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)
Her tiny arms wrapped around his thick neck.
“You got me, My Giant?”
“Yeah, I’ve got you,” he grumbled in that deep, low voice.
God. How was I supposed to handle this?
This feeling that swept over me?
Old dreams trying to break through the barrier where I kept them trapped.
That innocent love trying to sprout from the dried, barren floor that lined my insides.
Our feet thudded on the wood planks as we crossed the porch. My nerves twisted and coiled in my belly as we approached the door.
Cash didn’t knock.
He swung it open to the chaos that echoed from inside, though the voices and laughter were coming from the end of a long corridor on the right.
“This way.” He ushered us inside. Addy and Colin went clambering down the big hall as if they’d taken it a thousand times.
“Addy. Colin,” I tried to warn beneath my breath as I increased my pace to catch up. We passed by a formal living room, a library, then a dining room.
Honestly, the house was absolutely stunning. The walls lined with crown molding and large pillars accented the high ceilings, though it was still welcoming and cozy.
But I didn’t have time to really appreciate it since I was trying to stop my children from barging into someone’s home like they owned it.
I guess they learned a whole lot from me.
Barging into Cash’s world like I had the right to it. Hijacking his life like I was entitled to it.
Cash only chuckled, and his low voice drifted over me from behind. “Think you’re going to find you don’t have a thing to worry about.”
I nearly made it to Addy and Colin by the time they hit the end of the massive hall.
“We’re here!” both Colin and Addy shouted as they burst through the opening.
I skidded to a stop behind them when I came face to face with the scene.
It was an enormous great room with a family area on the right and the kitchen to the left. Nearly the entire thing had big windows that overlooked a rambling meadow in the back. Gorgeous scenery with the lawn expansive and extending out from the wraparound porch.
A stream cut through the middle of the field, and a few towering trees were dotted throughout before the yard gave way to the woods on the other side.
But it was the people inside that made my ribs compress so tightly that I felt like I would implode.
Their conversations clipped off and every pair of eyes swung to us.
I started to inch backward. Needing to hide the way I did when I was young.
Only I backed right into a solid body.
Cash was right there.
Blocking my escape.
His presence holding me up when my legs went weak.
Heat flashed to my cheeks as I watched their mouths gape as they stared, my throat thick as I shifted my weight from side to side.
I can do this.
I can do this.
Cash edged around me and came to stand at my side, and their gaping mouths basically unhinged and clattered to the floor at the sight of Cash still holding my youngest daughter hooked to his hip while his free hand returned to the base of my spine.
Shock freezing them as they stared like they were witnessing the unfathomable.
My shock blazed right back.
Holy crap.
I wasn’t even close to imagining them correctly.
Four men gawked back from the other side of the large kitchen island. These terrifying beasts who oozed menace and peril. Completely covered in tattoos. So clearly dangerous that my stomach twisted in a fit of nerves.
Right then, I was registering just how deadly Cash must be.
Because that’s what these men looked like.
Deadly.
Different than Ethan, though. It wasn’t hidden behind perfect smiles and tailored suits.
It was clear and patent.
Each of them were wrapped around an incredibly beautiful woman.
Discomfort roiled from Cash.
From the right side of the room, a high-pitched squeal broke the silence, and a little girl with blond hair done in two pigtail braids jumped off an oversized couch. “Are these my brand-new friends?”
She came dashing across the room, her precious face split in a smile.
A young boy who appeared to be about a year older than her jumped up from where he was playing on the floor with another little boy who couldn’t be more than two.
“They gotta be!” the older one who had to be Nolan said.
The little girl bounced in front of us, waving her hands overhead. “Hi, hi, hi! I’m Maci! Did you want to meet me? My mommy said you were real excited to come play at my house. Guess what! We’re gonna have a picnic, and I got a whole lotta games, so we’re gonna have the most fun you ever had.”
“I wike fun!” Eva raised her hand like she was volunteering. She kicked her feet in Cash’s hold. “I want down, My Giant!”
Cash set her down beside Colin.