Total pages in book: 164
Estimated words: 152853 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 764(@200wpm)___ 611(@250wpm)___ 510(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 152853 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 764(@200wpm)___ 611(@250wpm)___ 510(@300wpm)
Right now, there’s a lazy, satisfied smile on her flushed face. “Wow,” she sighs, then laughs softly. “That was… intense.”
I only nod while using the sheet to clean her off. Nothing sweet or tender about this. Not anymore. I then ball it up and climb off the bed, tossing it into the hamper. “You better get a shower.”
“What’s the big hurry? Do I stink?” She wrinkles her nose before snickering. “Don’t answer that question. I probably do after all that sweating.”
“No, it’s not that.” When it’s clear she’s not getting the message, I step into the jeans I left lying on the floor last night and pull them up with my back to her. Do it, you fucking coward. Tell her.
The bedsprings creak, telling me she’s sitting up. “Are we going somewhere?”
I have no right to stare at her body in the mirror over the dresser, but I’m a man trying to soak in the last few moments of having what I wanted more than anything in the world. I can’t help it. I can’t take my eyes off her. The sunlight dancing off her curves makes her fair skin glow. The perfect globes of her tits swaying slightly when she swings her lean legs over the edge of the bed.
I have to force my gaze away from her. “You’ll see.” Could she make this any more difficult?
“Ooh, so secretive.” There’s still something playful in her voice when she hops out of bed and grabs the bathrobe slung over the back of the armchair. “I don’t usually like surprises, but you’ve intrigued me.”
She slides the satin robe over her shoulders and looks me up and down. “Care to join me?” she murmurs, smirking. “Or did you wear yourself out?”
Do it. Get it over with. Every damn moment of this is torture. “I don’t think there will be time for that.”
Finally, her face falls. “What are you telling me? What’s happening?”
“You’ll see, like I told you.” I can’t do this anymore. I can’t be in the room with her. This is fucking killing me. I have to turn away, to start down the hall.
“What is going on? What happened? You can’t just fuck me one minute and then turn your back on me the next.”
“What a charming choice of words.”
Behind me, her gasp rings out. “No way. You’re not doing that to me.”
I round the top of the stairs with a sigh. “Doing what?”
“Going back to the way you were before. This snide, snarky attitude. I’m not going to put up with it. What aren’t you telling me?”
“Why is it never enough for you to just do as you’re told?”
“Because I’m not a dog who wags her tail whenever her master tells her what to do. You don’t know that by now?”
Instead of getting in the shower like I wish she would, she follows me downstairs, stomping her feet the whole way. Still a brat at heart.
“Please, Tatum.” Once in the kitchen, I turn around to face her and wish I hadn’t. She’s hurt, confused, searching my face with eyes filled with questions I can’t answer. I couldn’t even if I wanted to. “I know this seems sudden, but please. Just do what I ask you to do. We can talk about it when you get out of the shower.”
“No, dammit! I want to talk about it now!”
“I’m going to make coffee.” Steady. Don’t let her do this to you. I’m doing the right thing. So why doesn’t it feel right? Nothing about this does.
“You can’t shut me out like this. You can’t go back to the way things were before. Why are you treating me like this? What did I do?”
“You didn’t do anything. You did nothing wrong.”
“Then why are you treating me this way? Why can’t you talk to me? After everything we’ve been through, you can’t talk to me?” When I turn around, she takes me by the shoulder and spins me in place. “Answer me! What changed?”
“Do you want to know? Are you sure?”
Her chin quivers. She’s reconsidering. Should she keep pushing when there’s a chance of hearing what she fears most?
Curiosity and anger win out in the second it takes for her pained expression to harden. “Yes, dammit! Tell me, right now.”
“Fine. You asked for it.” I can’t look at her. I have to go to the counter, to the espresso maker, so I can spare myself the agony of watching her reaction. “Your father’s coming to take you home.”
I don’t have to look at her, but I hear her sharp gasp. “I don’t understand.”
“Everything’s set up with Jeff. It’s all worked out. Callum had a meeting with him and gave him all the information I had compiled. It’s all over. You have nothing to run away from anymore.”
“And you weren’t going to tell me?”
“That’s what we were going to discuss once you were out of the shower, but stupid me forgot you can’t just do what I ask you to do without starting shit. Now go up, wash off, and get your shit together. He won’t want to be kept waiting when he’s so excited to have you home.”