Total pages in book: 34
Estimated words: 31834 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 159(@200wpm)___ 127(@250wpm)___ 106(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 31834 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 159(@200wpm)___ 127(@250wpm)___ 106(@300wpm)
Eve thanked the waitress and picked up her fork. The extra fried onions were spread across her fries. She absolutely loved this combo, and always ordered it. Sometimes she asked for extra cheese as well, but this was so good. Piercing a fry, with plenty of onions, she shoved it in her mouth and started to chew. It tasted so good. Better than good. Her mouth watered for more.
She glanced over at Graham to see him staring at her. He was so handsome and she felt her face starting to heat up. Nibbling her bottom lip, she tried to think of anything that would stop her blushing. She wasn’t used to being the focus of a man’s attention.
“What do you think?” she asked, trying to distract him with the food. She nodded at his plate, keeping a smile on her lips as she asked.
“I think it’s delicious,” he said. “But I’m more intrigued by the company.”
“Oh,” she said.
“Can I be … blunt? I haven’t been able to get you out of my mind, Eve. I’ve never encountered anyone like you.”
She had never had anyone speak to her like that, nor be the subject of such an intense stare. Eve couldn’t look away, nor did she want to.
Graham made her pulse race, her stomach flutter, and feelings between her thighs began to stir. She was so distracted by her body’s reaction that she didn’t question how he knew her name.
Chapter Two
One Year Later
Grim didn’t like the fact he had to pay the men the reward, but they had gotten Eve back to him alive.
“You can’t do this!”
He heard the screams over the camera and ignored them. The moment his men were paid, he dismissed them. They knew not to breathe a word of it. He was pleased it was men he could semi-trust, otherwise, he’d have killed anyone else who attempted to bring Eve home.
With them out of his room, he turned back to his surveillance cameras. His wife, his beautiful, sweet precious wife, was at the door to their bedroom, fists clenched banging on the hard wood.
The door was bolted. All the windows had been sealed, and he’d also removed anything sharp from the room, in case she decided to get any ideas. He’d been worried sick since she decided to take off. No, not take off, run away.
Eve had run away from him. Not that he could blame her. They’d been enjoying a quiet vacation, some alone time, when one of his guards had dragged a minion to one of his many enemies into their cabin.
Grim had wanted to handle him swiftly and had taken him outside so as not to alert his wife. For an entire year, he’d been able to keep his identity a secret. Eve had never realized his name wasn’t Graham, and he’d been able to avoid any direct questions about his line of work.
That one night in the cabin, he should have sent his men off to one of his many warehouses, where he could deal with the traitor intent on hurting his woman. Instead, his anger had gotten the better of him. No, not anger, as that was too subtle a description for what he felt when it came to the man who intended to invade his home and hurt Eve.
That had been the mission. Grim didn’t know when it happened, but his enemies had discovered who Eve was. He’d been so careful, and he never made mistakes, but he clearly had made a big one because her presence was indeed known by quite a few people.
He had to keep her close. So, her running away hadn’t been good. Anyone could have grabbed her. He didn’t want to even think about what they could have done to her.
Running a hand down his face, he looked at his beautiful wife.
For six months they had dated. Every night he had gone to the animal shelter, picked her up, wined and dined her. In the back of his mind, he’d been hoping for the act to slip. For Eve to be like everyone else—cold, manipulating, a woman who was selfish and only after what she could get.
He got nothing. Absolutely nothing.
Eve was perfect. She was sweet and kind, and she cared about people and animals. They were everything to her. And now, they were everything to him. Well, not quite everything.
Staring at the screen, Eve stepped back from the door. She wore a faded pair of jeans and an old ratty sweater. It was winter once again, and cold outside. He’d been so worried because he knew she didn’t have much money to her name. Eve had left without a credit card or a means to take care of herself.
He also didn’t like that when she had left him, she hadn’t taken anything he had bought for her. The clothes she currently wore were the ones she had come to him with. Grim had paid for everything new. A new wardrobe, a new home, everything had to be the best that money could buy as he’d not accepted anything less.