Total pages in book: 62
Estimated words: 60481 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 302(@200wpm)___ 242(@250wpm)___ 202(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 60481 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 302(@200wpm)___ 242(@250wpm)___ 202(@300wpm)
Sam lifted JT off his shoulders and gently lowered him next to me. He touched my hips lightly, nudging me away from the table. “I’ll take over here.” He tipped his head toward the carnival. “Go have some fun.”
I stared at him, my brain fully scrambled.
Sam was acting just like a partner would. He seemed to understand my situation and smoothly solved the dilemma, even though he’d get the short end of the stick.
“Are you…” I wanted to ask him where his niece and nephews had gone. If he’d come to the fair for them or for me. How he intuited what I needed. If he’d known I was here the whole time. But he was already serving pizza with that megawatt smile, and Lord knew, the pizza line needed him, and JT needed me.
“Go on. Really. I’ve got this.” He spared me a wink, and I turned hot and gooey like warm syrup on pancakes.
“Thanks.” I leaned over and gave him a peck on the cheek.
Surprise lit his eyes, and I thought I heard a possessive growl before he turned his attention back to the little kids and their parents in front of him.
The flutters in my belly moved up to my chest. I liked Sam.
A lot.
Suddenly, the new stability I thought I’d find in Cooper Valley felt shaky. I felt shaky.
This felt dangerous.
And exhilarating.
But also, right.
Against my better judgement, I was letting Sam in.
I sure as hell hoped things didn’t blow up.
18
SAM
* * *
“Sam, I can’t believe you’re still working!” Clio exclaimed when I passed her, carrying a garbage can full to the brim.
She stood at the edge of the playground, talking to Joy, Remy’s human stepmom. She and Wes invited JT to spend the night, and they were working out the details. Wes and I were on the fair’s clean-up crew, tearing down the carnival booths and putting all the equipment in the school basement, where the PTA stored things. The event had ended, and this was the last load of trash to go out.
JT and Remy raced around the playground, playing tag with some human kids, hopped up on sugar and fresh air, but I knew they’d crash the second they were buckled into their car seats. I imagined it wasn’t going to be a challenging sleepover.
“It’s all to impress you, Sparks. Is it working?” I sent her a wink.
“That’s not true,” I overheard Joy say as I walked away. “He always pitches in at these events.”
I wondered if Wes told her Clio was my mate. Probably. She may be human, but she was marked and one of us now, which meant she’d understand, at least partly, how much I had riding on getting Clio to let me past those walls of hers.
I walked around the back of the school to throw the garbage in the dumpster then stopped in the bathroom to wash my hands. When I came out, Clio was leaning against the wall in the empty corridor.
Mine, my wolf snarled.
I know. Working on it.
“Hey.” She reached for me, and I loved that she’d done that.
“Where’s JT?” I asked, glancing down the hall.
“With Remy and Joy.”
I pulled her in, savoring the feeling of her arms around my waist. She was breaking her own rules, but I wasn’t about to point it out.
She lifted her face to mine. “I have to confess something, Sam.”
My pulse picked up speed. By the softness of her body and face, it didn’t feel like it was going to be something bad.
“Yeah?”
Her cinnamon and sugar scent curled in my nostrils, making it hard not to pick her up, pin her against a wall, and drive into her until she screamed. The elementary school was definitely a no-fuck zone.
Claim. Mark. Make her mine. My wolf was furious I hadn’t marked her yet.
“I underestimated you.”
It shouldn’t hurt. Especially because I already knew it was the case. But I could still feel that old sense of frustration that always rose when people didn’t take me seriously.
“How so?” I kept my tone neutral.
As if realizing she’d offended me, she winced. “I don’t know–I saw you as just another cocky young rodeo star who is smooth with the ladies. I spent my whole life around big shot drivers and pit crew guys. Swagger rules in the IndyCar world, and you have some impressive swagger.”
I kept my expression inscrutable. “And now?”
“Tonight, I saw a guy who’s devoted to his family and great with kids. A guy with plans for his future. A guy who pitches in to help without expecting a reward. I noticed that you’re different. You’re not just another self-absorbed, big ego.”
I was bothered by her words. By her lack of trust. But at least she was sharing her thoughts. I was getting under her armor.
“Anyway, I just wanted to apologize for underestimating you.”
My lips twisted into a wry grin. “Happens a lot.”