Total pages in book: 42
Estimated words: 39538 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 198(@200wpm)___ 158(@250wpm)___ 132(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 39538 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 198(@200wpm)___ 158(@250wpm)___ 132(@300wpm)
Instead of going with the brothers, Cole fell in step with her. “How’s your day going?” he asked casually.
“Pretty much the same as yesterday.” Unable to hold her curiosity at bay any longer, she gave Cole a fleeting glance. “A little chilly for what you’re wearing.”
“Matthew and Issac are teaching me how to work their forge.”
“I bet that’s interesting.”
“For the first ten minutes, then it becomes a sauna. You saved me; I needed an excuse to escape.”
“What about your shirt?” Hearing the breathlessness in her voice, she smacked the delivery bag against the side of her leg.
Confusion marred his expression as they reached her car. “You usually leave your engine running?”
“Depends. I need a new starter. If the weather is above sixty degrees, she’ll start right up. If it dips below, I have to jump her. For the next few days, I should be good. I’m just holding off putting more money into this one. I almost have enough to get a used car.”
“I don’t like the idea of you being out in this car if it isn’t reliable.” Frowning, he opened the door for her. “I could lend you the mon—”
“No, thank you. I’m doing dandy.”
“I take it you’re a fan of Dolly’s?”
“Fooorrrreeveerr,” she quipped, tossing the delivery bag like a frisbee into the back of the car.
“I happen to have an extra ticket for the Christmas fair tonight. We could do dinner first then go to the fair afterward.” His eyes twinkled in merriment. “Of course, I’d drive.”
“Sorry, I have to work. Bye, Cole.” She practically threw herself in the front seat, then shut the door before he had a chance to react. Megan felt bad for ditching him so fast.
Cole standing there, bare-chested, with nipples taut from the cold air was more than she could physically take. Her hands were shaking on the steering wheel as she backed up into the side section of gravel. Cutting the wheels, she turned the car in the other direction to head down the long driveway. What made it worse was Cole knew the effect his body was having on her.
Oh yes, he did … Pfft… she could see the naughty gleam in his eyes. She deserved a damn medal for the way she had restrained herself.
Curt was the only man she’d had sex with, and to be honest, before meeting Cole, she hadn’t planned to experience it with another. Yet, the more she was around him, the more she had to restrain herself from touching him. He was like catnip. All she had to do was catch a whiff, and her stagnant libido went haywire.
Dammit, there was a pill for everything. There should be a pill you could take to stop you from being attracted to someone with the potential to wreck your sanity. She would take it … the darn thing didn’t even have to be FDA approved. She would take a chance, you betcha. She would risk taking an experimental drug any day of the week and twice on Sunday rather than trust her own judgment with Cole.
“You’ve got this, Megan. You can do this,” she reassured herself. All she had to do was stay away from him until after Christmas. “You said this before.” Megan didn’t appreciate how snide her subconscious sounded.
Her subconscious flipped her off.
“I’m going to keep saying it until you finally listen.”
Megan shot Cole a dirty look as the door closed. Fuming, she stomped her boots on the welcome mat before approaching the counter of the gas station as the clerk finished waiting on a customer and thrust the order at Cole’s stomach. He caught the bag and gave her an innocent grin.
“What are you doing here?” she hissed at him under her breath.
Cole quirked an eyebrow at her. “This is a gas station.”
“I know that,” she snapped. “I didn’t see your car at the pumps.”
“I walked over here after the fair. Casey and Max are still there with the kids. They’re going to pick me up on the way back.”
“That still doesn’t explain why you walked all the way here.” Tapping one of her boots, she waited to hear what possible explanation Cole could up with to warrant a two-mile walk.
“Oh … I’m sorry.” He handed the bag of food to the amused clerk, who was watching them. “Megan, this is Joel—”
“We’ve met. This is the only gas station in town.”
Joel burst out laughing while unpacking his food. “Perhaps you better tell her, Cole, before those boots start walking.”
Cole didn’t look perturbed, giving her the same gentle smile he always gave her. “I come here regularly. Like you said, it’s the only gas station in town,” he said wryly, letting her know he hadn’t missed the irritation she hadn’t attempted to hide. “The last time I was in here, Joel noticed I was driving a rental car and told me he had a car for sale. I didn’t have the time to check it out then, so I decided to walk over here after the fair and see if it would work for me.”