Page 63 of Stuck with Me

Nico

“That could’ve been a lot of fun.” I shoot a grin at Rosie over my shoulder while I crouch and begin picking up the mess of game pieces scattered on the floor.

“The teasing, the foreplay is still a lot of fun,” she snickers.

The foreplay has been fun. And painful. I have never been with a woman like Rosie. We just click. It’s odd and awesome all at once.

She crouches next to me and helps me sort through the fallen gameboards and pieces. I can’t help but allow my gaze to wander in her direction. She rolls her eyes playfully at me while shoving her shoulder into me. I lose my balance and fall on my butt.

Rosie giggles. “Stop looking at me like that.”

“Like what?” I ask with a smirk.

“Like that.” She throws an exaggerated hand out. “Like you want to put me over your shoulder and take me back to your cave.”

“Woman, don’t tempt me. The way I want to lay you down and make you come undone in all the best ways is something fierce.”

“Focus. Look at this mess we made.”

“I love making messes with you,” I say, keeping my voice low and steady. But I’m so turned on by her, all she’d have to do is say the word and I’d make good on my word.

“Yeah, making messes is the fun part. But cleaning them up is a different story.” She tosses Monopoly game pieces into the box in between making a stack of paper money.

“I don’t mind cleaning up messes with you either.”

When her gaze lifts and meets mine, we hold eye contact for a moment. Her expression reflects disbelief. Like she couldn’t possibly believe that I would want to stick around and deal with a mess. Something tugs at me. Making me want to dig deeper and ask her to elaborate.

“You say that now,” she mumbles.

I let her comment go and pick up the scattered Scrabble tiles. When I have a handful, I find the box several feet away. Rosie hands me the Scrabble board and I place it in the box.

Once I’ve picked up all the tiles I can find, I spot another box that doesn’t have a typical game graphic or name on the outside of it. It’s aged with some wear and when I pick it up, it’s still got the lid on. We got lucky, one less game we need to sort through.

But my curiosity gets the better of me, so I stand and pry off the lid. I was right. This isn’t a board game at all. Nestled inside the box is a stack of envelopes.

I pinch my brows together and pull out the stack that’s being held together with a ribbon.Holy shit.My gut pinches.

“Holy shit,” I repeat out loud this time as my eyes skim over the names and addresses.

“What? What is it?” Rosie straightens and tucks her hair behind her ear. Concern streaks her expression.

My first instinct is to hide this from her. But I don’t even know what it is. Not exactly.

I quickly untie the ribbon so I can thumb through the stack before Rosie catches on. They’re letters back and forth between Leo and Gigi. Between our grandparents.

Maybe they’re harmless. But something tells me, I may have found what I was looking for when I agreed to handle this for my mother. This stack of letters could hold the answers of why my granddad chose to buy this cabin.

And why I, too, feel a pull to leave the family ranch.

CHAPTER17

Rosie

“What is it?” I raise my voice.

Nico has me worried. And when he continues to look at me with tenderness in his eyes, I lose my patience waiting for an explanation. I attempt to grab what’s in his hands, but he holds it out of my reach.

“What the hell, Nico?”

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