Total pages in book: 88
Estimated words: 84673 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 423(@200wpm)___ 339(@250wpm)___ 282(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 84673 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 423(@200wpm)___ 339(@250wpm)___ 282(@300wpm)
As for what she had gone running to the Gypsies to ask, Blake had actually revealed it only to Frankie while they were having dinner at the pub. But what they hadn't noticed then was how the girls seated at the table behind them overheard their entire conversation, and from there news of Blake's question had spread like wildfire.
Can you please tell me, she had apparently beseeched the palm reader, if my boss will ever love me back?
Chapter Four
IT WAS ALREADY HALF-past six when Thornton's truck climbed the uphill road leading back to his home, and he was relieved to see that the area was already empty of movie cameras and filming crew members.
Coming out of the garage, Thornton saw that the bookshop's sign had already been flipped to Closed
and took the narrow side alley that led directly to his garden. From here, a cobbled pathway weaved past the rose bushes and plant boxes and went all the way to the front door of his sleekly-remodeled shipping container home.
Thornton's private residence consisted of three remodeled containers. The ones at the side were of equal size, with the left container housing his bedroom and study while the right container, previously a storage room, had been converted to give Blake her own space.
Both units were connected to the middle unit with glass-roofed boardwalks. The middle container was the larger of the two and, save for the wall at the back, boasted of floor-to-ceiling glass doors at all sides, and it was here he finally found his pretty little assistant, hair bundled up in a careless chignon as she meticulously set the table for dinner.
"Evening."
Blake's head lifted right away, and it was a sublime pleasure to see her lovely face light up with a smile of unconcealed happiness the moment she saw him coming in. She was dressed in shirt and jeans, and its very wholesomeness was a major turn-on. He liked the way the cotton gently molded over the fullness of her breasts and the way her skinny jeans emphasized the slim length of her legs.
"Welcome back!" Blake couldn't help gobbling her boss up with her eyes as she spoke. Oh sweet baby Jesus, but Thornton Blackwood just seemed to get sexier every day. He was dressed in his typical cowboy attire, with his plaid buttoned-up shirt and sleeves rolled up to his elbows, faded denim jeans that did an extremely great job at emphasizing the muscular tightness of his butt and the towering, hard length of his build.
Mouthwatering in other words, she thought helplessly.
Blake volunteered to say grace as they took their seats, and Thornton simply nodded. The first time she had asked this of him, he had simply stared at her, to the point that she had started squirming and asked if perhaps he had a different religion. But it hadn't been that really. What had taken him aback was that she had the guts to ask anything of him in the first place.
Most women - and some men, too - were typically afraid to even look at him in the eye in their first few encounters with him. And yet this girl...
Blake had no problems cheerfully taking up the bulk of the conversation over dinner. She loved, like truly loved to talk, and the nicest thing about Thornton was how keen he always appeared to listen to her. Once, she had tried to see if he was merely pretending and asked him a question whose detailed answer he would only know if he had truly lent her an ear.
'Mr. Blackwood, do you remember about yesterday's incident...' She had deliberately trailed off, hoping he would take over and show her what he did remember.
And he had, she recalled dreamily, and oh so wonderfully, too. The incident she had been referring to was a service complaint from an online customer, and Thornton not only recalled the whole incident down to the smallest detail, but he had also informed her afterwards that he had his people take care of the issue on their behalf.
While his choice of words (his people???) had been rather bewildering, she had just been so happy, knowing that he truly did listen to everything she said, that Blake shrugged the matter off. Maybe it was just a Hartland thing...
Thornton's lips slowly pressed together in an effort to suppress his smile. How incredibly easy it was for this woman to get lost in daydreams. It was practically a talent, and he found her ability to fly to la-la land whenever wherever genuinely impressive.
The first time it happened, they had been at a weekend fair Blake had somehow convinced him to accompany her to. At one particular store, a next-town artisan was selling handmade necklaces. Blake had immediately gravitated towards the one with a heart-shaped lapis lazuli, and one moment she had been gushing over its craftmanship, and the next moment...nothing. A full minute had passed, and when Thornton had glanced down at her in sheer bafflement, he had seen Blake staring at the necklace like it had just transported her to Narnia.