Series: Silver Spoon MC Series by Nichole Rose
Total pages in book: 43
Estimated words: 39033 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 195(@200wpm)___ 156(@250wpm)___ 130(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 39033 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 195(@200wpm)___ 156(@250wpm)___ 130(@300wpm)
"This is my place, little one," Andreas murmurs, coming up behind me. He turns me toward a window and points toward a body of water off in the distance. "That's the Buffalo Bayou. If you follow it east to the Houston Ship Channel, you'll find our biggest shipyard."
"Oh," I say. I guess I never thought about where else his company was located or where he stayed when he visited those locations for work. "How often do you stay here?"
"Not often. I prefer to work from the office in Silver Spoon Falls." He wraps his arms around my waist, pulling me up against him. I melt into his chest, staring at our reflection in the window. We should probably look mismatched and silly together, but we don't. I think we look kind of beautiful together. Even though I'm curvy, his sheer size dwarfs me, making me seem smaller, more delicate. In my borrowed dress, I look bold and daring, sexy. The deep red color matches his tie perfectly.
"Why are you so afraid to admit that you're in love with me?" he asks.
"I…"
"I know you are, little one. I see it in your eyes when you look at me," he murmurs, pressing his lips to the side of my throat. "I feel it when you touch me. I hear it when you say my name. You love me." His tongue dances up the tendon in the side of my neck, causing my knees to wobble. "You want to marry me."
"Andreas," I say. It's the only thing I know to say. Because he's right. But I can't tell him that and I won't lie to him either. I do love him, so damn much. I do want to marry him; more than I think I've ever wanted anything. After my parents died, I used to pray every night for God to please bring them back. Every single night for two years, I prayed. In two days, I think the way I need Andreas supersedes even the most fervent of those prayers.
But he knows what it's like to lose people too. He knows what it's like to be alone and to be sad and to pay for the sins of others. He's been through so much in his life and he's fought so hard to overcome it. He could have anything in this world. Yet all he wants is to fix the things his father broke—to repair the reputation of his company, to regain the trust of his employees, to heal the hurt his sister feels.
He's selfless and beautiful and the best man I've ever known. How am I supposed to take his heart and his name if I'm only going to bruise one and tarnish the other? That's not fair to him. He's been better to me than anyone ever has. I don't want to repay him by destroying what he's worked so hard to build.
"Tell me why you're afraid to love me, little one," he demands.
"I'm not afraid to love you," I whisper, watching his face in the mirror. He isn't going to let me wiggle out of this one. Not this time. "I'm afraid to let you love me."
He blinks those ridiculously long lashes and then gently turns me to face him. "Explain."
I sigh quietly. "You're already paying for sins that aren't yours, Andreas. If you're with me, even if I don't go to jail, once people find out about my brother, they're going to judge you. Especially if anyone finds out about your father's connection to the Vipers. You've worked so hard to repair the damage he did. I don't want to be the thing that destroys it."
"No."
"No?"
"No," he says again.
I blink at him. "What do you mean 'no'?"
"I mean no, little one," he says, tipping my face up to his with a finger beneath my chin. "Do you know how many perfect moments I've had in my life? Six, rabbit. I've had six." He brushes his lips across mine. "Every single one of them has been since I met you. So no, I'm not going to stand here and let you think for even a second that having you in my life could ever make it worse or destroy it or make it anything less than the absolute gift it is. You are a gift. The time I spend with you is a gift. Every memory I make with you is a gift. Nothing will ever change that."
"Andreas," I whisper, my heart fluttering as tears spring to my eyes. How does he do that? Every time I think he can't get more perfect, he somehow does. I've never been someone who cries at the drop of a hat. But lord, this man knows how to hit all of my buttons. "I'm scared."
"I know you are." His lips brush mine in another intoxicating pass. "But that's what you have me for, rabbit. Let me be your strength. Trust me to get us through this. It might not be okay today or tomorrow or even next week, but it will be okay. I won't rest until it is."