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)
My throat nearly closed off as I stared at him, and my voice went hoarse as I begged, “I’m in trouble, Cash. Really bad trouble. And you’re the only person I can trust.”
THREE
CASH
I’m in trouble. I’m in trouble. I’m in trouble.
Her words spun through my head on a loop. Garbled and distorted.
My greatest fucking fear.
All while I stood there staring at the three kids who were on the opposite side of the clearing, up high and tucked beneath the shade of the trees. My spirit felt like it was going to fail as Daisy kept her hand locked around my bicep.
So warm and right and…
I whirled toward her. The movement ripped her hand free. I couldn’t handle her touching me. Reminding me of who I once was.
Though, apparently, I was a fucking masochist because I dipped in close to her face and got slammed with the scent I could never forget.
That sweet floral aura that was dosed with a shot of vanilla.
My guts tangled in a fit of memories. The way she’d sneak into my room at night through my window. My arm wrapped around her as she rested her head on my shoulder.
My nose pressed into her hair.
My best friend who I’d sworn to never touch.
Razors slashed at my throat as I swallowed the reaction down, and I hissed, “Tell me what the fuck is going on.”
Daisy’s face blanched and her hand remained suspended in the air, like she was frozen in the spot where she’d been holding onto me.
Pleading.
Begging.
Fuck.
Why did she have to be even more damned beautiful than she was then?
Cheeks high and carved, her jaw almost sharp except for the dimple in the middle of her chin. Lips pouty and plush and twisted in a delicate, tempting bow.
All her angles were now sharper, but there were still hints of that softness that promised she was just as sweet as she’d ever been. Kind and shy and a little goofy, one of my favorite things about her. The way she came stumbling out of the river was like a shot of the past plucked right from my memories.
Though I could see she was written in traumas now. Could sense the fear that emanated from her soft, delicate flesh.
I nearly buckled at the thought, but I let the rage that forever simmered keep me standing.
“I…” She blinked those cornflower eyes. “We need to talk.”
“Obviously, which is why I’m asking you to tell me what the hell is going on.” I kept the words low so the three freaking kids she had on my property wouldn’t overhear.
Apparently, retribution was standing on my doorstep.
A penalty for my sins.
All the things I could never have dangled in front of me.
Daisy glanced at her children who danced around on the blanket, giggling and squealing since Duke had made his way over to them, the little traitor licking their faces and acting like they were welcome.
“You got a dog, mister man?” the youngest girl called, screeching with joy as Duke basically mauled her with love.
I couldn’t even respond.
My throat closed off and my chest stretched so tight it was impossible to draw air into my lungs.
Daisy inhaled a staggered breath, and her head tipped to the side. Those pretty features pulled in desperation as she tried to get through to me.
To reach me.
That hand was back on my arm again. “I didn’t know who else to go to. My ex-husband…”
A rush of possession slammed me from out of nowhere. Heart a squall of repulsion at the thought of someone else touching her.
At the thought of someone else having her.
Only I was a selfish enough prick to consider her mine.
I tried to get my shit together. To focus on what was important.
The fact she had come here for help.
My mind had already sprinted into the abhorrent, rage clouding my sight at the thought of someone doing her wrong, though if I were being rational, she could be here for any number of things.
But right then, I wasn’t feeling so rational.
“Are you in danger?” The question ground out like shards of glass, and my gaze swept the perimeter, hunting for anyone lurking in the canopy of the forest.
When I was satisfied I didn’t feel anyone else there, I forced my focus back to her.
Anxiety gripped her expression, that sexpot mouth that was really fuckin’ distracting tweaking at the side as she chewed the inside of her cheek the way she always did when she was upset.
“I…”
Fear clouded her features.
It sent fury blistering through my insides.
She looked back at her children, and her throat trembled as she whispered, “Can we stay with you? I don’t want to talk about it out here when I’m half naked, and we don’t have anywhere else to go.”
She looked down to bring attention to the fact that she was still standing there wrapped in a thin towel, hair dripping wet, her pale skin pebbled with goosebumps.