Total pages in book: 92
Estimated words: 90164 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 451(@200wpm)___ 361(@250wpm)___ 301(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 90164 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 451(@200wpm)___ 361(@250wpm)___ 301(@300wpm)
“Love you, Daddy.”
“You did so good today.”
“I know.”
I grin, pleased that my girl has such healthy confidence, and turn off her light before closing the door behind me and walking down the hall to Johnny’s room, which happens to be my old room when I was a kid.
The light is already off when I walk inside, and he’s under the covers, breathing evenly.
“Love you, big boy,” I whisper in his ear.
“Mm,” is all he says as he rolls over the other way.
My kid is a sound sleeper, so I feel confident reaching under his pillow and finding his tooth, replacing it with a five-dollar bill.
With the tooth tucked into my pocket, I leave his room and close the door behind me.
I need to get back out to the bonfire to make sure I’m there to thank everyone for coming to help today as they leave. But when I walk out the front door, I see that Erin is walking by herself to the Suburban, obviously ready to head home for the night.
“Oh, hey,” she says with a small smile. “How are they?”
She nods to the second floor of the house, obviously meaning the kids, and I shove my hands into my pockets.
“Already dreaming. But they had fun today.”
“I know that I told you this the other day, but they’re really great kids, Rem. I like them a lot.”
“Good, because Holly asked if she could keep you after you left on Friday.”
That makes Erin laugh. “I’m glad it runs both ways. Also, just to let you know, my car is officially being fixed, so I shouldn’t need your SUV for too much longer.”
“I don’t care about the car. Use it.”
“But it’s your car. If you’re still uncomfortable with my ride after it’s fixed, we’ll discuss it.”
I rock back on my heels. “Are you always this argumentative?”
“I’m not arguing.”
“Yes, you are. I don’t give a rat’s ass about the car. The kids are comfortable in it.”
“Yeah, but the weather is only going to get better as we head into summer, so my car will be fine.” She puffs out a breath when I simply stare at her. “I’m trying to do the right thing here. You shouldn’t just hand your vehicle over to me.”
“Why not? It’s mine. If I want Mickey Mouse to drive it, I’ll hand it over to him.”
“I mean, that seems silly. He’s a mouse.”
I lick my lips, wanting to push her up against my car and kiss her until neither of us can fucking breathe. But I don’t want her to quit on me because my kids love her, and it’s been nice having her help this past week.
Just as I’m about to back away, her eyes fall to my mouth, and she presses her lips together, then licks them.
And just like that, my self-control evaporates into the cool spring air, and I rush to her, cup her face in my hands as her back flattens against the door of the SUV, and I take a ragged breath as I stare down at her. At her amazing green eyes and the way the firelight dances in them. At her kissable lips. A war wages inside of me. This is wrong. I shouldn’t kiss this woman.
Erin bites her lower lip, and that’s it. My control snaps.
“Fucking hell, those lips,” I growl before lowering my mouth to hers and sinking into her. She moans and shoves her hands into my hair, holding on as I plunder her, exploring every bit of her sweet mouth as I block out the laughter and voices around the crackle of the bonfire, and just lose myself in this woman.
She’s soft and smooth and smells like woodsmoke and peppermint.
And when I finally lift my head to look down into her eyes, she’s breathing raggedly, her eyes wide, and swallows hard.
“I shouldn’t have done that.” I nuzzle her nose with mine. “But damn it, you’d tempt a saint, and I’m not a saint. You’re so fucking beautiful.”
“I—” She swallows again and drags her hand down my cheek. “Same goes. The fucking beautiful part.”
I grin down at her, but we hear voices walking toward us, and she frowns and shakes her head, so I step back, already feeling the absence of her against me and wanting nothing more than to yank her inside and take her to my bed.
“I apologize if I overstepped.”
Erin scowls before looking down at her hands and then looks back up at me. “You didn’t. I know that I could have pushed you away, and I didn’t want to. I’ll see you tomorrow, after school.”
She hurries into the Suburban, starts the engine, and without a single glance at me, drives off toward the highway into town.
“Shit.” I shake my head and stare down at my dirty boots. “That was a fucking mistake, Wild. You’re an idiot.”