Total pages in book: 174
Estimated words: 172061 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 860(@200wpm)___ 688(@250wpm)___ 574(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 172061 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 860(@200wpm)___ 688(@250wpm)___ 574(@300wpm)
They both choked as they found the clear air. “Are you okay?” he begged, shifting around to brush the hair back from her face.
“I…I fell asleep and when I woke up…”
“It’s okay. It’s okay. We have to get out of here.”
He helped her all the way down, and they ducked their heads as they ran to the opposite side of the lawn, far outside the reach of the fire that quickly consumed the house.
When he got Daisy to safety, his mind began to clear. In a flash, a whole new dread gripped him. “Where are my parents?” Cash gasped, trying to breathe and see and make sense of what had happened.
Of what he had done.
Trepidation toiled in Daisy’s eyes, her own panic seeping through. “I…they said they were exhausted and going to bed.”
Horror gripped his soul.
Their room was on the bottom floor on the right side of the house.
“No. No.”
In the distance, he could hear sirens, and the crackle of the fire intensified. Glass suddenly shattered from the big pane glass window in the kitchen nook.
And he was on his feet again, racing for the house.
“Cash, no!”
He barely heard the shout from Daisy as he sprinted across the lawn. He picked up a big rock and broke the window next to his parents’ room before he dove through it.
One second later, he was engulfed in flames.
FORTY-NINE
DAISY
I woke up to the scent of bacon wafting through the air, and I stretched in the comfort of Cash’s bed as I lazily pulled myself from sleep.
Warmth all around where I was wrapped in the sheets with the faintest glimmers of sunlight getting through the cracks in the drapes. My body heavy and sated and still buzzing with a vibrant, exhilarating energy.
I shifted up to sitting, and a slight grin hooked the edge of my mouth as I listened to the sounds coming from outside the room.
Cash was clearly trying to be quiet, though each of his heavy footsteps sent a low reverberation across the floors and winding through me. The hushed clatter of dishes and the stilted spray of the faucet.
Wrapping the sheet around me, I slipped off the bed and tiptoed to the door, my heart rate amping as I slowly turned the knob and stepped out.
My spirit whooshed and soared when I saw him on the other side of the island, only wearing a pair of sweats with his back to me as he stood at the stove, transferring the bacon onto a plate before he dumped an egg mixture into the skillet.
I couldn’t do anything but stand there gawking.
Floored by his intimidating beauty. Trying to wrap my head around the fact that this was real. That he loved me back. That he wasn’t only doing this out of obligation.
I was also struggling to process that he was involved in a world that I couldn’t quite comprehend.
The man had so many facets that felt just out of reach, but still, I was sure I knew him better than anyone.
“You gonna stand over there staring at me all day or get that sweet ass over here and get something to eat?” he grumbled in that low voice before he peered back at me.
Cocky mischief lined Cash’s expression.
My belly twisted.
Damn, how much I liked him like this.
I refused to let any shyness take me over. “I figured I’d spend a few minutes appreciating the view.”
He turned around, giving me more of it. That wide, wide chest covered by all those designs. His ruggedly handsome face, his jaw covered in a coarse stubble that made him appear even sexier than normal, if that was even possible.
He hiked a grin. “You’re going to have plenty of time to appreciate this view. Want to feed you first. Now come over here and sit.”
I started to shuffle my way over, only getting tripped up for a second in the fabric of the sheet, a timorous laugh tittering out of me as I regained my footing then made my way to a stool at the island.
Cash pulled a mug from the cabinet and filled me a cup of coffee, then he grabbed the creamer and eased around the island, setting both in front of me before he pressed his lips to my temple.
Softly.
Lingering there as he inhaled.
“Nothing better in the world than waking up next to you,” he murmured. “Getting to see you lost to your dreams. Your face at peace because you know you’re safe with me.”
My heart fluttered. “Is it wrong that I feel this good with everything happening?”
Edging back, he took my chin between his fingers. “No, baby. I think it’s time we both had a little good in our lives, don’t you?”
“Yes.”
He leaned forward and pecked a kiss on my lips, and he angled back around the counter to the stove and stirred the eggs, before he placed a couple slices of bacon on both plates, scooped fresh cut fruit, then added the steaming eggs.