Total pages in book: 78
Estimated words: 76203 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 381(@200wpm)___ 305(@250wpm)___ 254(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 76203 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 381(@200wpm)___ 305(@250wpm)___ 254(@300wpm)
Growing up, my grandfather claimed he’d been hard on me because I was his legacy, because I was who had to take over the ranch and keep it successful for the next generation, and the one after that. So most of my life, I’d lived with some strange comfort knowing something would come to me one day. Even if I chose to sell the ranch for the money to start my new life.
When I’d left home, I’d assumed that was all over. That he had given the inheritance to my parents, or simply been a vindictive prick and left it to no one at all. Certainly not the granddaughter who’d never been what he wanted me to be.
So there was still a chance I was getting nothing but my childhood belongings or something like that.
Still.
It would be a full-circle moment to go home, to see the ranch one last time, to show it to Denali.
Then head back to Golden Glades where, I hoped, we could figure out this stalking thing and be done with it once and for all.
I hadn’t been able to hold myself back from texting Amanda one last time before giving my phone to York to destroy.
How fucking dare you put my daughter’s life at risk?
That was all I needed to say.
The only message that mattered to get across.
I knew I wasn’t supposed to text her at all, but I needed her to know I knew. I wanted the guilt to eat her alive. Because I’d been so, so close to death, to leaving my daughter without her mother.
If this information had come to me about her just a week or so ago, I would have been curled in a ball, inconsolable. Aside from my daughter, Amanda was all I had.
Now, though, that wasn’t the case.
We’d only been in the clubhouse for about a week, but I’d already formed such deep bonds with the people there. Eddie, because of his love and patience with my daughter. The other wives and moms for their advice, their backup, their steady friendship—even though it was new. And even some of the guys, who I found myself hanging out with when Denny was occupied.
That wasn’t even mentioning York. Who had come to mean a lot more to me than was probably normal or healthy. But I found myself looking for him, moving closer to him, my spirit lifting each time I heard him laugh or interact with our daughter.
It was like there was something buried in me that tugged me closer.
We hadn’t really been alone together since the last time we had sex. Which was maybe good. I felt way too exposed, raw, and emotional about the whole thing. I needed some time to get my mind and heart together.
The night air was thick, the tree frog calls and cricket trills interrupted on occasion with a deep, lonesome-sounding owl’s hoots, as I walked across the backyard.
I didn’t dare cross into the thick tree line of the woods behind the house, but I stood near it, trying to sort through the thoughts that refused to let me sleep.
“Runa.”
I jumped, gasping as I spun around to find York walking toward me. And the bastard didn’t have the decency to be wearing a shirt.
My body tensed and pulsed.
Despite the heat, goosebumps rose across my skin.
I tried—really, I did—to keep my gaze on his face. But there was no stopping how I scanned his wide chest, the deep cuts of his abdominal muscles, and the way his sleep shorts made it clear he wasn’t wearing anything below.
When the moon caught the material, I could make out the outline of his cock, making my sex clench hard.
It felt like I watched him forever, but when my gaze made it back to his face, he didn’t give me that slow, lazy smirk like he’d caught me.
“You okay?” he asked.
“Yeah. Can’t sleep. Decided to get some air, clear my head, then try again.”
“Afraid to go into the woods?” he asked. And I appreciated him not immediately badgering me about why I couldn’t sleep.
“Well, snakes.”
Not a whole lot scared me about being out in the wilderness. I’d seen and experienced so much. But venomous snakes scared the shit out of me. Venomous snakes, moose, and polar bears. That was it.
“No cottonmouths around here. It’s too late for a diamondback or canebrake. You might encounter a coral snake around here. But more at dawn or dusk. It’s a little late for them now. Plus, if you stay on the path, you’re even less likely to see anything.”
“If I get bitten, I’m sending you the three-hundred-thousand-dollar bill.”
With that, we moved onto the well-worn trail in the woods.
“Do you guys walk in here a lot?”
“This leads to the shooting range. We spend a decent amount of time there, keeping sharp. Or blowing off steam.”