Total pages in book: 137
Estimated words: 138683 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 693(@200wpm)___ 555(@250wpm)___ 462(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 138683 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 693(@200wpm)___ 555(@250wpm)___ 462(@300wpm)
I wasn’t prepared for the rush of disgust that sped through my veins, clashing with the lust that banged through my body.
Karl was her first?
I wanted to put my fucking fist through a wall.
“You deserve to find someone who loves you, Tessa. With everything they’ve got. Treat your heart and this body right.”
She blinked up at me, the words tremoring when she murmured, “Yeah, Milo, you’re right, I do.”
Then she twisted herself out of my hold and moved to the pile of wood I’d been making.
I dropped my head.
Shit.
How the fuck was I supposed to be around her now?
With that mouth and those eyes and those hands?
With the knowledge that last night I gave her exactly what she needed?
With this girl who made me wonder what it would be like to give it to her forever.
“This treehouse is pure awesomesauce. Remy and Scout are going to lose it. Plus, I’m pretty sure your neighbors are going to get a complex,” Tessa rambled as she swished the paintbrush over the floorboards of the steps. “There’s going to be no keeping up with the Joneses after this baby gets finished.”
I let go of a playful grunt. “Only neighbor within ten miles is my mother.”
“And she’s going to be horribly jealous. Green with envy. Like, seriously, it’s kinda sad.” She grinned, all wide-eyed. “But there’s really not much you can do but build this to its intended grandeur. You know what they say, bigger is better.”
She winked.
The girl was a goddamned flirt, and there was a distinct chance I liked it too much.
The lightness she exuded. The warmth. She was a life raft when things got too deep.
Like she was doing her all to get rid of the pressure over what we’d fallen into last night, but it wasn’t forced, either.
It was easy.
Right.
It was just me and Tessa.
Our friendship.
Our teasing.
This bond that strengthened with each layer of me that she peeled away rather than her running, like I’d expected her to do.
“Is that so?” I asked, letting her innuendo weave in with my response, playing with fire, but since the girl was a ball of it, I didn’t know how to stop.
“Mm-hmm. Who wouldn’t want their margarita bigger? Or their pizza? Or I don’t know, the mountain they’re about to climb? It seems like more of a challenge, don’t you think? At least the one thing I know for sure is that I like my things super-sized.”
Mischief pranced through her expression, though her eyes told a different story, this softness there that was riddled with fierceness and vulnerability.
This was a woman who would just lay herself on the line if it felt right.
If she believed in it.
All while staunchly believing in the end it would turn out all right.
“Thanks for spending the day out here in the heat, slogging along beside me,” I told her.
“What can I say? Some things are worth working for. Or working beside.”
She shrugged like what she said didn’t matter, like she wasn’t slowly undoing me with every word that fell from her mouth, with every glance she cast my way.
I stared at her for a beat. Her flaming hair was hidden beneath a ball cap and tucked behind her ears, the rest of it a lush fall down her back.
This morning, she’d dashed inside to change into something appropriate to work in.
I wouldn’t have exactly called it that.
She’d strutted out wearing cut-off shorts that showed off her long, long legs, and a tight red tank top.
Shocker.
My favorite color.
The tank hugged that sweet, tempting body, the neckline scooping down to reveal a bit of cleavage.
My mouth had instantly watered, and I’d been wondering why I’d been such an idiot last night that I didn’t take the time to get a peek at her tits while I’d had the chance.
Thought she was purposefully trying to drive me out of my mind.
Drive me to desperation.
All that pale flesh flushed from working out in the heat.
Glistening and kissed by the sun.
A bead of sweat rolled down the side of her face.
Fuck me.
“You’re hot.” It was a low grumble.
“It’s like a thousand degrees out here, and you’re working a woman to the bone. And you’re like…all broken. How are you even standing right now?”
“Not broken, Tessa.”
Her expression softened. “No, Milo. You might be battered, but you’re not broken.”
“Little Dove.” It was caution and this adoration that kept climbing to the surface.
She angled her head in thought before she tossed her brush into the near-empty container.
“Come swimming with me.” It wasn’t even a request.
Bad idea.
“I’ve got work to do.”
“We’ve been out here for hours, and we’re almost finished. I painted the entire deck, steps, and railing. One more day and we can bust this thing out. See how great it is to have friends like me? Seriously, what would you do without me?”
Her grin was coy, so sly, as she started to edge down the lawn in the direction of the lake that was shimmering behind her.