Total pages in book: 74
Estimated words: 70174 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 351(@200wpm)___ 281(@250wpm)___ 234(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 70174 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 351(@200wpm)___ 281(@250wpm)___ 234(@300wpm)
That landed hard. I could see it in the way her breath hitched, the way her fingers curled tighter around my coat.
She stared at me for a long moment, then her expression shuttered before closing off into a mask of aloofness. “What’s yer family like?” she asked, putting the spotlight on me instead.
I was glad I hadn’t totally turned her off with my bold proclamations about her plight, which probably crossed more personal lines than I could count. “My family is amazing.”
She listened intently as I told her about my parents, about how patient they were with my antics, about how my dad worked me hard but always with fairness. About how they sent me here not to punish but to teach me.
And perhaps settle me down so that I could become serious about taking my rightful place as the heir to Blackburn Farms. It’s funny, but I wasn’t really taking that very seriously until I saw Fiona struggling with her place in a family where tradition, loyalty and legacy drove all decisions.
Fiona’s expression was unreadable. “Ye love them. But more than that, ye respect them.”
I shrugged. “The love is the easy part. The respect they earned.”
Her smile was barely there and in appreciation for all that I had. “That must be nice.”
Her sadness spoke of all the things she didn’t have that mattered the most. It made my chest ache and I was filled with this insane need to save her from her situation. I couldn’t pull her away, but I could push her.
I nudged her lightly with my shoulder. “Don’t let your father decide your future, Fi.”
She shifted uncomfortably. “Ye wouldn’t understand.”
“I understand perfectly. We’re both guided by a need to fulfill family obligations, so I get exactly how deep bloodline loyalty goes. But there has to be a limit to it.”
She shot me a sideways glance, didn’t acknowledge my challenge to stand up for herself. “Ye said yer parents sent ye here ’cause ye were wild. What exactly were ye doin’?”
I leveled her a sly look. “Oh, just the usual. Partying. Chasing girls.”
Fiona scoffed with a wave of her hand. “That all?”
My grin was broad and unrepentant. “I was pretty good at it.”
She rolled her eyes, but there was a hint of amusement there. “Ye want me to take advice from a boy who spends his days partyin’ and chasin’ girls, do ye?”
“You make it sound like a bad thing,” I teased.
“It’s a waste of time, is what it is.”
I sighed dramatically, rubbed at my chin. “I think you might be right.”
She blinked at me in surprise.
“It’s far more fun to sit here and sip whiskey on a hay bale with you than to party with my friends.”
Another slow blink as her head tipped slightly.
I leaned in. “And none of the girls I chased were as pretty as you.”
Her cheeks flushed, and she quickly looked away, her hand tight around the neck of the whiskey bottle.
The moment seemed to call for me to throw caution to the wind, so I spoke my mind. “I want to kiss you.”
Fiona’s head whipped back my way, eyebrows raised high. Her lips parted slightly and she swallowed hard. She was shocked, and hopefully a little interested in that offer. Definitely conflicted, but nothing had ever felt more right to me.
Then she straightened, lifting her chin and thrusting the bottle back at me. I don’t know if I offended her as I took the whiskey. I was pretty much taking my life into my own hands at that point because I’m sure Rory would kill me if he knew I was trying to make out with his niece.
Fiona stared at me for a beat. I held my breath, braced for a slap across my face.
But before I could doubt my feelings or how she’d react for one more second, she leaned in and kissed me.
It started soft, hesitant. A brush of her lips against mine, so unsure… delicate, even.
I held my breath, didn’t move a muscle other than my hand reflexively tightening on the glass bottle.
But then Fiona pressed in harder, her hands lightly fisting the front of my shirt. There was no way I couldn’t not react to that. I groaned, deepened the kiss and my fingers grazed the curve of her waist that I could barely feel through my jacket.
This beautiful girl was warm and soft, and fuck, I wanted more. Way more than an innocent girl like her would be wanting to give.
She made a small noise and I recognized it as indecision and perhaps a bit of anxiety. Suddenly, she pulled back, green eyes wide and her chest slightly heaving.
“I have to go home,” she exclaimed breathlessly, shrugging out of my jacket and tossing it in my lap. I watched as she moved to scramble off the hay bale, her dress rising slightly up the side of her thigh and yeah… I looked.