Total pages in book: 116
Estimated words: 109777 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 549(@200wpm)___ 439(@250wpm)___ 366(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 109777 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 549(@200wpm)___ 439(@250wpm)___ 366(@300wpm)
I said the only thing that felt true even though it didn’t make sense. “I feel like me. Like this is Hope.”
“Hope is beautiful. And she always was.” He grazed the side of my cheek with his thumb before lowering his mouth to mine. I ignored the wolf whistle from behind us and pressed my lips to his. Alice and Lily had been right.
I didn’t need to know what to do with Griffen. Griffen knew plenty. I just had to follow his lead. My body wasn’t the least bit confused. My lips moved under his, my tongue tasting, loving the growl in his throat when I kissed him back.
“You two want pizza or Chinese?” I didn’t recognize the voice, but I resented the interruption. All of a sudden, it occurred to me that I was kissing Griffen in full view of a bunch of people I didn’t know and all I could think about was kissing him more.
One orgasm, an hour in a lingerie shop, and my mind was firmly in the gutter.
Griffen stepped back, breaking our kiss. I turned around, Griffen’s arm sliding around my shoulders, and looked up to see avid curiosity on all the faces at the end of the hall except Alice and Lily, who were both giving me satisfied smiles.
“Do you want pizza or Chinese?” Griffen asked in a low voice. “If I get my vote, I’d rather take you to bed, but these clowns aren’t going to leave us alone.”
He’d rather take me to bed. I wasn’t sure I was ready for that, but I wasn’t going to turn him down. Not after that kiss. Going for the easy answer I said, “Pizza.”
Six pizzas later, everyone was full. We were parked on one of Cooper’s huge couches watching a basketball game, my head on Griffen’s shoulder, my eyes drooping. Before they slid shut, I felt him loop an arm behind my back and lift, pulling me into his lap.
“I’m too heavy,” I mumbled, trying to force my eyes to open.
“You’re not.” Griffen settled me in, his fingers trailing through my hair, the gentle tug and release too relaxing to fight.
“K,” I whispered, my eyes closing all the way. I don’t know how long I slept there. I surfaced once at the sensation of being carried, only to hear Griffen telling me to close my eyes and go back to sleep.
I woke to an empty bed, a note on Griffen’s pillow.
Working out downstairs, be back to take you to breakfast.
My new clothes were all in his car, but I did my best with my old jeans and gray sweater. Griffen didn’t seem to mind when he came back, deliciously sweaty, his eyes glued to my butt in the worn denim.
We met Cooper, Alice, and Petra for breakfast, then all headed over to Evers’ house. His wife, Summer, was home from her trip, and we spent the day hanging out, the guys still refining the security plan for Heartstone Manor, the rest of us watching the kids and getting to know each other. I’d never had a day like it. The easy camaraderie, the open welcome.
Like Alice and Lily, Summer seemed to accept me without reservation. It was far more than I’d expected, and I wasn’t quite sure what to do with it except just enjoy myself.
All too soon, we had to leave. We pushed it later than we should have, but neither of us wanted to go. This was family. The Sinclairs had given Griffen a home when his own people had thrown him out. Back in Sawyers Bend, we faced uncertain welcome, a barely functional place to live, and—oh, yeah—someone who’d murdered Griffen’s father and might be after Griffen.
With all that waiting for us, was it a surprise we didn’t leave Atlanta until late Sunday night? We might have stayed into Monday, but Griffen and I were in agreement. We wanted a day to settle into Heartstone Manor before the rest of his siblings arrived.
Our time in Atlanta had run out.
After a long dinner of steaks grilled on Evers’ deck, we said our goodbyes, mine only a little tearful, Griffen’s filled with plenty of back slaps. The guys would be at Heartstone to oversee the security install, so it wasn’t good-bye forever. Not really. And yet, it was. Griffen was quiet as we got in the car. I reached out to tangle my fingers with his.
The Sinclairs would always be his friends. Family. But his life in Atlanta was over. This wasn’t good-bye forever, but it was still a good-bye. Griffen squeezed my hand and let out a long breath. That was the extent of his emotional release. Men.
I couldn’t change the terms of the will or force Griffen’s family into accepting him. I couldn’t replace what he was losing in leaving Atlanta and Sinclair Security. As I stared out the window and watched the road flash by, I swore I’d do everything I could to make it worth it, to make up for everything he’d lost when Prentice had died and turned his life upside down.