Total pages in book: 86
Estimated words: 80214 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 401(@200wpm)___ 321(@250wpm)___ 267(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 80214 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 401(@200wpm)___ 321(@250wpm)___ 267(@300wpm)
She wanted nothing to do with me.
I could move on with somebody else quickly. I could either pay a whore to make me forget about her, or I could do it the old-fashioned way and pick up a woman at the bar. Tess was always a rebound option too. She’d love to see me again.
But I kept thinking about Catalina anyway. When she tasted those ravioli, her eyes rolled into the back of her head, and she moaned like she was having the best sex of her life. Her full lips pressed tightly together, like she was gonna bite down on her lower lip. It was a hint of what she could be in the sheets, her passion and loud personality coming to the forefront.
It only made me want her more.
When we first met, I couldn’t stand her. But listening to a strong woman ask God for help, not even for herself, changed everything; it changed me. It was such a short moment in comparison to my lifespan, but it was enough to change a part of who I was.
When I saw her again, I was smitten. I loved the way she owned the room, the way she handled herself like she didn’t need a man at all. She was the most unique, interesting, fascinating woman I’d ever come across. Sometimes her confidence was her weakness because she assumed she could handle anything on her own. Sometimes she was too sensitive to criticism that she even gave herself. Sometimes she was frustrating when she teased me. And her stubbornness was always maddening.
I didn’t see how one night together would be a betrayal to her brother. It was just physical, a man and a woman pleasuring each other. It was nothing more than that. We’d fuck, be satisfied, and then move on.
Steel sat in the chair beside me. We brewed our own beer here now, so that was what we usually drank. He set his glass down and leaned back in his chair. “The guys just told me he showed up at the parking garage.”
“Good.” I took a drink of my beer.
Steel was my right-hand man, one of the guys in my inner circle. If I had bloody business to take care of, he was usually the one I brought along. “What’s with the attitude? It’s worse than usual.” He was also one of the few people who could be straight with me, who had the luxury to speak his mind without getting his skull destroyed.
I stared straight ahead and waited for my guest to arrive. “I don’t have an attitude.”
He stared at the side of my face hard, his silence being his rebuttal.
I took a drink and licked my lips. “Long story short, there’s a woman…” I knew Steel would continue to ask me questions until he got to the truth, and since we had time to kill, it would be the subject on the table.
“What kind of woman?”
“The kind I want to fuck.”
“Is she too expensive?”
My life would be easier if that were the case. “Too stubborn.”
“What are you gonna do?” There was a large fire burning in the rear wall, a hearth big enough to fit a car. It illuminated the room with a gentle glow, which we preferred over fluorescent lights. Since we were underground, it was cold, even in the summer.
“Nothing.” I’d put my offer on the table, and she didn’t take it. There wasn’t much else I could do. I knew I would be waking up next to her every morning if Damien weren’t such a problem, and that made me hate him more.
“Nothing?” he asked in surprise. “I’ve never seen you give up on anything.”
“This is different. I have beef with her brother. It’s a conflict of interest, basically.”
“Gotcha.” He took a long sip of his beer and wiped the foam from his upper lip. “Not much talking during sex, so I don’t see you discussing your conflict of interest much, but you know how women are. They overthink.”
She didn’t overthink. She was loyal, and I respected that.
“You could always do something to change her mind.”
“Believe me, I’ve already tried.” I’d thought a simple conversation over dinner would change her mood. There was a combustive chemistry between us, and it was there the night we met, I just didn’t recognize it. But now, anytime we were together, there was a raging fire between us, a powerful energy that filled the room.
“You can always make her trust you.”
I turned to him. “What are you talking about? I locked her in a cage a couple weeks ago and threatened to kill her. It’s not gonna happen. Don’t blame her.”
“But you let her go, right?”
“Yes.” But I didn’t grant her freedom because of the way I felt.
“You could just set something up, you know, damsel-in-distress type of thing. Have a couple guys steal her from a restaurant or something. You come in and save the day. Her attitude will change real quick.” He snapped his fingers.