Page 118 of Ice Rebel

She didn’t say anything at first, but her presence still rocked me.

“Why don’t you buy the land from everyone?”

Now I laughed, rubbing my eyes. “I wish. Even if I offered the same, there is no way a bank would give me a loan.”

“Then get investors.” She moved around me, touching my arm. She was serious too.

“For what, the sawmill? As my dad said, there’s not much to it.” Her face held so much emotion, but her eyes captivated me. They were haunted.

“Maybe something will happen to change your mind.”

“I’m sorry. I’m not trying to ruin the evening.”

“You aren’t. Not even a little bit. You don’t know what it means to me to see such a protective family, people who obviously care about each other. Through thick and thin. Through everything you’ve been forced to go through. My father thinks he has it all, but I learned something tonight. He has nothing.”

Hearing her voice, the conviction in how she felt about my family was more important than winning. Any game. Any time. No matter the circumstances. I pulled her into my arms, an entirely different level of desire.

This time, it was a longing to share more of my world with her.

How strange and incredible.

“I’ll think about your suggestion.”

“Good. Because I’m not going to allow you to forget.”

CHAPTER 24

Cole

Phones.

If I heard another freaking phone ring, I was going to smash mine and all those in the hands of anyone I could get in contact with.

I finally opened my eyes, wincing in seeing the morning light. Almost instantly, I was reminded we were headed back to reality.

Back to dealing with the grindstone.

Yet a familiar, delicious fragrance filtered into my nostrils, the scent of the beautiful female lying in my bed.

My mate.

Who’s afraid of the big, bad wolf?

I laughed as the line slithered into my mind, said in character by some gruesome werewolf of course. After how hard I’d ravaged Chelsea’s body the night before, she might be worried I was more of a cartoon character than a man.

Yawning, I stretched, ignoring the blip indicating a text, or maybe I’d turned on notifications on social media. I couldn’t remember and honestly, at this point I just didn’t care.

What I did care about was the woman sleeping in my bed. Okay, not technically my bed as we were still at the bed and breakfast, but since I’d never spent a night with any other woman, this was a pretty damn big deal.

She was still sleeping, her long hair splayed out across her pillow. Reaching over, I brushed hair from her face, ignoring my aching cock while longing to tease her.

My phone chimed again and this time, I grabbed it, ready to burn someone a new asshole.

Ford: Meet me outside.

What? Was he kidding me?

Me: Not a chance in hell. Go away.