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)
"And—-"
Anger blazed in his dark eyes. "Don't push it—-"
"I'm just joking."
He stared at her.
She flashed him a peace sign with a weak smile. "I'm really sorry. I couldn't resist—-holy sheep!" He suddenly jerked to his feet, and she nearly fell out of her chair in shock. She looked up, and the sight of him towering over her had Blake gulping. Oh no. Oh yes. She was once again a confused mass of fear and excitement, with the way one part of her found Thornton's aura of danger terrifying while the other part was undeniably aroused by the menacing feel of his power.
"So you think you could make a joke out of this..."
Umm.
When he put it that way...
Sheep.
"I'm so sor—-ah!"
Blake suddenly found herself lifted like a sack of potatoes and thrown over Thornton's shoulder.
"Thorn!"
But her shriek only earned her a slap on the butt, and she half-choked, half-gasped with laughter. "What in the—-"
SLAP!
"People are typically afraid of me for no reason, and I've become used to being avoided and living alone."
Blake stopped trying to wriggle free at Thornton's words.
"But you..."
Blake held her breath and barely noticed Thornton opening the door to his unit.
"You were different from the start." Thornton carefully lowered Blake to her feet as he spoke. "People tend to see all sorts of things when they look at me, but you...you saw perfection." His hands settled on her waist and tightened. "You were never once afraid." He slowly pulled her close until he was seated on the edge of the bed and she was standing between his legs. "And that was what fucked me up."
He looked up.
Blake was crying again, the tears silently falling down her face.
"Do you get it now?" he asked roughly.
She could only shake her head, tears making her unable to speak.
"You fucked me up by making me realize I can't live alone. Not after knowing there's someone like you in the world. You fucked me up so damn well that I find myself trusting you for the strangest things. You admit to lying about Teller not being a childhood friend. You tell me you can't yet speak the truth about him...but you tell me you also need to meet him. Alone. And to fucking top things off, you even dared to make a joke of the whole fucking thing..."
His lips twisted in a rare, beautifully crooked smile.
"Surely you see it now? How you fucked me up so damn good that even though everything points to you and Teller having some kind of romantic past...you've got me so fucked up that I see all these things as proof. You've gotta be the most inept person to be starting a secret affair and cheat on me...but it's those same things that make me think I should trust you."
He cupped her chin.
"It still makes me feel like the world's biggest idiot to say this, but for what it's worth..."
Another crooked smile.
"I trust you—-"
Blake threw herself at him, and she was crying and he was grinning as they fell into the bed.
Tomorrow, Blake promised to herself as they tore each other's clothes off.
Tomorrow, Thornton vowed to himself just before his cock plunged deep into her pussy.
Tomorrow, I'll tell him I love him.
Tomorrow, I'll tell her I love her.
Tomorrow, both of them thought as their bodies shuddered against each other.
Tomorrow.
But it wasn't to be.
Chapter Eighteen
ETHAN HEARD THE FRONT door swish open and absently wondered who in his right mind would need to visit a flower shop on a rainy weekday afternoon. Hartland was always exceptionally colder than most of the mainland, and rain made it more so.
Must be a miserable bastard, Ethan thought as he came to his feet, to have to brave this kind of weather and give someone flowers.
Footsteps headed his way, and as he turned to greet the customer - he ended up blinking in surprise instead. "Thorn?"
His older brother only grunted as he tossed himself on one of the vacant stools next to the counter.
Ethan glanced outside and saw no signs of Thornton's new girlfriend. "Trouble in paradise?"
Thornton grunted again, and Ethan's brows shot up. "There's trouble then?" he asked in surprise. Even if only a fraction of the gossip coming out from the local rumor mills was true, he would've expected Thornton and Blake to still be too busy fucking to have any time to fight.
"Blake's gone down to the city." Before Ethan could ask what for, his older brother then added, "To meet with Curt Teller."
Ethan gave up any pretense of working at that and set aside the bunch of flowers he had been arranging for a bouquet. "Let's head back to the kitchen."
"You're still open," Thornton felt obliged to remind his brother.
"It's Hartland," the younger man dismissed. "We don't get robbed here, and even if we do get the stray burglar or two, they'll find out soon enough we're no ordinary small town."