Total pages in book: 46
Estimated words: 44297 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 221(@200wpm)___ 177(@250wpm)___ 148(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 44297 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 221(@200wpm)___ 177(@250wpm)___ 148(@300wpm)
Caleb runs his hand up my thigh. “Look at me,” he murmurs.
I do.
“You’re so soft and perfect. These curves…” He cups my hip, thumb stroking. “They make me hungry… greedy. Make me want to keep you right here in this bed, naked and ready.”
Wade turns my face, gripping my chin. “Not a damn thing about you is too much, Joelle. Not your curves. Not your strength. Not your sweetness. You reckon we want some small, fragile thing we could break with a breath?” He shakes his head, eyes dark and firm. “Hell no. We want you. All of you.”
“Sweetheart,” Caleb murmurs. “Don’t ever doubt that you’re the best thing to ever happen to us and this ranch.”
And with that sweet declaration, the last of my worries fall away.
Chapter 20
Caleb
Over breakfast, Wade hands me the keys to the truck and nods toward Joelle.
“Take her into town. Let her pick out what she wants. And take the list.”
He sets a folded slip of paper beside her bowl as if this is something we do every day, as if sending her off with one of us is the most natural thing in the world.
Joelle blinks at it, cheeks going pink. “I don’t need anything,” she says softly. “And I have to make lunch.”
Wade arches a brow, his voice serious even though his mouth twitches with a half-smile. “You’re wearin’ my shirt.”
Her hands fly to the hem like she forgot she didn’t put on her own clothes this morning. And hell, she looks good in that shirt. Too good. My stomach drops at the memory of pulling a shirt like that over her head last night, her sultry smile, and the way she curled between us afterward.
“Not that I mind,” Wade adds, leaning back in his chair, crossing his arms and settling in to watch her reaction. “You look hot as fuck wrapped in my shirt. But get some dresses. Some comfortable day things. I don’t know what women wear, or what they’ve got in the general store, but there’s gotta be clothes that are more form-fitting than my giant old t-shirt.”
Joelle looks at him like he’s speaking a foreign language. Like she can’t believe he wants her to have nice things that are hers alone. Then her gaze shifts to me, brown eyes unsure. And damn, it shoots straight through my chest. She’s asking a silent question. Is this okay?
My throat works around a swallow. “Yeah,” I say, clearing it lightly. “We’ll find you what you need.”
Wade stretches his legs out under the table, the picture of a man who knows exactly what he’s doing. “You two head out as soon as you finish eatin’. I’ll get started in the south pasture.”
There’s a generosity in the act that most wouldn’t catch. But I do. He’s giving me time with Joelle and considering what we both want—that selflessness is important.
I nod at him, a silent thank-you my twin brother will understand.
Joelle tucks a loose strand of hair behind her ear. “I don’t even know what I’d get,” she murmurs. “I haven’t bought myself clothes in a long time.”
How long has she gone without? How many years has she spent putting herself last?
“If you want help, I’ll be right there.”
She gives me a shy, hesitant smile that lights up the kitchen like the sunrise, and I swear I’d drive her to the ends of the damn earth if she asked.
Wade stands and grabs his hat from the hook. “Whatever she wants,” he says. “Don’t let her talk you out of gettin’ it.”
He’s trying to sound casual, but the undertone is clear. He wants her cared for. He wants her settled. He wants her to feel like she belongs here, and understand what being ours means.
When the screen door shuts behind him and it’s just Joelle and me, the quiet stretches warm and charged. She fiddles with the list on the table, folding and unfolding the corner.
“Caleb,” she says softly, “you don’t have to do this. I know how busy you both are… leaving Wade…”
I stand, sliding the keys into my pocket, and hold out a hand to her.
“I know,” I murmur. “But it’s what we want. And I want to take you.”
Her breath catches, and she places her hand in mine. Even though shopping’s an everyday activity, I know it’s bigger for Joelle than most. It’ll change things. Show her the kind of life we want to build with her.
After tidying up, I grab her hand, and we walk out to the truck. The heat hasn’t settled yet, so the air is still cool with dawn, carrying the dusty sweetness of hay. I open the passenger door for her, and her cheeks pink in that way they always do when someone does something gentle for her, like kindness is still a language she needs to learn.