Total pages in book: 94
Estimated words: 92941 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 465(@200wpm)___ 372(@250wpm)___ 310(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 92941 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 465(@200wpm)___ 372(@250wpm)___ 310(@300wpm)
My dad grinned. “Not at all, dóttir.”
“Consider this your home,” Mom said sweetly. “With or without Beaumont.”
“Well,” Reese said, a little loudly. “I’m exhausted and surprisingly cold. So, we’re going to bed.”
It might’ve been the first time in my life that I’d seen Erik Boucher work so hard to contain his laughter.
“Good night,” my mom said, smiling at me.
“Night,” I replied, following Reese to the door.
“Ulf will be home by nine,” my dad called out as we moved inside.
“The famous Ulf,” Reese said, stomping toward the stairs.
“I’ll introduce you tomorrow.”
“Great.”
“Are you pissed again?”
Reese paused halfway up the stairs and turned to me with a deliberate grimace, and I suddenly understood the problem. I was surprised by the new knot of concern that pulled in my gut.
When I threw her over my shoulder, she let out a huff of air, but the contact must’ve felt good because she melted into me, resting her forehead against the small of my back, her arms sliding around my chest.
Maybe she’d changed her mind.
I took the stairs two at a time, anticipation making my hands shake.
Chapter 7
Reese
I’d never wanted anyone as much as I wanted Beau Boucher. He was gorgeous when he was scowling, but smiling? It was hard to even look at him. The way he moved was mouthwatering. His body was impossibly defined with muscle that I couldn’t wait to get a good look at but had already mapped with my fingers.
It was too bad that he was such an asshole.
“Okay, put me down,” I said as he swung the door shut behind us.
Knowing that his parents and brothers could hear anything we were saying outside his little suite of rooms made me want to vomit. I wasn’t even sure what they’d heard. Probably the argument on the porch. Definitely anything I’d said in the garage.
Oh, god. Had they heard us fucking when we’d fucked in the trees halfway down the driveway?
The minute Beau set me on my feet, I took a step backward, and his hands tangled in my hair.
“No,” I said instantly, reaching for his wrists.
“I know this is painful for you, too,” he replied in confusion, his hands tightening. “Why don’t you want to make it better?”
“I don’t sleep with people who can’t stand me,” I replied evenly. “Even if I know it’ll feel good.”
“We’re getting to know each other,” he said carefully. “I haven’t been at my best. I know that.”
“You called me a curse,” I reminded him quietly. “You said that my self-confidence stemmed from nowhere—”
“I didn’t mean—”
“Let’s not lie to each other, at least,” I said with a sigh, dropping my hands from his wrists. I wasn’t about to get into a wrestling match with him. When he realized I was serious, he’d let go. “And that self-confidence? That was hard won. I spent hours in the mirror telling myself that I was fucking great until I finally believed it.”
“Fuck, Reese,” he muttered, wincing.
“Until we can figure this out, I agree, we need to stay close. That doesn’t mean that I’m going to let you into my body in any way.”
“Understood,” he replied after a moment, gently untangling his hands from my hair.
“I think we can contain ourselves and share the bed,” I said, moving farther into the room. His couch wasn’t big enough for me to sleep on. There was no way Beau would be able to. “If that works for you?”
When Beau nodded, I hid my relief. Just being in the same room with him calmed my heart rate and made the heat mellow into the feeling of being toasted by the sun. I wasn’t anxious for it to ratchet up to eleven again.
“Go ahead,” Beau said with a chin jerk toward his room. “I’ll be in soon.”
I hesitated.
“Just going to turn off the lights.” He nodded toward his room again.
“You have my bag,” I reminded him.
“Oh, shit.”
Once he’d handed me the duffel I’d had since the first trip Rena and I had taken as adults, I turned and hustled into his room. Without Beau looking over my shoulder, I was able to appreciate the space even more than I had when I’d seen it earlier. The décor was like some fancy hotel filled with antiques or a castle or something. The headboard looked like it weighed three hundred pounds. I walked over and pulled on a drawer in one of the dressers. The empty drawer smelled like cedar.
There were no knickknacks or tchotchkes in the room, but there was a very old, framed photograph showing five boys dressed to impress and staring unsmiling at the photographer. Even with the lack of color, it was easy to pick Beau out of the lineup. There was something about the tilt of his head and the way he held his shoulders that was recognizable even as a boy.