Total pages in book: 83
Estimated words: 77980 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 390(@200wpm)___ 312(@250wpm)___ 260(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 77980 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 390(@200wpm)___ 312(@250wpm)___ 260(@300wpm)
“I don’t like eavesdropping, Maureen.” His tone was stern and commanding, and dammit, I liked it.
More importantly, my nipples liked it. “I don’t like being called a liar, Jasper. I don’t like being judged, either.”
Jasper nodded his agreement and stepped inside, forcing me to take a few steps back. “Fine. I’m here now.”
But he wasn’t, not really. “I don’t want or need you here out of pity or obligation.”
Jasper’s black-booted foot pushed the door closed, and he walked forward as if this was his place instead of mine.
“Then tell me, Mo, what do you want? Want do you need?”
You. The answer was simple, but that wasn’t what Jasper meant. It wasn’t what he wanted to hear, and even if it was, I wasn’t brave enough to say those words out loud.
“It doesn’t matter what I want because you can’t or won’t give it to me.”
I followed him to the living room, where he dropped down on the sofa and threaded his fingers behind his head. “Try me.”
Could I? Could I vocalize my deepest, darkest desires? Could I take that risk now that I had Jasper’s full attention on me? His baby growing inside me? No.
My shoulders rose and fell casually as if the words I was about to say were my big truth when they weren’t.
“I want the dream, Jasper. The picket fence with the loving husband, the big house, and two point five kids.” I paused, waiting for his reaction. Nothing. “I want PTA meetings and bake sales, carpooling, and hating other boring-ass soccer moms. I want all the shit that was stolen from me when I was a kid, including a man who loves me, who is with me because that’s where he wants to be, not because it’s the right thing to do.”
I was breathless after the last word left my mouth, but I tilted my chin in defiance, daring him to laugh at the part of my dream I was courageous enough to share.
Jasper stared up at me and nodded from his spot on my sofa. He nodded and stared for so long that my shoulders fell because I knew I wouldn’t get what I wanted from him. Not today. Not ever.
Finally, he let out a long, slow breath, accompanied by another nod. “Okay, but what do you want or need right now, this very second?”
He wanted something easy. Something simple. I could do that. Give him an easy out. “Food,” I sighed. “I want something to eat.”
Jasper smiled and pushed off the sofa. “Get dressed.”
“Where are we going?”
“We’re going somewhere to eat.” His smile was still in place, but if I wasn’t imagining things, there was a small wobble to it.
Wishful thinking. “I can order room service.” That was exactly what I planned to do as soon as my heroine got her happy ending.
Jasper stepped over the coffee table and stood toe to toe with me, towering over me.
“Go get dressed, Maureen. Or, if you prefer, I can carry you out of here in what you’re wearing now. The choice is yours.”
A shiver stole through me at his command, his threat, and I pushed at his chest. Jasper didn’t budge. “Fine. I’ll be back.”
“Hurry.”
“Don’t rush me,” I grumbled as I walked away, smiling.
I had no idea what Jasper was up to, and I was too afraid to ask. He could be taking me to the desert to kill me, a doctor to abort the baby, or, hope against hope, home to Ashby manor where he would have his wicked way with me and tell me he loved me too. That he finally saw me.
“Yeah, right,” I whispered to myself as I grabbed a pair of jeans and a V-neck sweater from my closet.
My first instinct was to grab something sexy, maybe fitted and low-cut, but I kept it simple because I was too tired and entirely too hormonal to deal with more rejection.
I tamped down my expectations, reminding myself that despite his ruthless tendencies, Jasper was a stand-up guy. He wanted to do the right thing, but that was all this was.
It wasn’t romance, and it sure as fuck wasn’t love.
Not on his part, anyway.
After a quick coat of mascara and colored lip gloss, I met Jasper in the living room. “Ready.”
Jasper stood and looked at me for a long moment, desire flaring in his green eyes as he took in every detail of my simple outfit. He licked his lips, sealing whatever he’d been about to say behind them.
“Let’s go.” Jasper reached a hand out to me, and I stared at it like it was a grenade, threatening to explode in my face at any moment.
But when would this ever happen again? Jasper wasn’t the hand-holding type, so I put my palm to his and let him take me away. To heaven or to hell, I still wasn’t sure yet.