Total pages in book: 114
Estimated words: 110721 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 554(@200wpm)___ 443(@250wpm)___ 369(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 110721 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 554(@200wpm)___ 443(@250wpm)___ 369(@300wpm)
What the actual fuck?
“You only want me here to help with Sunny?” she asked again.
“Want you here…”
“For Sunny,” she finished.
He squeezed his eyes shut. He should let her leave whenever she was ready. He didn’t need a ball and chain. He didn’t need to be tied down to one woman. A woman who would expect one hundred percent loyalty.
A soft “Got it” had him opening his eyes.
As she turned to head back to the house, he grabbed her arm and swung her back to face him. “No.”
Her eyebrows jumped to her hairline. “No? No what?”
“Don’t want you to go.”
“You’ll be able to find someone for—”
“For fuck’s sake, Taryn! Don’t want you to go.”
“Because of Sunny.”
He closed his eyes, and when he finally opened them again, he admitted, “‘Cause of me.”
“That had to hurt to admit.”
“A little bit.”
“So, you want to be with me? Or do you only want this to continue like I’m a house mouse with benefits?”
His jaw tightened. “You ain’t a house mouse.”
“When I heard what a house mouse was, it sounded exactly like this situation.”
“Ain’t a house mouse,” he repeated.
“What am I, then?” She waited. One heartbeat. Two.
Ten.
Twenty.
She could see the man struggling. He had never been in any type of real relationship before. The only females in his life long-term had been his mother and his daughter.
He probably didn’t recognize it for what it was despite the fact they’d been living as a family. Two parents. Two children. All they needed yet was a dog.
Taryn mentally rolled her eyes. They were far from a typical family. But so far, what they had created worked. In fact, it was working better than most families. Despite the fact he was an outlaw biker, their home life was less dysfunctional than most.
Less being the key word. But then, what family was completely normal?
Despite that, Taryn didn’t hate it here. She actually liked it and it now felt like home. She had liked their arrangement. She liked both going to bed and waking up next to Stone. The sex was the best.
She loved how good he was with Wren.
She had a soft spot for Sunny, despite her taking so long to come around. They could continue to work on their relationship at the same time working through the trauma of what Vic did to her.
But if she stayed, she would need to do it for the right reasons. Because she and Stone had a deep connection. Not for only the kids or because the sex between them was great.
They would also need to figure out what to do about the bedroom situation. Sunny and Wren really needed their own rooms.
She knew Stone was capable of being loyal if he wanted to be. She saw how loyal he was to his club, to his brothers. But what she would not do was be in a relationship with someone who cheated.
Been there. Done that. Had the divorce to prove it.
She did not want to go through that again. Not ever.
She met his eyes and whispered, “What am I to you, Stone, if not a house mouse?”
She jumped when he suddenly went from frozen in place to jerking her hard against him. He dipped his head and took her mouth, sweeping his tongue through it.
Normally when he kissed her like that, she melted against him. But not today. She pulled free. “Don’t try to avoid the question.”
“Ain’t avoidin’ the question. Answerin’ it.”
“I refuse to make assumptions from a kiss.” She needed to hear how he felt loud and clear. She did not want to make another disastrous decision.
He grabbed her shoulders firmly and kept his head tipped down to hers. “You wanna hear it? Fine, gonna say it. Don’t want you to leave. Not ‘cause of Sunny, ‘cause of me. Want you here. Want you in my bed. Want you in my life. You’re fuckin’ mine, woman. No one else’s. That’s who you are. Mine.”
Her lips parted and a soft puff of air escaped. Holy shit.
As much as she wanted all of that, wanted to throw caution to the wind, she also had to face reality and be completely honest with him about her reservations. “Stone, I’m not sure if this is the best situation for Wren and I.”
“Only problem we had came from your motherfuckin’ ex.”
Maybe. But no relationship or situation was problem-free. Plus, they needed to consider the fact that Sheena wouldn’t be in prison forever.
They might be dealing with this same scenario all over again once she was free. “Are you also going to eighty-six Sheena when she gets out?” She’d never think of that culinary term in the same way again.
“If she’s a threat to me and mine, fuck yeah.”
She blinked. Could she really love someone who had no issue with killing someone?
“She leaves us the fuck alone and realizes Sunny’s better off with us, then no. You acted more like a mother to Sunny in the past few months than that bitch has been for the last ten years.”