Total pages in book: 117
Estimated words: 110694 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 553(@200wpm)___ 443(@250wpm)___ 369(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 110694 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 553(@200wpm)___ 443(@250wpm)___ 369(@300wpm)
“Sure, that’ll be fine,” I told him.
The crooked smile he gave me sent off the wild beating of butterflies in my stomach who honestly had no shame. They had no pride. They were pathetic, and I couldn’t seem to control them.
He helped Stevie into the truck, and she bounced in the seat, excited about sitting in the front without a car seat.
“You like the boots?” he asked, turning back to me.
I nodded. “Yes, thank you. They’re beautiful.”
“And comfortable? Jayda told me the size you needed.”
“Yes.”
He looked down at them. “Unfortunately, I couldn’t find any in a teal blue that would work well for what you needed them for. This was as close as I could get. But I did get Stevie some, so I hoped that would make up for it.”
I stared at him. What did he mean by that? Because what I thought he meant would be…sweet. Possibly the most thoughtful thing anyone had ever done for me. It would also mean he…had thought about me. Made an effort to please me. None of those things seemed possible.
“Uh, these are great. And Stevie loves hers. She’s never had real boots.”
The corner of his lips quirked, and he tilted his head. The dark blue of his eyes seemed lighter in the sunshine, more like the sky than the deep ocean. “But are they what your eleven-year-old heart wanted, Ringlets?”
I blanched. My breathing hitched, and my mouth fell slightly open. He’d remembered? The reckless butterflies flapped their wings, as if to mock me and my doubt.
“You—you remember that?” The question was almost a whisper.
He smirked at me. The crinkles fanning the corners of his eyes were even sexy. “Of course I do. I had to spend twenty minutes just trying to get you to smile again. Not even the fact that I brought you two daisies helped.”
This was a memory. He didn’t mean anything by it.
I sucked in a breath, then let it out. “Dad wasn’t one for flashy things, and I was dramatic back then,” I said, trying to play it off.
If he thought I was reading anything into it, then he’d stop being nice. I’d already figured out he didn’t want me to think it was okay to cross any and all lines he had firmly set in place. Not that I would try.
When he held out a hand for me, my gaze dropped down to it as if I didn’t know what it was or what to do with it. Touching him when it wasn’t sexual felt foreign and forbidden.
“I’m just trying to help you up into the truck, Ringlets.” His deep drawl made warmth rush through my body.
I placed my hand over his, and that single touch of his skin on mine sent a shiver over me that I hoped I masked as I stepped up into the truck. Then, I quickly pulled my hand free and placed it in my lap. It was if he’d branded me.
We drove slowly back through his property as Stevie chatted about her new boots and being a big girl in the front seat while I worked on pulling myself together. The tingle that still covered my palm from his touch wasn’t much help.
With my gaze out the side window and my thoughts on everything that had happened since I had woken up, Stevie’s, “I SEE A HAWSE!” caused me to jump.
I snapped my gaze from the fenced-off fields on my right to look directly ahead. Several yards away sat a red barn, and just outside of it was a buckskin quarter horse.
“I want to pet it!” Stevie exclaimed, her hands clasped together at her chest as she peered over the dashboard.
Linc slowed the truck and came to a stop outside the barn.
“Then, let’s go,” Linc said as he swung open his door.
“Is that…do you have stables?” I asked him.
He reached to take Stevie as she crawled over to him, and his eyes lifted to meet mine. “They’re part of the reason we bought this property. Cash Stables is where the family raises their thoroughbreds in Mississippi, but I wanted something smaller. Mine. But I just never got around to getting horses moved into it. These two had been at Cash Stables for about a year now. I’d bought them on a trip to Alabama with Bane to look at a thoroughbred he wanted to buy.”
He had stables. This was not the surprise I had expected. I’d not really thought too much about the surprise, honestly. I’d been too wrapped up in my boots and Linc buying them because of a memory I hadn’t realized he had.
Stevie slapped his back as he held her. “Let’s go!” she urged him.
He nodded, smiling at her before looking back at me. “Get out, Ringlets.”
I reached for the door handle and pushed it open, then hurried to get down out of the truck. My gaze took in every detail of the scene around me. There had to be over thirty acres out here that was fenced in. That wasn’t bad for only two horses. The barn looked freshly painted, although the rustic older-style feel to it remained intact. I loved that. It wasn’t flashy, like the rest of his life seemed to be. This was simply functional.