Total pages in book: 22
Estimated words: 21010 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 105(@200wpm)___ 84(@250wpm)___ 70(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 21010 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 105(@200wpm)___ 84(@250wpm)___ 70(@300wpm)
I guess when you’re dealing with someone who openly hates you, though, things are different. Plus, a lot is on the line here, and if I stumble over my words too much, I have a feeling I’ll have a fist thrown at my face.
Worse, I may lose my chance to have Nicole.
I can’t dawdle here forever. I’m here to pick her up for the lantern-lighting ceremony and to fulfill our duties as king and queen.
But nothing’s ever that easy.
I step out of the car and make my way up to the door. I have dressed in my best. Well, the best a Rowdy boy can dress, anyhow. Clean cowboy boots, tight denim fresh out of the wash, a button-down shirt, a bolo tie and a hat. Nothing too extravagant. If I owned a suit, I would have worn that. Burly boys in general, though? We’re cowboys, and I can’t help if that’s especially literal when it comes to me.
I’ve told myself I shouldn’t care what some hateful man thinks of me. But Nicole cares what this guy thinks, so I feel some obligation to win him over.
I push the doorbell and anxiously await my fate. There’s enough delay that I think he might be outright ignoring me, but I soon hear the tumblers start to turn, and the door opens to his scowling face.
“Nicole isn’t home. Piss off.”
I let out a long breath and shake my head. “You know I’m not going to buy that, Mr. McCormick. Not when she told me she’d be here.”
“Well, she isn’t here. Go away.”
“Her car is here.”
“She went for a long walk.”
“Daddy!” I hear her shout in the distance, and she scurries up behind him as fast as she can in heels. I get a good look at her and damn, she’s gorgeous.
She’s not showing off a lot of flesh given the coldness of the Burly autumn, but she’s showing off what she can and it’s fantastic. I gawk at her for a time, just taking in her beauty.
“I’m trying to save you, sweetie. This wannabe cowboy is bad news, and not good enough for you.”
I throw a finger up. “Uh, I’ll have you know I am literally a cowboy. I studied business at Washington State, but I’m still out there every day on a horse, wrangling our cows and bulls.”
“I don’t care, it’s the spirit of the thing!”
“Don’t be like this, Daddy.”
This is my opportunity. I can either keep this hatred going, let him resent me more and more, make every time I come to see Nicole some big battle, or I can try to make him understand how I feel about his daughter. We can end this cycle of pointless hatred.
“Sir,” I say, maintaining maximum respect. “May I have a word with you? Privately? I’d like to talk this out.”
He crosses his arms. “There’s nothing to talk about.”
Nicole, though, is on my side. “Daddy, there’s plenty to talk about. You just need to allow it. I’m not going to cut Nelson out of my life just because you say I have to.”
Her father scowls at her. “You would if you knew what was good for you. I’m just protecting you.”
“And I don’t need your protection. I’m twenty-two years old. I’m legally and realistically an adult, Dad. I graduated college. I’m capable of taking care of myself. I could walk out that door right now and never come to see you again if I wanted to, and it would be my right.”
“Nicole, don’t be like this.”
“And I’m asking you not to be like this, Daddy. I don’t want to cut you out of my life. I love you. But I would love it if you didn’t make me choose.”
Benjamin hesitates. “He’s a Rowdy, sweetheart. Do you know what his family did to us?”
“His family? Yeah. A century ago. But Nelson himself has done nothing. You can either start listening or I will walk out that door, Daddy. And you won’t see me again until you remove your head from your ass.”
I smile. She’s got fire, and an iron will. It takes more than beauty to win over a Rowdy boy’s heart.
“Sir,” I speak up. “Can we talk? Just the two of us? I’m sure we can understand one another better with honest words than snide quips.”
Benjamin looks between us. He clearly loves his daughter, and being confronted like this is making him wonder if he hates me more than he loves her.
Love may just win this battle yet. “Fine. Come on in, boy. We’ll go to my office.”
“Thank you, sir.”
Nicole smiles at me, having full belief in me resolving this feud once and for all.
I enter the McCormick mansion, and it’s way more posh than the Rowdy home. I guess I should have expected as much. There are lots of pictures on the wall, a lot of them black and white and grainy enough to suggest they aren’t from any modern photo studio.