Total pages in book: 99
Estimated words: 93002 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 465(@200wpm)___ 372(@250wpm)___ 310(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 93002 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 465(@200wpm)___ 372(@250wpm)___ 310(@300wpm)
Before I could think about it, I picked up my phone and tapped the screen until I got to Forrest’s name. I hesitated only a second before hitting the icon of the phone.
Five minutes later, I was in my car, the peppermint tin in my bag, along with my toothbrush and a change of underwear.
I wasn’t exactly sure if I was following my heart or my hormones. Was this what I needed? Or what I wanted? Either way, I wasn’t going to figure it out sitting alone in my room.
Chapter Twenty-One
FORREST
She’d called, but when the knock fell on my door, I half believed I was hearing things. I opened the door, and there she was, standing on my doorstep, her blue eyes cautious but resolved. Cautious but resolved wasn’t what I wanted from Sterling, but I’d take it for now. Her fingers clenched the long strap of her purse, and she looked up at me, lips parted as if she’d started to say something and lost her nerve.
That was okay. We didn’t need to talk. We could get to that later.
I reached for her, taking her by the upper arms and pulling her through the doorway. Leaning to shut it behind her, I turned the lock. Sterling didn’t step back or evade my grip. Instead, a second after the click of the lock, she leaned into me, her face raised to mine, her lids sliding closed and shielding her eyes. She didn’t need to see. She just needed to feel.
We didn’t get farther than my doorway before I kissed her. Sterling was here in my house of her own free will, and I couldn’t wait a moment longer. Her arms rose to circle my neck, and the urgency of her mouth on mine told me that despite whatever else was between us, at this moment, she wanted me.
I wasn’t sure there was anything I wanted in life more than I wanted Sterling Sawyer.
I kissed her until we were both dizzy, holding her tight against me, her breasts pressed to my chest, and my hands splayed across her back, feeling every hitch of her breath, every beat of her racing heart.
My fingers found her zipper, and my head cleared enough for me to notice that we were still standing right in front of the closed front door. Not exactly the place for what I had in mind. Tightening my arm around Sterling’s waist, I scooped her up and carried her through the house, up the stairs to my bedroom. Her lips were swollen, her cheeks flushed. She raised her free hand and went after the buttons on my shirt, her fingers nimble and quick. She had every one she could reach undone by the time I set her on her feet in front of my bed.
Her purse fell to the carpet with a thump as I finally pulled the tab of her zipper. Her dress unpeeled and fell to the floor. My mouth went dry at the sight of a strapless white lace bra against tanned skin, the peak of her dark pink nipples straining against the white lace. She was all curves and smooth skin.
Before I could touch her, her hands were at my belt. Getting naked was taking too long. I wasn’t sure I wanted to take off her underwear—I loved the lace—but my pants had to go. Her warm fingers dove beneath the fabric at my waist, shucking my pants down my legs. The scratchy lace of her bra against my chest sent shivers over my skin.
I stopped and breathed in the smell of her hair. Everything that was Sterling enticed me. Stepping out of my pants, I scooped her up again and tossed her on the bed. She let out a laughing gasp, rolling forward to reach for me. I grabbed her wrists, transferring them into my right hand.
“Lie down,” I said. She squirmed but followed my order, her teeth sinking into her swollen lower lip. I guided her hands up above her head, pressing them down against the mattress until her fingers curved to grasp the base of the headboard. “Don’t let go.”
“Or what?” Sterling asked, her eyes hot, bright and eager.
“Or I’ll stop.”
“Stop wh—” She cut off with a gasp as my mouth closed over her nipple, sucking through the lace. “Oh,” she moaned, “okay.”
She kept her hands where they were, gripping the headboard as I moved from one nipple to the other, sucking and nipping. Finally, growing tired of the bra and all that scratchy lace between me and Sterling’s soft skin, I unsnapped it. The sight of her unbound breasts made my head spin.
I didn’t know if she had the most beautiful breasts on the planet because they were hers or if they were really just that spectacular. It didn’t matter. The truth was, no one would ever equal this woman. No one ever could. She wasn’t perfect, but everything about her was perfect to me.