Total pages in book: 86
Estimated words: 83986 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 420(@200wpm)___ 336(@250wpm)___ 280(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 83986 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 420(@200wpm)___ 336(@250wpm)___ 280(@300wpm)
“I think it tried to talk that time.”
His furrowed brows sent me into hysterics, and I was unceremoniously shoved off the end of the bed.
FOUR
We had both unpacked, then showered and changed, and later, in the elevator, on our way to dinner, I smiled when I noted him scowling at me. “What now? You thinking we should have taken the stairs so you could have shoved me down a flight or something?”
“I didn’t hurt you when I—”
“You don’t know that. Maybe I’m delicate,” I teased him.
“Just… Listen. I got a world-class blowjob and you got nothing,” he said, shaking his head. “I feel terrible, and I’m very concerned that you won’t think me a fit companion to spend your time with.”
I squinted at him. “I enjoyed the hell out of having you, and why on earth would you feel terrible when you enjoyed it?”
“I want you to be excited about having sex with me. How does me being a selfish asshole, not taking care of you at all, make any kind of good impression?”
I turned into him then, pressing my face into the side of his neck as I knocked him gently back against the wall of the elevator. “You made a great impression, and I can’t wait to get back in bed with you. It was fun, and we talked, and I loved every minute of that.”
He wrapped his arms around me, clutching me to him, holding me tight. “You did? You swear?”
“Intimacy isn’t just screwing, you know that.”
“I do know that,” he husked, his breath warm on my skin. “But most people don’t.”
“I’m not most people.”
“No, you’re not,” he agreed, smiling at me.
One arm wrapped around my shoulders, his other hand went to my face before he lifted and kissed me. Hard. He wasn’t messing around, he was staking his claim, and since I myself was possessive, I loved finding it in others.
When the elevator dinged as we reached the first floor, it took a moment for us to pull apart. I didn’t want to move and so lingered there, in front of him, getting myself under control, taking several breaths.
“You really do want me,” he whispered, not letting me go, holding me still, lips hovering over mine as the doors closed and the elevator started climbing again.
“Everybody wants you,” I assured him.
“No,” he said flatly. “They want whatever character I played that turned them on. They want a version of me, not the real Ash Lennox who’s an introvert with a very low social battery.”
“Is that right?”
“I like people, I’m good with them, but once I’m done… It’s why I never stay at award show after-parties very long, except for this one time with my father, Sherman Todd.”
“Your stepfather?”
“I think of him as my father, as Mr. Walder never was one.”
“Got it. Okay, so you and your father went out, let’s hear about that.” I grinned because that sounded like a story worth hearing.
“The horror.”
“Really?”
“You have no idea.”
“Because he was with you or––”
“I just don’t enjoy parties.”
“Even with all your friends around you?” I asked, leaning sideways to push the lobby button for the second time.
“I have very few people I’d call friends. I know many, but my circle is small.”
“Well, you can count on me for that—when you’re ready to go, we’ll get outta there. You’re my priority.”
“Because you’re paid to look out for me.”
I scowled at him. “Even if you called off the contract right now, I would stay here with you because for one, I like you, and for two, I wanna get laid.”
“Do you? Really?”
“Do I really what?”
“Want to get laid?”
“Yes,” I replied, grinning at him.
“Well, then have me and stop talking.”
I chuckled. “No more talking? Not at all?”
He growled. “You’re making me crazy.”
“I don’t hate that,” I teased him. “But I very much want to have you under me.”
His smile lit up his eyes, made them glow green fire. “And I believe you,” he whispered, taking my mouth, bumping me back into the wall of the elevator just as it dinged and stopped.
Breaking the kiss as people got on, I loved seeing the flush on his cheeks.
“I like you so much,” he said under his breath.
“I’m a bit enamored myself,” I replied with a waggle of eyebrows.
“Ohmygod! You’re Ashford Lennox,” one of the women said, and that was the end of us talking until we reached the lobby.
There was a line, of course there was, and I saw that the entire restaurant, the only one at the inn, was reserved for the welcome-to-the-wedding dinner.
“I have never been to a wedding like this in my life,” he told me. “Have you?”
“Can’t say that I have.” I took hold of his hand, stepping in close to him. “My sisters all had more traditional weddings, with just the rehearsal dinner and the wedding the next day. It wasn’t this big summer blockbuster you’re paying for.”