Total pages in book: 70
Estimated words: 70004 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 350(@200wpm)___ 280(@250wpm)___ 233(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 70004 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 350(@200wpm)___ 280(@250wpm)___ 233(@300wpm)
I went back to the vanity, spotting a purple kid’s toothbrush next to a boring blue adult one.
“Ummm,” I called over the gurgle of water behind me. “Do you have any toothbrushes I could use?”
“The purple one next to mine is the one you used last night.”
I picked it up and got down to business, brushing and washing my face, while I waited for the bath to fill.
When I was done, I went in search of the bubbles he was talking about, and came up with another kid product.
Did he have kids?
Shit.
I’d just invaded the man’s house, and he’d have had to explain me to them when I was most heavily not at my best.
“Um, Romeo?”
“Yeah?” This time he was even closer, like he moved toward the door.
“Do you have kids?”
“Nope,” he answered. “The stuff in that bathroom is left over from my sister’s kids when they came to stay over Thanksgiving.”
“Oh,” I breathed a sigh of relief. “I was hoping that I didn’t make you sleep with a stranger while you had a kid in the house.”
He chuckled. “No. But do you mind if I come in? I want to brush my teeth and use the bathroom before I head outside and clear the area for Brawny to get out and pee.”
Brawny!
I’d forgotten all about him.
What a horrible dog mom I was.
“Oh, let me hop into the bath really quick.”
He grunted something I didn’t hear because I was making a mad dash for the bathtub with my kids’ bubbles that supposedly smelled like green apple.
I hopped inside, groaning at the feel of the water, and dumped way too much bubble bath.
Luckily, the bubbles formed quickly, because the bathroom door creaked open and Romeo said, “Ready?”
“Y-yes,” I stuttered.
He came farther into the room fully clothed, this time in the flannel that I’d seen him wear the first day that I’d seen him over a black Henley.
He had everything on but his boots and socks.
Yum.
“Is flannel your thing?” I wondered aloud.
His eyes flicked to me, sitting up in the tub with my knees up to my chest blocking everything the bubbles didn’t cover and said, “Being warm is my thing. I don’t think I’ve woken up and not been freezing since the weather shifted months ago.”
My lips twitched. “Where are you from again?”
“Texas,” he answered as he moved to the sink and started to brush his teeth. “The coldest we get is around thirty degrees.”
I burst out laughing. “You poor man. That’s a good day here.”
“I’m coming to find that out,” he said as he loaded way too much toothpaste onto the boring blue toothbrush and started to brush his teeth.
He stood up with his mouth closed as he did it, not allowing the foam to come out of his mouth until he was done.
“I’m a mouth foamer,” I murmured as I watched him.
He turned to me with a towel in his hand, but the way his brow was quirked told me he didn’t understand.
“There are usually two types of people,” I said. “Ones that brush their teeth and allow all the foam to drip down their face, and ones that keep it all inside until the end where they spit it out.”
He snorted. “That makes a mess.”
“It does,” I agreed, smiling sheepishly. “But as long as you’re bent over the sink, it doesn’t get all over you.”
He tossed the towel onto the vanity instead of hanging it back up and leaned his hips against the counter as he watched me.
“So last night you said a few things I want to make sure you remember in the light of day, sober.”
I winced.
“Nothing bad,” he promised.
“What is it?” I asked hesitantly.
“You made a promise.”
My brows rose. “I did?”
“You promised me that you would cut your parents off.”
I winced. “I already planned on doing that.”
“I know,” he said. “But I want to make sure you really do plan on following through. After what you told me last night…”
I rested my chin on top of my raised knees for a long second before I admitted, “Does changing my beneficiary on my will count as being serious?”
“Somewhat,” he admitted. “Just make sure it’s ironclad, because I have a feeling if Birdee’s still alive, she’s going to make sure she gets her ‘due.’”
I sighed. “There’s no way. It’s ironclad. Cody and I have a friend that fled Sawtooth the moment she turned eighteen. Became a shark of a lawyer and moved to Portland to go into practice. She was the one that made the will for me. There’ll be no breaking it.”
“Good,” he said as he pushed off the bathroom vanity. “And while you’re working with her, maybe you’ll work on booting those losers from your home.” He gave me a pointed look. “I’ll take Brawny out. You take your time. I have to go visit with the horses after and make sure they have enough food and water.” He looked outside where all you could see was white. “An alert went out about fifteen minutes ago saying that what we got last night was only the beginning.”