Total pages in book: 84
Estimated words: 80572 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 403(@200wpm)___ 322(@250wpm)___ 269(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 80572 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 403(@200wpm)___ 322(@250wpm)___ 269(@300wpm)
My throat tightens and my heart beats even faster.
Sergio turns to face me. I stroke the mud-caked dog in my arms, who licks my hand encouragingly.
He folds those uber masculine arms on his chest and now directs his gaze to me. I swallow. “Going somewhere?”
“I was… I, um, came out to rescue the dog. That man tried to kick him!”
Sergio glances down at the muddy mutt in my arms.
“I didn’t think you were capable of lying, Eden.” At the sound of him saying my name, my heart comes to a stuttering halt before it picks up again at a rapid pace. It feels intimate and seductive, like the whisper of a promise over a bedside pillow.
But the slight downturn of his lips and the disapproval in his voice makes my heart sink to my toes. “I’m disappointed in you.”
Oh my goodness. I’m disappointed in me, too. I don’t lie.
Wait. Did I just lie?
I open my mouth to protest when he continues.
“Answer the question, but this time tell me the truth.”
Why do I feel like I need to hide the truth? I didn’t do anything wrong, and he’s not the type that will hurt me.
Well, I don’t think he will.
He’s protective… I think?
When I don’t answer at first, he ever-so-slightly raises his brows. “I think I may have misled you,” he says in that low, carnal, sensual voice of his. Is it a sin to melt from listening to a man speak?
“How’s that?” I feel hot and cold and my skin’s all prickly. I try to swallow but it doesn’t help this time.
I’ve been wanting to see him again, but now that he’s here, I’m wondering why all I want to do is hide.
“I seem to have led you to believe I’m a patient man.”
Oh.
Oh my.
I take a shaky breath. “I… No, sir, you haven’t.”
A slow blink.
They say that brown eyes are the most common in the world… but not his. His are beautiful and distinctive, a rich, warm tone with a depth that calls to me. Even if his voice is cold and his manner aloof, he can’t hide the warmth and intelligence in his eyes. If he walked away right now and I never saw him again, I’d remember what it felt like to be captured in his gaze until the day I died.
“Then answer the question.”
Question. Answer the question. What question? I force myself to focus.
“I went out for a walk,” I tell him truthfully, confusing even myself with my hesitation. I’m probably afraid I’m going to blurt out the real truth.
Because I was pouting that I hadn’t seen you.
I continue, somehow feeling the need to justify my behavior. “I was bored, and I didn’t have any work to do, and even though you asked me not to explore the club, I’m free to explore the city, so that’s what I was going to do.”
A muscle tenses in his jaw.
“Alone?”
Uh, maybe not such a good idea?
I lick my lips and swallow. I gesture at the little mud ball in my arms. “Well, not alone alone.”
The pup is squirming and whining. Maybe he doesn’t like to be held, and I don’t want to ruin these nice clothes with dirt, so I put him down. He sniffs my foot. Walks over to Sergio, sniffs around some more, and pees. I clamp my hand over my mouth, so I don’t burst out laughing.
No.
“Motherfucker,” Sergio growls. I stifle a gasp.
“I’ve never in my life heard someone who uses as many cuss words as you.”
“The dog just fucking peed on me,” he growls, shaking off his foot. “And welcome to Boston. Tell me you’re not bringing this little piece of – this mutt into my club.”
The look he’s giving me dares me to defy him.
Well, I’m not going to leave this dog on the street to be kicked by another grumpy runner. And Sergio doesn’t ever need to even see him.
I look down at the dog then back up to Sergio. I bite my lip and reply in a little voice, “I could tell you that, but you… don’t want me to lie to you.”
He curses again.
“Just in my room. I mean, of course I won’t let him go into the kitchen or anywhere else. I have a private bath and could scrub him up nicely and thanks to your generosity, I have enough money I could buy things he needs, too…”
Do I need to ask him permission? Why do I feel like I have to? My heart squeezes when the little dog thumps his tail against my leg.
I would love him. I want to love someone. I’m so lonely I could cry.
“There are regulations about animals in establishments that serve wine and have—” he pauses. “Food.”
That’s not what he was going to say.
What was he going to say?
If that didn’t spike my curiosity about the nature of his club…