Total pages in book: 59
Estimated words: 58600 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 293(@200wpm)___ 234(@250wpm)___ 195(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 58600 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 293(@200wpm)___ 234(@250wpm)___ 195(@300wpm)
Tori gasps. “Isn’t that going to cost—”
I sit down next to her, taking her hands. I know I should try to be more relaxed with her mother around, but her Valentine's poetry performance tugged at my heart, and now this vandalism has set my nerves ablaze.
“Don’t worry about the cost. Don’t even mention it. Your safety is all that matters. It’s the only thing, understand? I’m hiring three details: Elliot, you, Tori, and you, Monica. Just until this is over.”
“Thank you,” Tori murmurs. “But what about you?” she exclaims after a moment.
“I can take care of myself.” When Monica yawns, I stand. “Let me show you to your room, Monica.”
“Yes, please. Thank you, Alex.”
“It’s no trouble.”
I lead her through the house. At the bedroom door, Monica says, “You’re the best Valentine my daughter could’ve asked for. Just be patient with her, please?”
“Yes, ma’am.”
When I return to the living room, Tori is pacing.
“Hey, slow down,” I murmur, wrapping my arms around her. “I’m not going to let anything happen to you.”
“It’s not that. I mean, it is. But there’s something else, something I need to confess.”
“Okay…”
“It seems silly. It is silly.”
“Try me.”
“I’m just going to say it so we can move on. I mean, if you still want to after you learn how crazy I am.”
“You’re not—”
“I thought Elliot was fake,” she blurts out.
“Huh?”
“There was a part of me – and not a small one – that thought you might’ve made up Elliot and what happened with his mom and your brother.” She says breathlessly. “I thought maybe you were tricking me. Trying to get me into bed. And then, last night, when I told you I was a virgin, you looked so mad…”
“Mad?” I say, dumbfounded. “I was trying to hold myself back.”
I grab her hips, feeling her curviness through the denim.
“I was trying to stop myself from tearing off your clothes, from kissing every voluptuous inch of your body. Do you think it made me want you less? It made me want you more, baby because you’ll be my one. My only.”
When I kiss her, she sinks into it, wrapping her arms around me, her body grinding against mine. But then she stops herself.
“But what about my, you know…”
“Craziness?” I say teasingly.
“Yeah.”
“You’re a complex, tortured person… you’re a poet. I can’t blame you for that. And hell, you saw Elliot. You know he’s real. If anything, it just shows how much you care.”
She shakes her head. “I’m not so sure. Maybe it shows that there’s this broken thing inside me that knows I have to sabotage anything good because it scares the hell out of me.”
“You can be scared all you want,” I say earnestly. “That doesn’t mean I’m going anywhere.”
“What if I’m never as certain as you?” she whispers. “What if I’m always caught in the middle?”
That stings. But I’m not going to let it show. The last thing she needs is more pressure.
“It’s been a long night,” I say. “I think you should try to get some rest. Tomorrow, with the security, you’ll be safe, at least.”
She places her hand over my heart. “Why don’t you have pictures of Elliot on your phone or any photos on the walls here?”
“It’s… complicated,” I murmur. “And like I said, it’s been a long night.”
When I turn away, she grabs my hand and pulls me toward her. She pulls herself in for a kiss. I’m stunned by the sudden passion.
“I didn’t mean to pry,” she says.
“Don’t sweat it.”
She arches an eyebrow, magnificently sassy. “Now, who’s keeping it casual, huh?”
I take her hand, leading her to the second spare room. Even now, my body thrums hotly, begging me to drag her into the bedroom, strip off her clothes, and reveal the gorgeous gradations of her sumptuous body.
In the bedroom, I slide my hand to the small of her back, feeling her tempting heat through her clothes. She smiles and looks around the room. “Simple, but it looks comfortable.”
I smirk, leaning in for a kiss. She makes a soft gasping noise that makes me wonder if I’m pushing things too hard after all the mayhem with Damien.
Plus, she thought I made up Elliot and the crash. Maybe I should be angry about that. I wonder if I should be, but holding a grudge against her feels as impossible as hunting down Cupid and confiscating his arrows.
She puts her hands on my chest. “If you don’t stop, I won’t be able to.”
I sink my hands into her waist. I’ll never get tired of greedily caressing her curviness, feeling her full body, her breasts pressing against me when I pull her close. She moans through the tightness of our mouths, sinking her fingernails into my neck, standing on her tiptoes so she can push against me with more firmness.
“Maybe I don’t want you to stop,” I groan, pushing her toward the bed.