Total pages in book: 95
Estimated words: 92417 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 462(@200wpm)___ 370(@250wpm)___ 308(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 92417 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 462(@200wpm)___ 370(@250wpm)___ 308(@300wpm)
His eyes were focused on the dresser top.
“Is this about the thing in the window the other night? I’m sorry, okay? I was trying to get under your skin the way you’d gotten under mine. I won’t do that again.”
He swallowed. His jaw twitched.
I pivoted so I could see his expression in the mirror over the dresser. It was hard and unrelenting. “So that’s it? We can’t be friends because we’re attracted to each other?”
Lifting his head, his eyes found mine in the glass. “We can’t be friends because I spend every minute of the day thinking about fucking you.”
I sucked in my breath. “That’s—that’s not what I thought you’d say.”
“It’s the truth.”
My core muscles clenched. “Maybe we could—”
“No.” He opened the drawer and took out the items he wanted. “It’s out of the question.”
“Even if I told you I think about it too?”
“Don’t tell me that.” He went back to the bed and began placing socks and underwear inside the suitcase.
“But we’re two consenting adults.”
“It’s more complicated than that. You work for me. I pay you.”
“What if I quit?”
But I couldn’t quit, and he knew it.
Downstairs, the front door opened, and we heard the kids’ voices. A moment later, they came running up the steps and appeared in Adelaide’s bedroom doorway holding the drippy remains of their ice cream.
“Uncle Xander let us get double scoops!” Owen shouted.
I plastered a smile on my face. “Looks delicious, but let’s go outside with those cones. You can each tell me what flavors you had.”
They followed me down the stairs and out to the front porch, where I sat and listened to them chatter on about their desserts and who they saw in town and how excited they were about their trip on an airplane by themselves.
“Last year was the first time Daddy let us fly alone, and the pilot let us go in the cockpit and see all the buttons and steering things,” Adelaide said. “We got to get on the plane first, and we got snacks and drinks before anyone else.”
“Wow.” I smiled. “It’s like you guys travel like movie stars.”
But my mind was stuck on a loop.
I spend every minute of the day thinking about fucking you.
THIRTEEN
austin
I was furious with myself.
And with Veronica.
If she hadn’t pushed me, I never would have said those words out loud. And furthermore, if she didn’t look so beautiful all the time, maybe I could get a moment’s peace! Why did she have to wear those crop tops? And that red lipstick? Or have such gorgeous legs?
And would it kill her not to smell so good? Every time we crossed paths—although believe me, I’d tried to avoid it all week—I caught the scent of her perfume or shampoo or whatever it was, and it nearly brought me to my knees. She smelled like a goddamn cupcake.
Not to mention that little show she’d put on in the window. How dare she take off her top like that! I couldn’t even breathe watching her untie those strings. The memory of her bare back haunted me, along with the feel of her tongue on my thumb, the apex of her hip along my hand, the softness of her stomach beneath my lips.
I was going to lose that fucking bet.
I frowned as my dick began to get hard, shifting uncomfortably in the driver’s seat of the truck. I’d just left the airport after seeing the kids off, and I was in a shit mood. I knew they were safe—I’d watched the gate attendant walk them right onto the plane, the flight was nonstop, and they’d be escorted off as “unaccompanied minors” and delivered right to Sansa in San Diego, who’d be waiting at the gate.
And they were so excited. They’d barely slept last night after getting off FaceTime with their mom, and they’d chirped endlessly on the ride to the airport about all the fun things she’d promised them they could do—surfing and pottery and swimming in the ocean. When they hugged and kissed me goodbye, they hadn’t shed a tear.
You should be glad about that, I told myself. You’re raising brave, curious, outgoing kids who aren’t afraid of an adventure. And it’s good for them to know their mom.
But a week without them was tough.
It wasn’t that I didn’t trust Sansa to take care of them—for all her ambivalence about being a mom, she adored them and was actually really good with them, like a cool aunt.
But already I missed their little voices in the back seat, laughing or asking questions or even arguing. Veronica had offered to make the drive with me, but I’d told her I didn’t need company. Being alone with her didn’t seem like a good idea.
I was dreading that trip to Chicago. Just the two of us in close quarters, a six-hour drive, the prospect of running into her ex and having to keep my temper in check. I’d even asked Xander to come with us, but he said he couldn’t spare that much time away from the bar—he was hoping to open before MLB playoffs began.