Total pages in book: 211
Estimated words: 201554 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 1008(@200wpm)___ 806(@250wpm)___ 672(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 201554 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 1008(@200wpm)___ 806(@250wpm)___ 672(@300wpm)
“Meaning you?”
“Definitely me, but maybe I’ll get there. I’m trying. And I don’t know why I just told you that. I shouldn’t have told you that.”
I reach up and twine strands of her silky hair in my fingers. “Why?”
Her cellphone rings, a muffled sound in the distance that has her eyes going wide. “Oh God,” she whispers, jerking away from my hand to sit up. “Oh God. I’m giving a speech. I’m late.” She scrambles off the bed and rushes to locate her clothes, dashing for the living room.
I stand up and by the time I’ve pulled my pants on and located her by the door, she’s fully dressed. “I have to go,” she says, and I’m stunned at how much I don’t want her to leave.
I catch her to me, kissing the hell out of her before I release her and open the door because if I don’t let her go now, I won’t. But she doesn’t go. She seems to forget her speech, frozen in place, lost in a space that is me and her in a little cottage neither of us own. Those gorgeous blue eyes of hers study me, and I want to know what she’s thinking, what she wants, because I want her. Time stretches for several more beats before she closes the space between us, pushes to her toes, and kisses me. “I’ve changed my mind,” she confesses, her delicate, soft hands splayed on my naked chest. “I really do hate that we didn’t have that condom.” With that, she pushes away from me and rushes out of the door. I let her go, but fuck, I can’t walk away. I can’t really let her go. She’s why I’m still here. She’s why I’m still here. She’s why I’m not leaving.
I finish dressing, the scent of her, all sweet and feminine, clinging to my skin, drugging me in the way only she seems to drug me. I need to see her again. I need to be inside that woman, and not just her body. I want to know why she feels insecure, and she does. I want to know why she’s here when she could be so many other places. It’s a crazy, out-of-character thought that I shove aside.
Nevertheless, I pursue her, walking down the path and find the party again. The crowd is still thick, the clusters of tuxedos and gowns gathered around a stage at the end of the pool, and there she is, Harper is on the stage. She’s standing next to my father and my asshole of a brother, with her look-a-like mother, who’s fifteen years my father’s junior, standing next to her. She takes the microphone and starts speaking about the business and the family and damn it, my father kisses her cheek and I know I’m wrong about her. She’s one of them. She’s not a reason to stay. What the hell was I even thinking?
I turn away and walk down the path to the cottage, pack my bag, and with her still on my tongue, I leave.
Forever this time.
Chapter five
Eric
SIX YEARS LATER…
I’m sitting at my desk, in my corner office of the Bennett Firm, our primary business in the legal field, with locations all over the country, but Grayson is all about diversifying his portfolio. That’s where I come in and why I’m working on a buy-in on a sports team that’s sure to add a few billion in sales on the books for the company and myself. Which is my job. Make money. Grow the business beyond worldwide legal services. Repeat, with Grayson’s aggressive, but smart, stance on growth that works for us in ways it might not for other companies. I’m scanning the final contract when Grayson pokes his head in the door. “I have contract questions.” He taps his Rolex. “It’s seven o’clock. Let’s talk somewhere that isn’t here.”
“Here-here to that,” I say. “I could use a Macallan right about now.” I stand up and roll my sleeves down before I shrug on my jacket, which never quite covers my tattoo sleeve, but I really don’t give a shit. I’m long beyond giving a shit what anyone thinks of me. If they don’t like my ink, they can move on and hope to make money elsewhere. Good riddance and good luck.
“Mia doesn’t like clause eight,” Grayson says, crossing his arms in front of his chest.
Mia being his fiancée and a criminal attorney with the firm, who’s recently re-joined our inner circle and I’m damn glad she is back in his life after a year-long breakup. Whereas I’m a loner, a man without ties, Grayson needs Mia. I might not understand that kind of bond, but I understand him. “She’s right. I already told the team owners to go fuck themselves over that clause.”
He chuckles. “Of course you did, and probably not any nicer than you just told me.”