Total pages in book: 767
Estimated words: 732023 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 3660(@200wpm)___ 2928(@250wpm)___ 2440(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 732023 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 3660(@200wpm)___ 2928(@250wpm)___ 2440(@300wpm)
“Your parents care about you.”
“The spoiled, pampered child.” She sighed. “That’s what you think, right? What a lot of people believe.” And one of the reasons she’d refused to let her mom and dad pay for grad school.
“There’s a deeper side to you.”
“I’m the child they never thought they could have. I’m sure you don’t know that they tried to have a baby for a lot of years, and Mom suffered a number of miscarriages.”
“All their hopes and dreams are on your shoulders.”
“Sounds petty, compared to your background.”
“No need to compare. Family dynamics are often complicated, as you know.”
“They are. No matter how well-meaning. They are more than protective. Mom used to call my college to make sure I was okay. I can’t imagine what she would do if I didn’t come home for breaks.” She took another sip of the brew, this time for fortification. “If they find out that I’m here…”
“Not a matter of if.”
“You’re hell-bent on giving my mother a nervous breakdown?”
He grinned. “Not swayed. I think Andrea is made of sterner stuff.”
“Not when it comes to me.” Andrea had devoted the past twenty-two years to motherhood, and the bonds wouldn’t be broken lightly.
“Then she’ll be glad if you return to Houston.”
“Jaxon?”
A man strode toward them, hand extended. Jaxon stood to greet him. “Rykker.”
She watched the two, about the same height, shake hands. It was impossible to miss the display of strength and masculine prowess. Sometimes she wondered how far alpha males had progressed since the caveman days.
“Have you met Willow Henderson?”
Rykker turned toward her with a polite smile. “Brian and Andrea’s daughter?”
Her incognito trip was now well and truly ruined. Glowering at Jax, she stood, trying to stuff her feet back into her discarded sandals. “Nice to meet you.” The words were polite, nothing more.
She accepted his offered hand, and he was gentle with her.
“My fiancée,” Jax added.
Her smile froze.
“Congratulations.” Rykker smiled, and she extracted her hand. “When’s the big day?”
“Soon.”
She called on the etiquette classes her mother had forced her to attend in order not to choke Jax and step over his dead body.
“Willow,” he went on, either oblivious or not giving a damn, “Rykker King. He chairs the Zetas membership committee, and he has a hand in a number of our philanthropic ventures. Fair warning, Rykker, my future bride thinks we should be doing much more than we are.”
“Is that correct?” He met her gaze with interest, forcing her to maintain her society smile. “Feel free to reach out to me. Now, if you’ll excuse, me, I’m meeting Judge Anderson for a drink.”
“Give Gideon my regards.”
“I will.” He gave her a slight bow. “Nice to meet you, Ms. Henderson.”
She remained where she was until he was out of earshot. “That was an underhanded move, Jax. And I don’t appreciate it.”
“Better he would think we’re having a tryst?”
She clenched her hands at her sides.
“I need to get you to bed. How early is your flight?”
Her thoughts screeched to a stop. “Uhm…”
He folded his arms and waited.
She flicked a frantic glance toward his right hand, remembering the way he’d scorched her buttocks.
“Willow?”
“It’s on Sunday.”
“You lied to me?” His voice dropped an octave and took her stomach with it.
“A little one. Tiny. Itty-bitty. You know, a polite one.”
“You may want to stop right there.”
“It was harmless. Something people say to avoid hurting feelings.”
“Lying to me is never harmless.”
She shuddered. “Neither is telling people we’re getting married.”
“We should go upstairs. And we’ll need condoms.”
Fortunately there were only a few choices, unlike the displays she’d seen at the local drugstore. She pretended to look at a magazine while he made his selection. Extra—large of course.
After paying, he slid the box into his front pocket before capturing her elbow and guiding her toward the valet stand. “I have a bag in my car. Can you have someone get it for me?” He slid a twenty-dollar bill onto the counter.
“Right away, sir.”
He gave the room number and information on his car. “Oh, and a bucket of ice.”
Heat rushed through her, as if the man knew what Jax intended.
With a wicked grin, he said, “Ready?”
During the ride up, she cast furtive glances his way, but he focused on the button for each floor as it lit up.
“It was before we had sex, you know. The fib, I mean. A polite way to end the evening.”
He didn’t respond.
“Uhm, how about if I promise never to do that again?”
“I’d appreciate that.” He looked at her. “I will never lie to you. The truth stings once, and it can be damn brutal. Lies sting with every memory. So I promise you, I will be honest with you. Even if you don’t like it.”
She nodded. “And in return, the nature of our relationship is private from the outside world.”
“I was protecting your reputation.”
Willow almost argued. Almost. But he was alpha enough, stubborn enough, to spend the rest of the night insisting there was a difference.