Total pages in book: 24
Estimated words: 22464 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 112(@200wpm)___ 90(@250wpm)___ 75(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 22464 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 112(@200wpm)___ 90(@250wpm)___ 75(@300wpm)
For a minute, neither of us spoke. Then she cleared her throat softly. “Thank you for coming by.”
I’d done it for me more than her, but I couldn’t explain that yet. “Nobody should be alone in a storm like this.”
“Yeah.” Her fingers toyed with the hem of her sleeve. “Today was a lot. Everything feels strange. Like my whole life tilted sideways.”
I wanted to touch her, but I kept my hands locked on my knees. “I’m sure. Lots of big changes.”
“It doesn’t feel real.” She looked into the fire, her thick lashes catching the light. “I didn’t really know my grandmother, but suddenly, I’m surrounded by memories I never had a chance to make.”
I leaned forward a little. “You’re handling it better than most would.”
“I don’t know about that.” She gave me a shy smile that set my pulse thundering. “What about you? What brought you to Timber Ridge?”
I picked the answer that didn’t risk exposing the world she wasn’t ready to know yet. “Chicago wasn’t right for me anymore.”
Her head tilted. “You made the change from the big city to here?”
“Yeah,” I confirmed before explaining how I followed Peppa here from the restaurant where we’d first worked together.
“That makes sense,” she murmured. “I’m from New York, so big city life is all I know.”
“It was the same for me when I got to Timber Ridge, yet I adjusted quicker than I expected.” But I’d happily follow Rowan to New York if that was where she wanted to live.
Another crash of thunder shook the cottage. Rowan startled again, scooting instinctively closer to the fire. My bear shoved hard at my ribs, wanting to wrap around her to keep her warm and safe. I exhaled slowly through my nose and kept him on a tight leash.
There was still no power and no sign it was coming back anytime soon, giving me the perfect excuse to suggest, “If it’s okay, I’ll stay on the couch tonight. Storm’s not letting up.”
Her brows arched. “I don’t think you’ll fit.”
“I’ve slept in worse spots.” As a polar bear wedged between tree roots in an ice storm, for one.
She hesitated, then nodded. “Okay. Just for the night.”
“Of course,” I agreed even though my bear snarled that it wasn’t nearly enough time with her.
Rowan stood and padded toward the bedroom, casting one last look at me before disappearing behind the door. My whole body strained after her, but I stayed put, lowering myself onto the couch even though every spring groaned under me in protest.
My legs hung off the side at an awkward angle, and my shoulders were too wide for the cushions. But my discomfort didn’t matter as long as she felt safe.
I stared at the ceiling, listening to the storm and the soft sounds of Rowan moving around the bedroom. My bear pawed restlessly at my insides, wanting to be even closer to her.
I didn’t know how long I lay there before I heard the door creak open.
“Bexley?” Her voice was sleepy.
I sat up instantly. “Yeah?”
She stepped out, wrapped in an oversized sweater, rubbing her arms. “Sorry. I didn’t want to bother you, but it’s freezing in there.”
“You’re not bothering me.” I glanced out the window above the couch. “Looks like the temperature dropped, and the rain has turned into snow. You’ll be warmer out here by the fire.”
While Rowan took the blankets from the bed, I braved the cold to grab extras from my truck.
She hovered, watching me arrange a nest on the floor near the fire. Then she whispered, “What about you? You’re going to freeze on that couch.”
“I’ll be fine.”
Her gaze darted between it, me, and the fire. “We could both sleep on the floor. For warmth.”
My bear nearly flipped the couch over in approval.
I swallowed hard. “If you want.”
Her cheeks warmed in the firelight. “I do.”
Even with the storm battering the cottage and the power off, everything was right in my world because I spent the rest of the night next to my mate.
5
ROWAN
Iwoke to warmth that didn’t belong to the fire alone. Blinking at the dim orange flicker of the dying fire, it took my brain a moment to catch up. Then I remembered Bexley showing up in the middle of the storm, right after the lights went out, while I was in the shower.
My eyes flew open. We were still in the nest of blankets he’d made last night, the fire now little more than a bed of glowing embers. A glance out the window confirmed more snow was falling.
And Bexley was right beside me on the floor. We were barely touching, but he was close enough for me to feel the heat rolling off his body.
I’d never woken up next to anyone before. And certainly not with a man built like a mountain lying mere inches away.
Instead of panicking, I just lay there and enjoyed the moment. Hyperaware of the desire he’d awakened in me and wondering why being this close to him felt like something I’d wanted my whole life without knowing it.