Total pages in book: 91
Estimated words: 87367 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 437(@200wpm)___ 349(@250wpm)___ 291(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 87367 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 437(@200wpm)___ 349(@250wpm)___ 291(@300wpm)
“Oh, sweetie. It’s cute you think it matters. They already know, and they’ll be looking and gossiping regardless. That’s just how it works.”
He was right, of course.
We made it halfway through the produce aisle before I was stopped for the first time. It was an older man who looked to be in his eighties. “You’re that Mitchell boy.”
I smiled. “Guilty.” I immediately regretted my word choice. I still couldn’t wrap my brain around the stuff my grandfather had done.
“How do we know you’re really a Mitchell? And that your daddy wanted you to take over?”
“Um…because the lawyer, from here, who also happens to be my dad’s best friend, tracked me down? And I knew nothing about this place?”
“He’s opening back up, Dick,” a woman stepped up to say. “You leave this poor boy be. He’s been through enough. I heard his mama abandoned him and he lived on the streets most of his childhood.”
“So? Wass that gotta do with anything?” said Dick, who was, in fact, a dick.
“He’s one of those tragic stories, ya know?” the woman replied.
The two of them continued arguing back and forth about me as if I wasn’t there.
“My mother didn’t abandon me,” I snapped. “She died.”
The woman, at least, looked like she felt guilty, but Dick the dick just grumbled and walked away.
“You don’t pay them any mind, boy. We’re happy to have you here. It’s your birthright. Just takes folks a while, is all.” She patted my arm and walked away.
Turning toward Isaac, I cocked a brow at him.
“Okay, so maybe I understand why you didn’t want to go to the grocery store.” Then his eyes widened, and he got this giddy smile on his face. “We should invite our cowboys over for dinner!”
“Um, where did that come from?”
“Duh. My busy brain. I’m texting now.”
I sure as shit wasn’t going to argue with him. I wanted more of Brody’s sweet mouth. That man did it for me in a way I wasn’t sure anyone had.
We finished our shopping trip and were back home, putting groceries away, when Isaac said, “Walker said they’ll be here.”
Heat I had no business feeling pooled low in my gut. I was more excited about this development than I had any right being.
The rest of the day flew by. I helped Isaac put together a lasagna for dinner, then showered and changed into a pair of jeans and a T-shirt, right as there was a knock. “I got it,” I called out.
I opened the front door to see Brody standing there, Walker beside him. Brody had a rosiness to his cheeks I was pretty sure had more to do with being in the sun all day than anything else. His eyes were tired, though, bloodshot, and his body a little tense.
“No breaking the door down this time?” I teased.
“I wanted to, but Walker said it wasn’t polite.” Brody smiled, and I felt myself relax, as if everything was okay simply because he grinned. Damn sexy Southern boy was going to kill me.
“Well, he’s no fun.”
“I’m fun,” Walker countered.
“I’ll be the judge of that, sugar.” Isaac came in and winked. “If you’re lucky. And that’s right, correct? The sugar. Y’all say that?”
“Stop saying y’all.” I thumped his ear.
“Ouch. Be nice.”
We all chuckled, and they came in.
Isaac grabbed Walker’s hand and tugged him toward the kitchen. “You come with me.”
Walker looked over his shoulder at Brody as if he had no idea what to do.
I said, “Isaac is going to keep him on his toes.”
“Good,” Brody replied. “He needs it.”
He leaned against the door and pushed his hands into his pockets. I got the feeling something was wrong. “Everything okay?”
“Yeah, just O’Ralley stuff. Big Daddy’s been a little crazier than usual. We got—you know what? Never mind. You don’t want to hear that.”
“I wouldn’t have asked if I didn’t.”
“Oh, well, what I mean is, they’ll kick my ass if I tell you.” We both laughed again. I knew he was joking but not. “By the way,” he continued, “you definitely haven’t done yourself justice as far as your line of work. I googled you, and you’re far more business-savvy than you let on. I didn’t take a Mitchell to be the humble sort.”
“Aw, I’m touched. You were thinking about me?” I said playfully.
Brody’s voice was deep, hoarse, and serious when he said, “Yeah.”
“Come on.” My cock was already starting to plump up. Oh, the things I wanted to do to him would likely make this sweet Southern boy blush.
I led him to the office. The second I had the door closed, I used my body to push him against it, roughly taking his mouth. Brody responded in kind, his hands urgent, wild as he grabbed my hair, then slid them down my back and squeezed my ass, then back up to tangle in my hair again, like he didn’t know where he wanted to touch me.