He released her feet and she scooted upright.