Total pages in book: 104
Estimated words: 97836 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 489(@200wpm)___ 391(@250wpm)___ 326(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 97836 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 489(@200wpm)___ 391(@250wpm)___ 326(@300wpm)
Instead of snatching my hand back in embarrassment, I forced myself to calm down.
“No. I have a lot of work to do today, so I’m happy to get my morning back.”
Silas stepped closer and reached out with his free hand, tilting my chin up so he could frown down at me. “Talk to me, cowboy. Something’s bothering you. Is it work?”
I was tempted to step even closer and take comfort in his arms, which only set my back up even further. Sometimes I felt like I was falling for this perfect husband fantasy as much as the town was.
I was bone-tired and wanted nothing more than to sleep in my bed for hours. But I also knew my bed was the last place on earth I could find any rest these days.
“No,” I snapped. “I’m good.”
His forehead crinkled. “You’re a liar is what you are. Are you pissed because I interfered in the traffic thing?”
I inhaled a deep breath, forgetting for a minute exactly what the man’s scent did to me. “No. Of course not.”
He raised one eyebrow.
My breath came out in a whoosh. “Fine. Yes. Yes, I’m pissed. I know your solution is a good one, I appreciate that you took the time to make calls on the town’s behalf, but…” I shook my head. “Can you please leave my job to me?”
“You’ve got so much on your plate already,” he said reasonably. “I was only trying to help—”
“I know.” I sounded ridiculous and petulant, and I knew it, which only made me more annoyed. “I know! And I’m not saying it wasn’t kind of you, but Silas…” I lowered my voice. “What happens a few weeks from now when you’re gone, huh? Who’s gonna tell Brett about government programs and show Bernice how to use the apps you’re having her download? You’ll be back in New York, wearing your fancy suits, living your regular life. You won’t give Majestic a single thought, and why would you? But folks here… they’ll have gotten used to you. They’ll have started to depend on you. They’ll miss you.” I’ll miss you.
I snapped my teeth shut in horror. Where was this coming from? What was I even saying?
God, I’m such an asshole.
Silas’s eyes flashed with a split second of hurt and confusion, but then it was gone. “Alright,” he said calmly. “I understand.”
How could he understand when I didn’t understand, myself?
Guilt curled in my stomach, and an apology inched across my tongue. But before I could speak, he grinned easily enough. “What you’re saying is you just need me to keep my mouth closed and look pretty?”
“No. That’s not what I—Silas.”
He’d stepped closer, tilted his head to the side, and took my earlobe into his mouth with his tongue, and I promptly forgot the point of our conversation. Tendrils of desire took over my brain space with a happy buzzing.
This wasn’t helpful.
This wasn’t productive.
“I don’t have time to…” I began breathlessly. I tried to focus on what I was saying. “I… I need to check the…”
Silas moved his mouth down the side of my neck. “Mmhm. Check what?”
I put my hands on his chest, but instead of shoving him away, I fisted his shirt and held him close. “The thing. The… the thing. Fuck, will you stop? I can’t think when you…” I turned my head to press a kiss to his temple. The scent of my shampoo in his hair gave me a strange feeling of ownership.
He pulled back and grinned at me. “I like making you nonsensical, Mayor. It’s not as easy as one might think.”
I shook off the dizzying effects of his mouth. “Seems like you’ve got a handle on it. You do it often enough,” I muttered. “I really do need to get back to the office.”
“Mayor!” Clayton Spilling came out of the Mercantile, spotted me, and crossed the street to say hello. “Bernice said you’d be over here. I wanted to ask if you’d had a chance to ask the AdventureSmash folks if they’d finalized the bike route yet. Me and Cody want to ride it and do some social media posts about it to drum up excitement. See if we can’t boost attendance from the clubs in Riverton and Buffalo, maybe even down in Green River.”
“Clayton, this is Silas Concannon. Silas, Clayton Spilling and his brother Cody run our local mountain biking club. They’ve been a big help pitching the AdventureSmash deal.” The two of them shook hands while I faced Clayton again. “Yeah. They finalized all the routes yesterday. I’m heading out to Three Daughters tomorrow to check the condition of the trails and access to the rock climbing runs. If you and Cody can do the same for the bike route, that would be great. Let me know if there are any issues we need to address.”