Total pages in book: 39
Estimated words: 36689 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 183(@200wpm)___ 147(@250wpm)___ 122(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 36689 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 183(@200wpm)___ 147(@250wpm)___ 122(@300wpm)
“Wake up, sleepyhead,” I call softly, brushing that hair back. He’s so strikingly handsome, and I love how thick his beard is.
He opens his eyes slowly, his gaze hazy from sleep. I see the pain and loneliness that he must work so hard to hide from the rest of the world. Then he blinks, and it’s gone. He’s back to being the strong, silent cowboy I’ve just met.
“You snore in your sleep,” I tell him rather than share that I know he was having nightmares.
“Guess so,” he murmurs and flexes his fingers. That’s when I realize where his hand is. It’s on my ass. My naked ass and it’s kneading my flesh. I see the moment he realizes it too. That we’re both together in the bed and at least, one of us is naked.
I quickly spring up, grabbing for a sheet to wrap around myself. But it’s too late. It’s obvious that Cord is naked too. We’re both naked. We must have...ah, OK. Can’t believe I missed a performance with equipment that impressive. I’m not disappointed. Nope, can’t be thinking like that. I need to get us back on solid ground.
I reach to finger comb my hair, my head still pounding. But then I nearly drop the sheet and scramble to put it back in place. It’s not like he hasn’t seen everything already, but still. A wife should be somewhat dressed before she starts talking about dissolving her marriage. “Do you think you could cover up your...self?”
Cord sits up, resting his back against the headboard and arranges a sheet over his feet. I can still see his manhood, and well, let’s just say I’ve never seen morning wood that healthy and enthusiastic.
I gesture. “Maybe more of you could be covered.”
He gives me a slow grin that lets me know he knows what I want and reaches for the sheet, finally adjusting it over his lap. Great, now it looks like he has a tent there. A there I would very much like to explore with my fingers.
“So, the thing about it is...you really helped a girl out, you know?” My voice is too high, too breathy. I haven’t sounded like this since I took a Torts class in law school with a professor who always liked to call on me, so she could humiliate me in front of my peers. I clear my throat and start again. “Thank you for showing up and helping me out.”
He arches one eyebrow, making it obvious that’s not all he did. Dammit, why can’t I remember last night? Wait, I had champagne. A lot of champagne. Well, that explains the headache from hell.
“And now, I’ll just send a quick message to a lawyer friend and get this marriage annulled then you can be on your way, and this will just be a funny story you tell the other cowboys,” I explain, hoping he doesn’t contest it. After all, it shouldn’t be hard to get this marriage annulled. Like it never even happened.
He strokes his beard. “I’m no lawyer, just a backwards bumpkin, but is it really that quick and simple?”
“Sure, it is,” I answer. “I’m a lawyer. Corporate law, but still. I’ll send an email to a friend. We’ll sign some documents, and this will be over before dinner. How does that sound?”
“Remind me. What grounds are we divorcing on? Like the legal speak of it,” he clarifies.
“Oh, uh, right.” I grab my phone and pull up a website on the North Carolina annulment laws. “So, we’re not cousins, can’t use that one. No mistaken pregnancy here. We’re both adults, so that’s a negative.”
“What else is there?”
I click my phone screen off. “Don’t worry. I’ll have my friend fill it out. You can just sign.”
“You wouldn’t be thinking about doing it on the grounds of impotency, would you? Because I think we both know that’s not going to stand up in court. Or do I need to remind you of what your husband did last night?”
My cheeks heat even though I have no idea what he’s talking about. “No reminders necessary.”
He smirks. “Good. Then looks like we’ll have to dissolve this the old-fashioned way, over a divorce. Takes about a year in North Carolina, isn’t that right?”
I sigh because I know he’s right. I can’t get this annulled because Cord is very clearly hung like a horse. “I’m going to hit the shower.”
He stands, showing off his naked body and all of that golden skin I want to lick. Did I do that last night? Ugh, a girl can hope. “Great idea. We can conserve water.”
“Alone. I was planning to shower alone,” I tell him, surprised that my voice doesn’t squeak. But now I’m thinking about what it would be like to have him touching me and to be touching him under the shower spray.