Total pages in book: 103
Estimated words: 97409 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 487(@200wpm)___ 390(@250wpm)___ 325(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 97409 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 487(@200wpm)___ 390(@250wpm)___ 325(@300wpm)
“That was . . .” She wraps her arms and legs around me tightly. I have never had someone hug me like this before, like she doesn’t want to let go. I don’t want to let her go either.
“I promise the next time will be better,” I assure her, and she laughs. “Round two is always better than round one.”
“I’m not sure about that,” she replies as I slip out of her.
I fall on top of her. My cock is still hard. “I need a shower.”
She grins. “This seems like déjà vu.” She rolls off the bed and then strips her shirt over her head. “I’ll start the shower.” My eyes go to her ass as she looks over her shoulder. “You can pretend to be doing whatever and then join me.”
I get off the bed, rushing to her and wrapping my arms around her, my hand going to the lower part of her stomach, holding them both in my hands. It fills my chest so full, it almost hurts to breathe. I kiss her shoulder as we get into the bathroom, where round two is way better than round one.
I get out of the shower while Collins is washing her hair. “I’m going to start breakfast.”
The corners of her lips curl up. “I thought you ate breakfast already,” she says, making me laugh. “Twice.”
“I meant for you and the baby.” I pull my shorts on. “Come down when you’re done. Unless”—I give her a once-over—“you want to eat in bed.”
“No, I’ll be down.” I nod at her, backing out of the bathroom and heading downstairs to the kitchen.
The sun shines through the window above the kitchen sink, filling the room as I move around the island and toward the coffee machine. I start the coffee before I look in the fridge and take out the bacon and sausage. I put them on a baking sheet and into the oven before I take a sip of coffee.
I snatch up my phone from the counter and step out onto the back porch, going to the small two-seater couch. The phone rings in my hand at the same time I put my coffee cup down on the small wicker table in the middle of the seating area.
“It’s 8:00 a.m. on a Saturday.”
“Yeah,” Caleb huffs out. His not laughing means it’s not a good call. “Sorry to call you so early, but I knew you’d be pissed if I didn’t tell you.”
“Oh shit.” I sit up, looking out into the distance of nothing but trees.
“The house, the one on New Haven, was broken into, and they took all the tools.”
“Fuck,” I hiss. We’ve been working on that house for the past two weeks. “I thought we told the guys to load up at night and lock it all in the trailer.”
“They did. Trailer was broken into. A shitty job, but they got what they wanted to get.”
“Shit.” I sit back. “How much did they take off with?”
“Not that much—the handsaw, the hand drills, a couple of other things.” I close my eyes. “I don’t know what the fuck is going on, but I’m thinking we’re being targeted.”
“Yeah,” I reply in a whisper.
“You still think it’s that chick, or do you think it’s the Cartwrights?” My stomach tightens.
Before Caleb came to Montgavin, the Cartwrights were the construction company everyone in town used. If you needed work done, you got it from them. That is, until it was revealed that their new development was literally sinking into the ground. They went out of business, and their reign as town royalty was over. I’ve heard they are trying to take their company to a new town, but they have yet to be successful.
“Is it time to start putting cameras up everywhere?” Caleb asks.
“Fuck, I don’t know.” I look over my shoulder to make sure Collins isn’t there. “I don’t think it’s necessary, but then again, I didn’t think it would escalate to this.” I exhale. “I wasn’t going to say anything, but the last time I saw Claire, her car was near one of the worksites.”
“Fuck, well, when you get back to town, you either have to go and talk to her or talk to Burke. It’s one thing for her to spray-paint He’s a Dick on the side of your car; it’s another thing to start stealing our shit.”
“She never spray-painted that.”
“I’m just saying, I would have preferred she do that. Or, you know, Small Dick Asshole Has to Drive a Big Truck.” I reach for my cup of coffee when he laughs. “This makes me feel a little better, that we aren’t being targeted by the Cartwrights.”
“Glad I can help. I’m sorry, man, I never thought that she would go to this level.”
“How’s the visit home?”
“Good.”
The door slides open, and Collins joins me, dressed in her red shorts set, her hair hanging wet.