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)
This was fucking stupid. I had no right to be angry that she would leave here and go on with her life—her bright, exciting life in the big city with its stages and applause and guys in fancy suits that lived in penthouse apartments. If she wanted that, that’s what she should have.
Veronica joined me in the kitchen a moment later. She placed her dish on the counter and leaned back against it. “Hey.”
“Hey.”
“Did you know that when you get jealous, two little lines appear between your eyes?”
“I’m not jealous.” Damn those lines. I tried to relax my face.
“Yes, you are.” She bumped her hip against mine. “But I like it.”
I looked over at her. She was so fucking cute in my shirt and hat. “You gonna give my clothes back when you go to New York?”
She tugged the bill of the cap down. “Nope. You want your stuff back, you’ll have to fight me for it.”
“Deal.” I grabbed her and tossed her over my shoulder, heading for the stairs. She kicked and squealed and squirmed, batting my ass with her hands and calling me a brute.
Up in my bedroom, I tossed her onto the mattress before snatching the hat off her head and tossing it aside. “You just gonna let me win?”
Giggling, she rolled over and tried to scramble off the bed, but I had her pinned to the mattress in three seconds flat, my body sprawled over hers. “Let me up,” she begged. “This was not a fair fight. I needed a head start.”
“I never said I fought fair.” I pushed her hair aside from her neck and tugged down the back of the shirt she wore, sealing my mouth to her skin.
Was it unfair of me to leave another mark that could be seen so easily? Probably.
But I didn’t care.
And she didn’t stop me.
TWENTY
veronica
On Friday, I decided to follow through on the threat to give Austin a massage.
You. Tonight. My place. No argument.
Are you going to have whips and chains?
No. I’m going to have candles and massage oil.
I think I’d prefer the whips and chains.
Tough. I’ve listened to you gripe about sore muscles for weeks now, and I want to help.
Will you be naked?
If I say yes, will you agree to let me do it?
It would definitely sway me in that direction.
Then yes. I’ll be naked.
Look for me about 7.
I’ll be waiting.
And I get to be the boss tonight.
We’ll see about that.
That afternoon, I gave Morgan a call.
“I thought you were coming to visit me,” she whined. “You said the kids were going somewhere and you’d have days off.”
“I said maybe I would come to visit you,” I corrected with a laugh. I put her on speaker and set the phone aside so I could fold my laundry. “But the tickets were expensive, and I really need to save my money.”
“So what have you been doing while they’re gone?” she asked.
“Oh, this and that,” I said airily, pulling Austin’s TWO BUCKLEYS T-shirt from the basket. It made me smile.
“Does ‘this and that’ include your hot boss?”
“It might.”
She gasped. “Details!”
“We’re having fun.”
“But like how much fun?”
“All the fun,” I confessed.
“Every night?”
“Every night, every room of the house, every which way you can imagine.” I folded my yoga shorts.
Morgan groaned loudly. “God, I’m so jealous. I remember those days. So is he good?”
“So good I can’t describe it.”
“Body?”
I closed my eyes, picturing him. “Ten out of ten.”
“Package?”
“Long, strong, and he knows how to use it.”
“Thank god. Nothing worse than a guy who’s hung but helpless.”
I snorted, matching a pair of socks. “For real.”
“So are you guys dating or just messing around?”
“Just messing around,” I said. “It has to end when the kids come back.”
“When is that?”
“Sunday.” I tried to sound cool and casual, which was how I wanted to feel.
“In two days? Jeez. No wonder you guys are going at it like rabbits. That stinks.”
“No, I think it’s better.”
“Why?”
“Because I like that we both know the score. It feels even.” I folded my sports bra. “No one will be blindsided by the end.”
“If you guys have such good chemistry, why let it end?”
“That would get awkward, because of the kids. I’ve still got another month here, and I need this job. If something went wrong with Austin—”
“But what if something goes right?”
“He’s not really a dater,” I said, avoiding the question. “He’s told me several times he likes being single. He’s one of those guys who doesn’t do feelings. Not in an asshole way, just in a sort of businesslike way. Like, he’s here to deliver the orgasms, get the signature, and get back in the truck.”
She laughed. “Okay, but what if—”
“There are no what ifs, Morgan,” I said, getting up from the couch and wandering over to the window. “The boundaries were established from the start. I flat out told him I was not looking for a relationship. It’s casual. Temporary. Just for fun.”