Total pages in book: 39
Estimated words: 36960 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 185(@200wpm)___ 148(@250wpm)___ 123(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 36960 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 185(@200wpm)___ 148(@250wpm)___ 123(@300wpm)
He does the same, rolling down his window. Then I scoot across the bench seat like there’s a magnet drawing me to him. The moment I’m buckled in the middle, he puts an arm around my shoulders. The gesture is so casual and natural. It feels like we’ve spent our whole lives doing this. For a moment, I can see it. Our future selves doing this at seventy, riding through town with the windows rolled down and honeysuckle on the breeze.
He drives to Liquid Courage, a bar and grill in town. It’s the only other restaurant besides Ernie’s. I haven’t been inside the bar before, but I’ve heard their cook, Anchor, makes an incredible steak.
“I’ve been wanting to try this place,” I tell Griffin once we’re seated in a booth with our drinks.
He gestures around the room. “It’s always been a good bar. It got even better when Harry sold it to Peyton and Ledger. They’re the ones who added a restaurant.”
“It has definite charm. Every day, I fall in love a little more with Courage.”
He smiles. “What were you doing with your life before Daisy came along?”
“I was a sophomore in college, and I had big plans to become a doctor. I wanted to work in emergency medicine. It’s kind of late for that.” I don’t tell him that as a foster kid, I decided if I couldn’t be wanted, the next best thing would be being needed.
“It’s never too late to follow your dream.”
“True, but my dream has changed. I’d still like to go into the medical field, so I can help people. But I’m thinking something more like a pharmacy tech. I don’t want to be on call for crazy hours.”
He stretches out, his arms spread across the back of his booth. The motion draws my attention to how tightly that shirt bunches around his shoulders. He’s so big and broad. I want him to crush me against his chest, to hold onto me and never let me go.
I keep talking, trying to ignore the way he’s staring so intently at me. “First, I’d like to spend time with Daisy. I can go back to school when she does. It won’t be easy, but it will be possible. Plus, the pharmacy job will allow me to provide better for her than being a waitress.”
He’s still sprawled out against the booth, like a man without a care in the world. His voice is deep, ringing with conviction when he says, “I wouldn’t worry about money. I don’t plan for you to be a single mom too much longer.”
His words make my cheeks heat, and my heart skip a beat. We’re only on date one, and he’s already talking about marriage. But he’s been around so much the last few weeks that I trust him. Griffin is steady and dependable, the kind of man that doesn’t play games. He wouldn’t be talking about marriage if he didn’t mean it.
The waitress arrives at our table to take our order, giving me a moment to collect myself before she leaves. Once she’s gone, I want to get our conversation on solid ground. “What made you decide to become law enforcement? Was it a childhood dream or a career you picked later?”
A shadow flickers across his face. “A bit of both, I guess.”
“But you love what you do?” I ask the question softly. It seems the kind of thing to be whispered in a town this small where someone must always be listening.
“Now that I’m back in Courage, I love it again. In the city, the system is like a revolving door. You see the same people going in and out of the jails. Some of them never get the help they need because they don’t want help. Some of them want help but can’t catch a break.”
“It wears you down after a while,” I say, thinking of how difficult that must be. When the system isn’t working and you still have to show up and do your job, it has to feel like being a cog in a malfunctioning machine.
“Now I get to split my time between the law and the farm. It’s nice to be able to get out there and work with my hands. Too much paperwork in the city.”
I think of how strong he is, how he held me and Daisy in his arms last night and again this morning. He’s definitely a man who enjoys using his body. I wonder what it would feel like to have him above me, panting in my ear and telling me how much he needs me. The thought has my body burning with need. “I bet your aunt loves having you back.”
“Yeah, she wishes I lived in that big farmhouse with her, but there’s an old cabin a few hundred feet behind her place. That’s where I’ve been living. I don’t want to bother her, coming and going when I get called out to investigate vindictive raccoons in the middle of the night.”