Total pages in book: 169
Estimated words: 167671 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 838(@200wpm)___ 671(@250wpm)___ 559(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 167671 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 838(@200wpm)___ 671(@250wpm)___ 559(@300wpm)
“She’ll be fine,” I yell back.
“Why do you talk to him like that?” Ivy asks.
“We’re not on the best of terms right now,” I reply.
“Why?”
I pause. “Do you have to pry like that?”
She puts her hands against her hips. “Like you’re prying into my life?”
Touche.
I open the car door, but she refuses to get inside until I finally speak up. I sigh out loud and run my fingers through my long hair. “He and my mom decided to ship my sister off to a boarding school and didn’t tell me until it was too late to say goodbye.”
The look on her face softens. “I didn’t know you had a sister.”
“Now you do. Well, I had one, because she hasn’t contacted me ever since.”
She steps inside and I shut the door before fixing the plate on the back of the car. Then I hop behind the wheel. It’s quiet for some time as I start up the engine, but after I’ve driven off, she starts chewing her lip.
“I’m sorry.”
“About what?”
“It must be tough for you.”
Is she … pitying me?
“I’m fine,” I reply, grinding my teeth.
I don’t need pity, especially not from her.
“You obviously love your sister a lot,” she says, eyeing the bottle of pills still lying on my dashboard.
I swiftly snatch them off and tuck them into my pocket.
Still, she can’t look away. “You only have one family, Heath. Please, be kind to them.”
“Don’t concern yourself with mine when you’ve got your own shit to deal with,” I retort.
“I don’t have any,” she replies.
I frown, glancing her way between driving. “What do you mean?”
She averts her eyes. “I’m alone with Cora. I haven’t seen my mother in a long time. I can’t even remember the last time I saw her happy.” She sighs.
“What about your dad?”
“He’s dead,” she answers abruptly.
Oh. Fuck.
I did not see that one coming.
I swallow back the lump in my throat. “I’m sorry.”
She nods. “I’m just saying, don’t take the family you have for granted.”
Maybe she has a point.
And now I feel stupid for lashing out at her instead.
She’s done nothing to draw my ire. Nothing that involves my family, anyway. I grab her hand, squeezing it softly.
She briefly glances up at me, and a small smile tips up her lips before it immediately disappears again, and she pulls her hand away from mine, her cheeks flushing with heat.
“What size of clothes does Cora have?” I ask.
“Huh? Why do you ask?”
“I think it’s about time we put this baby to use.” I slap the steering wheel. “Now tell me where to drive, and I’ll take you there.”
After we’ve finished shopping for Cora, I put everything in the trunk of the car, then take Ivy to one of the high-end boutiques in Crescent Vale City.
Nothing is more satisfying than watching her put on twenty or more outfits to see if they fit. Her figure really shines in these gorgeous Chanel dresses, and I can’t keep my eyes off her.
Every time she exits the changing room, she looks like a completely different person, chic, daring, provocative, luxurious, all of it combined. And even though she has no clue how to wear the dresses, the dresses fit her to a T.
“What do you think?” I ask.
“They look lovely, but …” She turns around in the mirror and finds the tag, her face losing all its color. “That price tag, my God.”
I tap my fingers impatiently. “What about it?”
“It’s too high. I can’t pay for this,” she says.
My brow lifts. “How high?”
“Ten.”
“Million?”
Her pupils dilate. “God, no. Thousand.”
I snort. “I thought it’d be more.”
Now her mouth widens too, southward. “You’ve gotta be kidding me. I can’t take this.”
She immediately goes back into the dressing room, and I sigh, rubbing my eyes.
When will this girl accept there is no saying no to us?
“Heath, can you help me?” she asks after a while.
I get up and approach the curtain she’s hiding behind.
“The zipper is stuck.”
I push open the curtain and find her half-dressed, with the golden dress drooping over her shoulders, the curve of her breasts clearly visible through the fabric, barely hiding the nipples.
And my God, does it make my mouth water.
I pull the curtain closed behind me and bring my hands up to her dress, slowly zipping it down. Wherever my fingers go, goose bumps follow in their tracks as my eyes connect with hers through the mirror.
“You look gorgeous in this dress,” I mutter.
She blushes. “Thank you.”
I pause near the crevice in her back while she clutches the dress close to her body, almost as if she’s afraid of revealing what’s underneath even though I’ve already seen every inch of her delicious body.
But I want more.
So much fucking more.
This girl who has taken ahold of Max’s heart is fiery and brave, and I want nothing more than to steal her heart away before she gives it to him.