Total pages in book: 82
Estimated words: 79831 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 399(@200wpm)___ 319(@250wpm)___ 266(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 79831 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 399(@200wpm)___ 319(@250wpm)___ 266(@300wpm)
Hartley nods, pretending not to pick up on the fact that Jeff is gay.
“Oh, come on,” I say, laughing. “You were relieved just now.”
“What? Me? No, I wasn’t.”
“You had a strange look in your eye the last time I brought up Jeff,” I say. “Don’t act like you didn’t.”
He faces me. “Oh, you mean the look like the one you have written all over your pretty little face when anyone brings up Lora?”
“We’re not talking about her,” I say, wagging a finger through the air.
This amuses him. “And why not?”
“Because Lora isn’t gay, and Lora wanted my husband. And even though I’m sure she’ll sit elsewhere at church—because I’ll be sitting beside you now—I still don’t want to talk about her.”
He pulls me into his chest and smiles down at me. The corners of his lips stretch from ear to ear as if he’s aware of a secret that I don’t know. I wait, thinking he’ll tell me why he looks so happy.
“What?” I ask, furrowing my brows when it becomes clear that he’s not going to explain himself.
He doesn’t answer. He only kisses me. Strange man.
“We’re going to have to work on your responses,” I say. “We have a little miscommunication happening.”
“We do not.”
“I just asked you what you were smiling about, and you just kissed me.”
He laughs. “Trust me, if you want to answer every question I have with a kiss, I’m fine with it.”
My phone buzzes in my pocket. I pull it out to see a number that I don’t recognize.
“That’s weird,” I say, opening my text app.
“Who is it?” Hartley asks.
“I don’t know.” But then I read the text and giggle. “It’s from Astrid, Gianna, and Audrey.” I quickly figure out which number belongs to who and save them to my contacts list.
Astrid: Hey! We figure the odds are good that we’ll all be hanging out a lot soon (unless you don’t like us). So we started a group text.
Audrey: I’m so excited to get to know you better.
Gianna: Yeah, yeah, yeah. Me, too. So how was the sex?
I burst out laughing.
“What?” Hartley asks.
“I …” I laugh again. “It’s … Gianna.” That’s explanation enough.
“Say no more.” He makes a face. “Do you have boxes anywhere?”
I nod. “Jeff brought some up for me yesterday. He probably tossed them in my bedroom.”
“I feel good about him being in your bedroom knowing he has Clint.”
“Yes. He likes Clints, not clits,” I say, grinning.
Hartley’s eyes hood ever so slightly.
“Keep looking at me that way …” I say, “and we won’t get out of here until dark.”
He presses a wet kiss to my mouth. “Good point. Want me to get started packing you up?”
“Sure.”
“Any drawers that I shouldn’t open? Any closets off-limits?”
How considerate. I stand on my tiptoes and kiss him. “There are a bunch of vibrators in the drawer by my bed. Everything else is basic stuff.”
He heads toward my room, mumbling, “Won’t need those anymore.”
Audrey: Gianna!
Gianna: What? I’m not going to pretend to be someone I’m not. And I’m curious.
Me: 100/10. But I could’ve told you that before now.
Gianna: I KNEW IT. Good for you.
“Are you emotionally attached to this pillow?” Hartley shouts. “It’s flat as hell.”
“Do you have good pillows?”
He pokes his head around the corner. “Only on my bed.”
“Throw that pillow away,” I say, grinning at him.
“You don’t have to tell me twice. But how do you only have one pillow?”
“If you throw that one away, I technically have zero pillows.”
“Smart-ass.”
I peek down the hall as he moves easily through my bedroom and wait for a ribbon of anxiety to swirl through me. But it doesn’t come. Seeing him amid my things, in my apartment, feels natural.
I just hope that sharing space with him in his house will come as easily. I snort. I’m sure I’ll come easily anywhere with him.
We haven’t discussed what will happen when we return to the ranch. When we left, we had it all figured out. Or I thought so, at least. But the thought of going back under the rules we set for ourselves seems ridiculous. Nothing has really changed, yet it feels like everything has changed.
Hartley moves across the doorway, and I watch him carefully place my lingerie into a box. A smile ghosts my lips as I watch him with a full heart. That’s my husband.
Astrid: How long are you staying in Kentucky?
Me: We’re packing up my stuff now. I’m not sure if we’re going to a hotel tonight or going back to Sugar Creek.
Audrey: Let me know if you need anything. I’m just down the road.
Astrid: And I’ll be down the driveway in another month or so.
Gianna: I HATE ALL OF YOU HAVING FUN WITHOUT ME.
Astrid: Have you made any headway with Drake?
Gianna: Yeah. He’s mostly on board. But we can’t find anything we love, and he’s all frugal and responsible and won’t just buy something on a whim.