Total pages in book: 218
Estimated words: 209489 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 1047(@200wpm)___ 838(@250wpm)___ 698(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 209489 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 1047(@200wpm)___ 838(@250wpm)___ 698(@300wpm)
He didn’t let me stop him. “You said we were friends.”
It was so petty. So damn petty, but I muttered it anyway. “I changed my mind. We don’t need to be friends. You weren’t that crazy about it in the first place.”
Oh, I felt the fucking ice in his gaze. “I changed my mind.”
Oh boy.
“We made an agreement,” he said in that super bossy voice, deciding to approach this in a different direction. “I said I was going to be there for you. That’s what we agreed on.”
I swear… I squawked right before his hand moved and his thumb settled over my lips. Was this son of a bitch for real? Was he telling me he wouldn’t pay for my cell phone one day and now insisting he wanted to be there for me?
“You’re not leaving.” He kept going in that steady, rich voice. “We made a deal, and you don’t back out on a deal, Cookie. Not with me.”
He was fighting dirty calling me that, and we both knew it. But I wasn’t even going to poke at it. I had to focus and not let Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde get to me. “I’m not backing out on the deal. I’m releasing you from it,” I said from under his finger, feeling myself getting riled up. It was his honor making him say all this, I knew it, he knew it.
He took his sweet time shaking his head. “No. I’m not being released from anything because you forgot what I said I would do—”
“I didn’t forget anything,” I said, my words muffled under his finger.
“Shh.”
I was going to “shh” his ass.
“Listen, Gracie.”
I growled.
His nod irritated the hell out of me. Then he busted out the smoothest, most patient tone he had ever used, on me at least, as he lifted his finger from my mouth. “You’re going to live here.”
I didn’t think I’d ever bitten anyone, but I was seriously considering it now.
“I’m going to protect you, because there might be a chance that there are people now who would want to get to me through you, and you know who those people are. You think word won’t get out?” I could feel his breath, all nice and cool on my face. “I’m going to be here for you for the rest of your life. That’s what I said I would do, and that’s what I’m going to do.”
I grabbed his wrist and tried to tug it away. He let me go but slipped his fingers through my hair right above my nape instead.
I froze, surprised. Shocked more like it. And that’s probably why I could barely choke out the words, “What are you doing?” Shushing me was one thing, but this?
I was pretty sure my nipples got even harder, the traitors.
He rubbed my hair between his fingers, I could feel it. Even his breaths were soft on my cheek and nose. His fingertips suddenly grazed my scalp, and I tensed at the unexpected affection.
No. It wasn’t affection. He didn’t even like me.
My nipples were out of control. They needed a time-out. Maybe they needed to get grounded.
It took me two tries to clear my throat and ask weakly, “I’m not kidding. What are you doing?” Did I have to sound like a damn frog?
“Nothing,” he said almost absently, still focused on my hair, back to rubbing his fingers over it.
I felt the “hmm” he let out in my chest. Those purple irises moved back toward me. “You aren’t leaving.”
Get it together, Gracie, I told myself and focused on his cheekbones and not the long fingers almost caressing my head. “Look, you saved my life when you took care of me and carried me away from that place. We’re more than even. I don’t want to take advantage of you. It’ll be better this way.”
“Oh, you’re wrong about that,” he told me, back to doing things to my hair that I was not going to pay attention to.
“Wrong about what?” I managed to ask.
“All of it.”
I narrowed my eyes, his fingertips brushing my scalp again. Tingles trailed down the length of my spine, but I ignored them and hunched my shoulders. “Would you stop that already?”
His “No” was a straight shot as he did it again. “You aren’t sleeping on the floor again.”
“I’ll sleep outside next time. Try me.” I tried to bat his hand away, but his puff of a laugh made me stop. “What are you laughing at?”
One corner of his mouth tipped up just a little bit. “I thought I had a bad temper.”
“You do. That’s why I’m going to leave you alone.”
That got his chuckle to dry out almost instantly.
It was unfortunate how much of a handsome bastard he was. He had the nicest skin I’d ever seen. He had the nicest everything. All healthy and virulent and—