Page 24 of Merrily Mine
“What?” I gave her a cocky smirk. “I don’t know about you, but I worked up quite an appetite.”
“You… you’re incorrigible.” Emily blushed, dipping her face to take a bite of eggs. Her hair fell like a curtain, hiding her face from me.
I brushed it back from her cheek to press a kiss to her skin. “Yep. Better get used to it, darlin’. Especially since you’re stuck with me for the next few days. Snow’s pretty deep. There’s no way we’re going anywhere.”
She sighed, looking out the window. “I should probably go check on Smokey at some point today.”
“Okay. What else do you want to do? Turns out we have a lot of time to kill.”
Emily scrunched up her nose. “Well, normally I would just read a book or something. I pre-scheduled all of my content so I wouldn’t have to worry about posting and could take a break from all of that, too. So…”
I nodded. “Reading sounds good.”
She looked up at me with surprise. “Really?”
“Uh-huh. Your family still has the library, right?” I stroked my jaw in thought, my fingers itching at my beard. I kept it short, and I was definitely going to be overdue for a shave soon.
“Well, obviously. Mom and Dad weren’t about to get rid of all their books.” Emily gave me a weird look. I remembered when we were younger, all three of the Sullivan kids were always reading. Sure, her older brother Benjamin mostly read comics, but Hunter and I had traded fantasy novels in high school. We’d both lovedThe Lord of the Rings.
When was the last time I sat down and read a book? Years, probably. In Washington, I’d been so busy between work and trying to keep my marriage alive, and ever since I’d moved home, I was trying to keep up with learning how to run the ranch. To take over for dad when he was ready to fully retire and pass the reins down to me.
“Perfect. I remember your dad has a whole bookcase of thrillers. I’ll just read one of those.”
“Okay.” The word was a soft whisper, and when I looked over, Emily had a soft smile on her face, her plate cleaned. It was strange how satisfying I found that.
I reached out, wiping a crumb off her cheek. “Good girl,” I said, my voice a low rumble.
She let out a squeak, but I didn’t think I missed the heat in her eyes. Sheliked it,I realized. I filed that information away for later, something I definitely planned on pulling out if she wanted a repeat of last night.
Having consumed our food, we cleaned everything up in tandem, enjoying a comfortable silence. A few times, I caught her looking at me, and then dipping her head, cheeks pink. I liked that neither of us needed to say anything, and yet we were shoulder to shoulder, effortlessly acting like…
I shook the thought away. That wasn’t what this was, and I knew it.Fun,I reminded myself. I could do fun. For now. While I was here, while we were snowed in to this house, I could give her a few orgasms and some fun.
And then at the end, I could walk away.
It wasn’t like she was looking for a relationship, anyway. She’d be jet-setting around the world again soon. So there was no point in getting caught up in fantasies of what could have been.
I’d given up my dreams of the future when my ex-wife had broken my heart. When I’d ended my marriage, the life I’d planned with her since college was suddenly gone, and I’d accepted I might never have it. For a long time, I had been drowning.
Coming back to the ranch had been like drawing my first breath of fresh air in two years. Riding Whiskey through the trails, I’d gotten my head back on right. But as I rode, I still knew I was leaving all of that in the past. My chest ached. It was best not to dwell on it. That was what I kept telling myself. How I kept putting one foot in front of the other. I completely immersed myself in work, figuring that keeping busy would keep my mind off of it, and it had… mostly. Now that I wasn’t working, my mind had time to wander. Tothink.
I turned off the sink, and Emily finished drying the last dish.
“Well,friend,”I said, trying to ignore how wrong that word felt coming from my lips. I hated it the moment I uttered it, but that was what she wanted, wasn’t it? “Time to enjoy our break from reality.”
I tended to the fireplace in the living room, and we spent most of our afternoon on either sides of the giant couch. At one point, we headed outside to the barn to check on her horse—but only after I insisted she wear her snow bootsandher thickest coat. The thriller I’d borrowed from Mr. Sullivan’s shelf had only half keptmy attention, mostly because I’d spent most of my time staring at Emily, who was engrossed in her romance novel.
She was beautiful. Completely and utterly breathtaking, and I didn’t understand how I hadn’t noticed before. Though maybe I just hadn’tletmyself. I’d still been a married man, after all.
Now… I was as single as could be. There should have been nothing to stop me from going after what I wanted.
Except something was still holding me back.She’s your best friend’s little sister, you jackass,my brain told me.That’s what’s holding you back.That, and I wasn’t sure I deserved another chance at love. I’d thought I’d found my forever the first time, and I’d ended up like this. Who was to say my next relationship wouldn’t end just as bad?
Emily yawned, stretching out her arms above her as she closed her book.
I closed mine, too, not caring that I’d lost my place—I didn’t remember what was happening, anyway. “You finish?” I asked. She gave me a small nod, setting it on the side table next to her. “How was it?”
Her lips curled up into a tiny smile. “Good. I’ve been on a paranormal romance kick lately. This one was about a vampire and a witch—” Emily blushed. “God, you probably don’t want to know about my book, do you?”
