Total pages in book: 92
Estimated words: 88456 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 442(@200wpm)___ 354(@250wpm)___ 295(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 88456 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 442(@200wpm)___ 354(@250wpm)___ 295(@300wpm)
With another glance around the room, I quietly slipped out and found Lily waiting by the front door. She grabbed my hand and nearly dragged me out of the house. We walked in silence for a minute or two as I followed her to Brock and Lincoln’s barn.
Once inside, I drew in a deep breath. “I wish I was dressed to go riding.”
Lily looked longingly at the tack room and nodded in agreement. When we were little girls, we’d always go riding and talk to each other about boys or whatever was happening in our worlds. Turning to face me, she put her hands on her hips, met her honey-colored eyes with my blue, and said, “Okay, spill it, Rose Marie! I want a play-by-play of every ‘inning’ with that hot pitcher.”
I dropped down onto a bale of hay and glanced around. No one else was in the barn, so I wasn’t worried about us being overheard.
“Fine. I spent the evening with Bryson Robinson. He’s a pitcher for the Seattle Mariners, and we started off by talking, then playing cards. Then that led to sitting in a hammock together while he showed me the stars. His father was an astronomer who worked for NASA when he fell in love with Bryson’s mom and gave it all up to live in Montana and sell farm equipment.”
Lily blinked at me a few times, then put her hands over her chest. “Oh my gosh, how romantic is that!”
I smiled. “I know. It was love at first sight for them. Plus, she ended up pregnant with Bryson. He said his dad ended up teaching astronomy at a local college and said he never regretted his decision to leave NASA.”
Lily wore a dreamy expression. “Where are those guys at? The ones who love you so soundly?”
I smiled and nodded.
“So you guys talked, played cards, looked at the stars…and then?”
Closing my eyes, I let the memory of that night come rushing back.
“You slept with him!” Lily gasped. “I knew it!”
“Yes, I spent the night with him up on his rooftop terrace, and it was the best sex of my life, and now I’m ruined for all other men. Lily, I don’t know what to do because I can’t stop thinking about him.”
When Lily remained silent, I turned to see her gaping at me. Reaching over, I placed my finger on her chin and shut her mouth.
“Trust me, no one is more surprised by this than I am. I mean, I don’t have time to think about a guy I have zero chance with.”
“I’m sorry, but what makes you think you have zero chance with him? Is he a player, and by that, I mean did he give you the impression he has one-night stands often?”
I shook my head. “No, the opposite. He told me he had been in a long-term relationship with a girl, and she cheated on him, and since they broke up, he hadn’t been with anyone in nearly a year.”
“Wow, so you guys have that in common.”
Rolling my eyes, I said, “It wouldn’t work because he is in Seattle, and I’m here. He travels all over the place and hardly has a day off, and when he does, he’s practicing. I have no desire to move to Seattle, and he’s one of the top, if not the top, pitchers in the MLB. It would never work. Besides, I don’t want a relationship. And after the whole Kyle thing, I don’t know if I could trust Bryson knowing that women threw themselves at him constantly.”
“Not all guys cheat, Rose.”
Exhaling, I closed my eyes. “I know that. And I have a feeling Bryson is one of the rare ones. It’s just that I want to figure out…”
I let my words trail off.
“You want to figure out what?”
I dropped back against the wood plank wall and sighed. “My life. What I want to do.”
She turned to face me, taking my hand in hers. “I thought you wanted to design houses and barns and buildings.”
Chewing on my lip, I slowly shook my head.
“You don’t want to do that?”
I screwed up my face and shook my head again.
“Your parents are going to be pissed if you say you want to go back to school for something different!”
Laughing, I took her hand in mine. “I love designing. If was fun when I did Blayze’s house because he was a part of it. I mean, I just drew it out. The real architect did up the plans. I know how to do plans now, but it was different. When I helped design Morgan’s apartment that’s now mine, that was fun. When the Parkers asked me to design them an environmentally friendly barn and guesthouse, I was all over it. But the things I’m doing at the firm are boring as hell. If I’m even doing design. I get I’m the low person on the ladder and have to work my way up, but it isn’t what I thought it would be.”