Total pages in book: 50
Estimated words: 47579 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 238(@200wpm)___ 190(@250wpm)___ 159(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 47579 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 238(@200wpm)___ 190(@250wpm)___ 159(@300wpm)
She turned on the lights in the nursery and headed for the shelves. Dropping to her knees, she carefully laid down her blankie before setting Jam on top and folding the soft material around him. The Devil Daddies logo looked perfect sitting on his tummy. A question popped into her mind to ask Wraith later.
“Daddy,” Caroline corrected herself aloud and smiled. That sounded really good.
Scanning the spines on the shelf, she took her time considering each volume. Her gaze kept returning to one. That had to be the right choice. So she chose a book she hadn’t heard of before based completely on a star at the top and a magic wand at the bottom. Caroline turned through a couple of pages and loved the illustrations scattered between sections of text.
“This is the one, Jam. I want to see what this is about.”
She collected Jam, the blankie, and the book to take to the family room. Once there, she announced, “I hope you like this story!” The sight of Wraith’s butt showcased in the kitchen as he leaned over the dishwasher made her mouth water. He glanced over his shoulder to catch her ogling him and lifted an eyebrow.
“Like what you see, Precious?”
“Mmmhmmm,” she answered, nodding enthusiastically.
“I hope you chose a short story,” he said, and she automatically understood he meant to ravish her as soon as they finished reading.
Sheepishly, she held up the thick book she had selected. “Oops?”
“I should let you digest your dinner before allowing you to do gymnastics.”
A mental picture flashed into her head of making love with Wraith, and her cheeks heated with excitement.
“I’d love to peek into your brain to see what’s going on in there, Little girl. I think we’ll read a few chapters tonight and then have an early bedtime. Jam looks tired.”
“Oh, he’s exhausted,” she assured him.
“Give me five more minutes, and I’ll be right there. Curl up on the couch and talk to me.”
“Okay, Daddy. What do you want to discuss?”
“Tell me about your writing,” he suggested.
“I created my first book three years ago. It did well. Not gangbusters like making the New York Times Bestseller list, but I earn more money than I’d dreamed possible. Adam….”
“That asshole’s name should never come out of your mouth again unless he’s an imminent danger to you, Little girl.”
Caroline swallowed hard at the animosity in his voice. “I’m sorry. There are things in my life that involve him. I didn’t mean to upset you.”
Wraith slammed a hand down on the counter and then apologized when she jumped. “Sorry, Caroline. I didn’t mean to snap at you. I can’t imagine someone being stupid enough to let you go. All I can think of is how much I want to tear off his balls and feed them to him for treating you poorly. That man is an idiot.”
“He is,” she said with a smile, loving how he sprang to her defense.
“I’ll try not to react when I hear his name. I don’t want to scare you.”
“You didn’t. You’d never hurt me.”
“Your bottom is fair game,” he said with a twinkle in his eye.
She squirmed on the couch as he stalked forward. “Maybe we could negotiate that?”
“Not happening. Keep going. Tell me what Adam, the idiot, said.”
“You’re going to refer to him like that every time now, aren’t you?” Caroline asked, laughing. It was amazing how Wraith’s protectiveness blunted the harm that Adam had done. Her ex-husband’s power to affect her dwindled as Wraith showed her how a positive relationship could be.
“Yes.” Wraith sat on the couch next to her and lifted Caroline onto his lap. “So, what did the idiot say?”
“He told me I was a one-hit wonder. And he was right. My second book didn’t do as well. Still okay but didn’t sell gangbusters. Same with the next stories. I switched categories of romance each time, searching for my groove. I think that was a terrible mistake. MC romance is super-hot right now. I loved writing my book. That might be the type of novel that will work for me.”
“Are you going to stick with MC?”
“I am. It’s fun to write, and I did a great job on it. We’ll see what my editor says.”
“I love a plan. That’s not why you came back, right? So you’d have material or research for your book?” Wraith watched her closely.
“I’m glad you asked. I don’t want that question repeating itself in your head.” She shook her head before continuing. “No. I can do research online. You aren’t my model for a bad biker dude. I wouldn’t share you with anyone inside a book or out of one. You’re all mine.”
He stared at her for several seconds. Caroline’s stomach flip-flopped inside her, and she clutched Jam a bit tighter. Please let him believe her.
Wraith wrapped his hand around the back of her head and drew Caroline’s face close to his. “Thank you, Little girl, for explaining.” He pressed his mouth to hers in a sweet kiss.