Total pages in book: 31
Estimated words: 28432 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 142(@200wpm)___ 114(@250wpm)___ 95(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 28432 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 142(@200wpm)___ 114(@250wpm)___ 95(@300wpm)
As soon as she’s gone, tucked away from me, I breathe a sigh of relief. But then the water starts, and I think about her standing naked under the spray. Think about her rubbing my shower gel all over those perfect tits.
Fuck, I can’t focus on stuff like this.
I move to my front porch and breathe in the mountain air. I try to let it untangle all the thoughts in my head but it’s not working tonight. I need to distract myself.
Reaching for my phone, I start a group call with Roman, Blade, and Rafe. The three of them live on the mountain, the same as me. They’re my friends along with Brennon and Nash who are both happily married now. Lucky bastards.
“I’m not going hiking with you fuckers,” Blade says, answering the call. He lost his arm a couple years back and moved to the mountain recently. He doesn’t talk much about himself, and I’ve never asked.
“It’s not about that,” I answer. “I got a woman here.”
Rafe’s voice comes on the line next. He sounds perturbed. Like Blade, he’s a newer addition to our crew. “Well, then what the fuck are you doing talking to us?”
I don’t want to hear Rafe talking about the things I should be doing with my curvy little runaway. I don’t want him thinking about her like that. “She’s in trouble.”
“You want me to look it up, figure out what’s going on?” Roman runs a construction company. He’s served time and has a network of contacts. If anyone could figure this out it would be him.
I want her to come to me. I want her to trust me. “Not yet. Give me some time.”
“We’ll keep an eye on things then,” Roman says, already knowing where my mind was going. “I’ll spread the word around the mountain. Make sure she’s covered.”
Some of the tightness in my gut eases at his words. I can trust my friends to have her back without hesitation. Knowing Roman, he’ll have patrols organized within an hour. They’ll be monitoring my land and keeping an eye out for unexpected visitors.
“Appreciate it,” I tell them before saying my goodbyes.
Now that I know my friends will be watching over her with me, I can focus on gaining her trust and learning her secrets. Then I’ll destroy whoever has her so afraid with my bare hands.
6
MOLLY
I finally feel clean, and I smell like Trace’s shower gel, which is weirdly comforting. I never thought smelling like a man would be nice but then again, I smell like the guy who rescued me from what could have turned into a horrible situation.
I thought earlier in his workshop that maybe he wanted to kiss me. I thought that was why he was so close and invading my space. But then he didn’t, and I felt embarrassed and humiliated. He has to be close to twenty years older than me. He probably just sees me as some kid running away from home.
Shaking off the thoughts, I remind myself not to make this weird for him. The longer I can stay here and earn a few dollars, the better it’ll be when I finally have to go.
I shrug into his t-shirt, the thin material rasping against my nipples. What would it be like to have Trace’s hands on them? What would his lips feel like on my body? Just the thought has me tingling all over.
I leave the bathroom in a puff of humid air and step into Trace’s bedroom. He’s turning down the sheets and he straightens when he sees me.
“You take the bed tonight.” He nods then slips past me into the bathroom. He shuts the door and the sound of the lock clicking annoys me for some reason. Not like I’m going to come bursting in after him.
“Big, bossy mountain man,” I huff as I get into the Alaskan king bed. It’s large enough that five of me could comfortably sleep in it. Except that sleep doesn’t come easy. I stare up at the ceiling in the room that’s illuminated with a bedside lamp.
Something scrapes against the windowpane and my heart pounds. For a second, I fear my father’s men have found me. But then the noise sounds again, and I realize it’s just branches scraping along the windowpane in the storm.
Shaking my head at my anxious thoughts, I do that breathing exercise I learned in a meditation video. I try to imagine myself walking through a forest. I close my eyes and count sheep. Nothing works and I find myself listening to the sound of the shower water.
Trace is in there, the water running over his body. It’s a very nice one if that t-shirt he wore today is any indication. It got sticky with sweat and plastered to him, outlining his six-pack and toned pecs. I imagine touching his chest, pressing my curves against him. Would he like that or would he push me away in disgust?