Total pages in book: 108
Estimated words: 100853 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 504(@200wpm)___ 403(@250wpm)___ 336(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 100853 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 504(@200wpm)___ 403(@250wpm)___ 336(@300wpm)
“It should have been,” I said honestly. “But no, it wasn’t. I needed to get away. The Inn at Sawyers Bend always felt like a second home. I moved in one day, intending to stay a few days while my rooms here were repainted, and I never left.”
“What about now?” she asked, crossing the room, stopping in front of me to slide her arms around my waist. She tipped her head back and looked up, her pale blue eyes lit from within, filled with welcome.
I wrapped my arms around her. “I don’t know. It feels too soon to make any big decisions. But for me, this room still feels temporary. I’m hoping that down the road I’ll find something more permanent.” I lifted my hand to tuck a stray curl behind her ear, stroking her soft skin with one fingertip. “But I don’t want to rush anything. I don’t want to rush you,” I said, cupping her cheek in my hand and lifting her face.
I kissed her, falling into the feel of her soft lips against mine, the heat of her mouth, the stroke of her tongue—a taste that was only Paige, my Paige.
Her arms rose, her fingers sinking into my hair. She kissed me back, so filled with want. We were on the same page there. The more I touched her, the more I needed. I slid my hands under the back of her shirt, feeling the silk of her skin, and undid the clasp of her bra. Leaning back, I cupped her breasts, sliding my thumbs over the points of her nipples, breaking the kiss and running my lips along her jaw, sucking the point behind her ear that made her shiver.
“Ford,” she said, stepping back, reaching for my arm to pull me toward the bed.
“Where do you think you’re going?” I asked, sliding her shirt over her head along with her bra. I moved to scoop her into my arms, nipping the side of her neck just enough to make her squirm, planning to toss her on the bed and lunge after her so I could pin her down and strip off the rest of her clothes—
Glass shattered, and in a split second, all ideas of stripping Paige naked evaporated. Instead, I landed on top of her on the mattress, spread my body to cover her, shielding her from whatever had broken the glass.
I scanned the room frantically. The window was broken. How the fuck was the window broken? We were on the second floor. My eyes focused. The upper left pane of the center window was a gaping hole, shards of glass scattered over every surface in the room. “Stay still,” I said.
“What? Stay still?” she said, her words muffled by my shoulder, her voice strained with fear. “You’re smushing me. Are you all right?”
“I’m fine.” I rolled slightly to look over my shoulder, and after a second, I saw the neat hole in the desk drawer. “I think someone tried to shoot me.”
Her voice was panicked. “What? How?”
It was night. We had the lights on in here. I couldn’t see a thing through the dark window, and whoever was out there could probably see us perfectly.
Could see Paige. With me. Perfectly. Fuck.
I couldn’t do anything about the overhead light without putting myself in danger, so I left it.
“I need to call Hawk and Griffen,” I said quietly. “Slide over to the edge of the bed. We’re going to hide underneath.” Aware I needed to get Paige out of sight, fast, we edged to the side of the bed. I risked sitting up just enough to nudge Paige down. She dropped to the floor, leaving a red smear across the white duvet that stopped my heart. She was bleeding?
“I’m under,” she said.
“You’re bleeding,” I growled, unable to hold back my panic. I followed her under the bed, finally getting my phone out and dialing Griffen.
“Yeah,” he answered.
I filled him in, using my free hand to examine Paige for injury, the tight space and darkness making it nearly impossible to see where she was hurt.
“Single shot?” he asked.
“As far as I can tell,” I said.
“All right. I’m going to get Ryder’s team mobilized. I’m thinking long-range sniper. One of the trees—” His voice cut off. Then, “Wren can track almost anyone. Stay there until we come get you.”
I pulled Paige farther under the bed, shifting so my back was to the rest of the room and Paige was against the wall, as safe as I could make her until rescue arrived. Turning on the flashlight on my phone, I ran it over her, seeing the long slices on her bare arms and shoulders, with dots of red scattered across her chest. Flashes of light caught the beam from my phone. Glass shards had flown into the room when the bullet hit the window, slicing into Paige.