Total pages in book: 210
Estimated words: 203847 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 1019(@200wpm)___ 815(@250wpm)___ 679(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 203847 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 1019(@200wpm)___ 815(@250wpm)___ 679(@300wpm)
“I’m tired,” he offers as a pathetic explanation.
“Coming from the man who demanded round three at two a.m. I’d imagine you are tired.”
He grins across the table. “I love being inside you and having you scratch at my back while you scream my name. What can I say? Sue me, baby girl.”
Believe me, suing him is something I have no intention of doing. Especially not for sexual reasons.
I lean the side of my head against the window with a smile tugging my lips. “You can answer my question now.”
“Fine.” He nudges my feet with his beneath the table. “I mean I’m the enigma in my family. I don’t live in suits or jeans that cost hundreds and hundreds of dollars. My shirts aren’t tailored and I don’t get driven somewhere like some fucking incapable prick.” He smirks when I raise my eyebrows. “I like nice things. I love my car and I like having decent clothes, but decent doesn’t have to mean break-the-bank expensive. I’d rather Levi’s over Armani any day of the week.”
I study him for a moment. He’s really telling the truth. “Wow. You’re nothing like Aaron, are you? This”—I wave my hand— “aside.”
“I have money, Liv, and I have a lot of it. Like I said, I sold my share of my parents’ back to them. I don’t have to work if I don’t want to. I could live very comfortably for the rest of my life.”
The waiter two mugs of coffee in front of us. I lift mine.
“How rich is rich?” I ask. “Out of curiosity. You talk about it like it’s…nothing.”
His smirk is evident even over his cup of coffee. “I’m a millionaire. Several times over.”
I choke on the hot liquid in my mouth. Holy fucking Batman shit. “Seriously?”
“As serious as I’m sitting here right now. Like I said, I have money, I just choose not to use it a lot. My job pays for my apartment and my car and your underwear.” His lips tug up. “The rest of it is…just there. It’s a trust fund. Untouched for the most part.”
I set my cup down on the mat in front of me. I drop my eyes from his and run my finger around the rim of it. “Is that why you don’t have relationships? Because you’re afraid they’ll use you for your money?”
“I’m not afraid of relationships. I have an addiction to sex, not a phobia of commitment.”
His words sting. They do. Right from my head to my toes.
“But yes. That’s the main reason I never pursued a relationship in London. Everyone there knew who I was and what I was worth. Here in Seattle, well. I guess I just never found someone worth having a relationship for.”
His gaze burns into me.
“Until now,” he finishes.
“I wish I could be that girl.” My words are so quiet that they’re practically a whisper.
It’s true.
I wish I weren’t afraid. I wish I could tackle him with the impulsiveness I tackled Aaron’s new bar with. I wish I could throw every piece of bullshit away and give him the thing he wants, because godfuckingdammit! He deserves it.
He deserves happiness. He deserves smiles and security and certainty. Something I can’t offer.
Tyler reaches across the table and links his fingers through mine. He lifts our hands from the table and stares at me. Just stares, his gaze intense and shiver-inducing. And constant—until I finally give in to the buzz from his hand and look up.
“You are, baby girl. You’re that person and so much more.” He brings my knuckles to his mouth and kisses each one slowly. “You’re the woman I never knew I was waiting for. The one I never knew I wanted or needed.”
I take those words. I take them and I curl my fingers around them and I pull them to my chest. I lock them away in my heart, inadvertently giving it a reason to beat. A reason to keep going through the doubts and the worries and the insecurities.
I give it the reason to stay.
No, I don’t. He does.
With a handful of words, he’s changed everything. With something so simple, a phrase so small, I know nothing will be the same. I know my decision is harder.
Because he’s everything I never knew I wanted. He’s the thing that makes me tick. He makes my skin hum with life and my stomach tighten with anticipation. He makes my eyes burn with tears of pleasure and my lungs tighten with emotion.
Tyler Stone is everything. Everything I shouldn’t want. Everything I should stay away from. Everything dangerous, everything risky, everything that toes the line between good and bad.
Everything addictive. Everything obsessive. Everything tempting.
I squeeze his hand. In this moment, I don’t want to let go. I don’t want to feel the chill of the air against my palm when his hand leaves mine. I don’t want to feel the emptiness.