Total pages in book: 96
Estimated words: 90337 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 452(@200wpm)___ 361(@250wpm)___ 301(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 90337 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 452(@200wpm)___ 361(@250wpm)___ 301(@300wpm)
“And who can blame you,” Mom agrees. “Five o’clock is a terrible time to be awake.”
Elaina laughs. “Right? But I know I’ll miss the cat adoption part of my work in Sea Breeze. I’m thinking I might be able to carve out a space for myself in that sphere, in connecting people and animals in need. Or helping busy city people care for their animals or…something like that.”
I hum, turning the idea over as I chew my first incredible bite of Mom’s famous short ribs. “That’s worth investigating. People in the city are obsessed with their pets.”
“As they should be,” Elaina says.
My mom smiles a little sadly. “I love animals, but I’m desperately allergic. It’s a shame. Hunter always wanted a pet when he was younger, but all I could give him was a fish tank.”
“It was fine,” I assure her. “I was too busy to walk a dog anyway.”
“You were always busy,” Mom says, before telling Elaina all about my various teen side-hustles and how she knew I’d be a brilliant businessman before I was out of junior high.
The rest of the evening proceeds with similar ease, until it’s nearly nine, and Mom is clearly getting tired. And in more pain than when we arrived. She winced her way through dessert and barely touched her cheesecake.
Luckily, her night nurse will be arriving soon to help ease her discomfort, but still…it hurts to see her hurting.
At the door, she winces again as she pulls Elaina in for a hug. “Thank you for making my son smile,” she whispers softly enough that I shouldn’t be able to hear her, but I do. “I haven’t seen him this happy in years.”
The worst part is…she’s right.
I am happy.
Happily living a lie, which isn’t at all what I expected.
I’m not the kind of man who falls for a con, especially not his own…
In the car on the way home, Elaina is quiet. I watch the city lights play across her pretty face, wondering what she’s thinking, but refusing to ask.
I don’t need to get in any deeper with this woman. I don’t need to know her thoughts or her feelings or her fears. I just need to know that she’s still on board with our plan.
“You did well,” I say. “I assume you’re still on board with moving forward?”
“Yeah. Totally fine.” Her lips curve in a small smile, but she doesn’t shift her gaze from the window. “No worries.”
The rest of the ride passes in silence, and in the elevator up to my apartment, the energy is…off. I can’t quite put my finger on it, but there’s something wrong with her.
With me. With us.
There is no us, I remind myself as I step into the shower. And I have no responsibility to Elaina’s emotional well-being aside from ensuring I treat her with the same respect I’d show a business partner with whom I’m collaborating on an important project.
Only my business partners don’t slip into the shower with me, naked and vulnerable, with tears in their eyes as they say, “Sorry, I was weird. I’m just sad that she’s dying and she…reminds me of my mom. But she’s great, Hunter. Really. I can see why you want to give her as much happiness as you can.”
I pull her close, kissing her forehead. “Thank you,” I say, meaning it. “I couldn’t do it without you.”
“Make me feel better?” she asks, reaching down to stroke my already semi-hard cock. Even being reminded of my mother’s impending death can’t totally kill my insane attraction to this woman.
Insane, that’s what it is…
But I don’t care.
I claim her mouth, kissing her hard and deep, letting myself get lost in the slide of wet skin against skin, in the way she gasps when I pin her against the cool tile, in how perfectly her slick pussy grips me as I thrust inside her.
We don’t talk. Don’t need to.
Our bodies say everything that needs to be said and no more.
More would be a mistake…at least for me.
Later, when she’s asleep on my chest, and I’m staring at the ceiling, unable to deny how good this feels, I realize what a fool I was. Staying away from the apartment during the day isn’t going to cut it, not when this woman is fully capable of putting me under her spell in ten minutes or less.
I’ll have to reevaluate my approach in the morning.
But for now, I let myself enjoy the feel of her curvy little body relaxed against mine, giving me a trust I absolutely don’t deserve.
twelve
ELAINA
Four Days Later…
The kitchen island is spotless, gleaming under the pendant lights like it’s auditioning for a spread in Architectural Digest. Which means I’ve stress-cleaned it at least three times today.
Maybe four…
I dig my spoon into the pint of triple-chocolate-caramel-swirl therapy ice cream that’s rapidly becoming dinner, wondering when I turned into this woman. The kind who mopes around a fancy apartment waiting for a man who probably isn’t thinking about her at all.