Total pages in book: 136
Estimated words: 137131 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 686(@200wpm)___ 549(@250wpm)___ 457(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 137131 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 686(@200wpm)___ 549(@250wpm)___ 457(@300wpm)
But Archer gently swept me up, carrying me into his house like a total gentleman while I laughed and demanded to be put down.
I’m glad he didn’t listen.
He told me I didn’t have to stay, but he wanted me to.
What girl could say no?
So yes, I stayed.
We didn’t even bother pretending I had the guest room this time, not after we set up my stuff in Archer’s bedroom. Colt was amazingly cool with it, turning down his chance to crack a hundred cheesy jokes.
“I know you’re with my dad now, Winnie,” he said, rolling his eyes. “You guys make each other happy and all. It’s cute, but just don’t get all kissy in front of me.”
This kid is going to grow up just like his father, and I couldn’t be happier.
Because I’m more madly in love with Archer Rory by the day.
Not a little bit in love.
No, this is full-on obsessed in a slightly unhealthy way.
The kind of smitten where I like to watch him sleep if I wake up before him and wonder how someone who’s a certified mess ever wound up with a man as wonderful and gentle and sweet and strong and perfect as him.
I mean, he’s not always perfect.
When he’s tired, he can be the king of grouchy, but his heart never wavers. It’s always in the right place, and I can tell he’s working on being less snarly.
He rolls over sleepily, catching me in the act of creeping on him.
His eyelids flutter open and he squints at me through the darkness. I don’t know what time it is, but fall has come, and there’s a lot less natural light seeping through the blinds than summer mornings.
“Are you watching me?” he mutters.
“Edward watched Bella sleep in Twilight and that was totally normal,” I assure him. “I rest my case.”
“Normal, huh? I promise I don’t sparkle, woman.”
“Hey, look at you! So you do get my references, old man!” I snuggle back against his chest. Today, we’re going back to Solitude for the first time since my little escapade, and I’m buzzing with excitement.
If you thought the bee puns would ever stop, you’re wrong.
“Do I feel old?” His arm curls around me, tucking me more firmly into him.
“Nah. You’re aged like a good whisky,” I tease, and he bites my ear. It’s playful, but it makes me gasp.
Heat floods through me.
Archer has been extremely gentle with me since I got back and settled into recovery mode, but what I really want is for him to rip away my panties with his teeth.
To my disappointment, he presses a kiss against my hair and shifts his body away so his cock doesn’t press against my hip. “We should get up soon.”
“Can’t you go back to sleeping first?” I protest.
“So you can go back to ogling me? No thanks. For all I know, you’ll catch me drooling next.”
“You don’t drool in your sleep. But you do snore sometimes.”
“See? No secret’s safe with Sugarbee around.”
“But you love me anyway.” It’s still weird saying it, like this big secret that shouldn’t be spoken just yet. But he turns me around and kisses me on the mouth, hard and deep, like my words trigger something deep inside him.
That’s my cue.
I wrap my arms around him and kiss him with everything I have, hoping he’ll delay whatever he has planned today. But he disentangles from me with a laugh and swats my ass.
“Get moving or we’ll be late.”
“For what?”
In answer, he rolls out of bed. The bulge in his boxers makes it very clear that him not taking full advantage of me this morning has nothing to do with his attraction.
“We seriously don’t have time for a quickie?”
“Don’t you want to see your bees?” he counters. “Colt also needs a ride. He’s got a lab today and I’m not risking some college punk inviting him to a drunken party or some shit.”
I sigh because he’s right—I do want to see how my bees are doing and Archer is understandably protective of his genius son who skips his normal school a few days a week for college classes.
“Fiiine,” I whine, forcing myself up to get dressed quickly.
Once we’ve dropped Colt off at the science building on campus, Archer drives us to Solitude. It’s framed with vibrant red leaves from the forest behind it beginning to change over. It’s a dry, warm autumn day, and I hunch my shoulders in my sweater.
His hand finds mine and we take a minute, just standing and staring at the little cottage and the garden beyond. Late blooms of summer flowers still give the place a lovely streak of color with other plants going dormant.
This is my favorite time, before the cold weather rolls in and everything shrivels up. Change is in the air, so thick you can smell it.
Long hikes won’t be on my menu for a while, but I don’t have PTSD over camping or anything.