Total pages in book: 140
Estimated words: 132649 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 663(@200wpm)___ 531(@250wpm)___ 442(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 132649 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 663(@200wpm)___ 531(@250wpm)___ 442(@300wpm)
“Sorry,” Iris muttered, wiping at her damp eyes self-consciously. “I just—” her voice hitched unexpectedly and she shook her head, fighting for control before speaking again. “I never expected to see her again.”
“Oh, baby,” he whispered, his voice fraught with regret and sorrow. She offered him a wobbly smile of reassurance, but—when he opened his arms to her—she stepped into them gratefully and accepted his hug.
After a long moment, he dropped his arms, and stepped back toward the marble- topped island, allowing her some breathing room. She appreciated the space, giving herself a moment to get her emotions under control by casting her eyes around the luxurious penthouse apartment curiously. She tucked a strand of hair behind her ear, feeling self-conscious beneath his smoldering perusal.
“How do you feel?” he asked. Iris—who hadn’t really been taking in anything of what she was looking at—latched onto the abrupt question gratefully.
“About?”
“What just happened.”
“That hug?” she asked, genuinely confused.
“With the paparazzi,” he clarified. “Downstairs.”
“Oh. That.” She considered the question, examining it and her reaction to the situation in the moment from all angles. “It was better with you and Chance there. I didn’t feel threatened, or afraid, or alone. I felt… protected. Safe. Like you promised I’d be.”
She moved closer to him, trailing her finger over the expanse of the cool granite countertop as she walked toward him. She traced that same finger over the back of the hand he had resting on the counter, up over his shirt sleeve, then over one twitching pec, before flattening her palm in the center of his chest, where she could feel his heart pounding too hard and too fast against his ribcage.
“It felt like—together—we can overcome anything. If we just trust each other.”
His jaw twitched and his lower lip quivered before he brought himself under stern control.
“Quinny and I… we’ve been talking a lot. About my career, about the future projects I want to take on. I was reading scripts, comedies—not straight-up slapstick stuff—that’s not for me. But dramadies, y’know? There are a few I’m really excited about. I can’t remember the last time I felt eager and enthusiastic about my work. There are other quirkier dark comedies that I love. There’s also this science-fiction script that landed on my desk. It has a small role in it that I’m dying to play but I’m mostly keen on producing and directing it. Quinny and Bee—my PR manager—have been supportive of the direction I want to take with my career, and are moving mountains to facilitate the shift.”
“You don’t want to give it up?” Iris said quietly, and his brow furrowed above those tormented eyes. As if he wasn’t sure what the right answer was.
“I would, Iris, in a heartbeat, if it meant being with you.”
“I would absolutely love to see what you could do in those roles, Trystan. I’m excited to see how far you can stretch yourself and how high you can fly. I don’t want you to give that up for me. I would hate it.”
He pressed his hand over hers where it still rested on his chest.
“I’ve had a taste of life without you, Iris… and I hated every goddamned second of it. I felt empty, lost. I could barely function. And I despised myself for driving you away. If my career is what keeps us apart, I would despise that too.”
She sighed. The sound was soft and resigned.
“I love you, Trystan. More than enough to risk my heart again. But I warn you, it’s fragile and I’m trusting you not to break it again… because I don’t think I’d recover from a next time.”
He lifted her hand to his face, nuzzling his stubbled cheek into her palm, before turning his head to press a worshipful kiss on her soft skin. His eyes were screwed shut, but that did not prevent a silvery bead of moisture from escaping and streaking down his lean cheek to catch in the dark stubble on his jaw.
His chest was shuddering and it took Iris a moment to realize that what she was hearing were sobs, and what she was seeing were tears.
Her throat closed up and she tugged her hand from beneath his to wrap her arms around his waist and hold him close.
He collapsed against her, weak and helpless in her arms as he buried his head on her shoulder and shook in her arms. The storm of emotion passed after a few endless moments and when his lips sought hers, Iris welcomed them with heartfelt enthusiasm.
His big hands came up to cradle her face, while his thumbs tilted her jaw upwards to better accommodate his demanding, scorching kiss.
By the time their tongues got involved, he’d somehow marched her backward toward a bedroom. Iris only realized where they were when the backs of her knees hit the edge of a mattress.