Total pages in book: 11
Estimated words: 10569 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 53(@200wpm)___ 42(@250wpm)___ 35(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 10569 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 53(@200wpm)___ 42(@250wpm)___ 35(@300wpm)
“Had I known that’s what you’d end up thinking—that you’re undesirable—I never would have started deleting them. I didn’t mean to make you doubt yourself.”
“So you were at the police station all night, for me? Working for me?”
He nods. “Come here.” He wraps an arm around me, pulling me into an embrace. “You have no idea how much I hated leaving you last night. Especially last night.”
My heart is thundering, and maybe I don’t want to know the real answer, but I can’t NOT know. “Guess our moment passed, huh?”
He leans back. “What?”
Okay, I didn’t actually ask before so now I’ve got to pull up my big girl panties and rip off the band aid. Yeah, that’s a mixed up metaphor but whatever. “Last night. I don’t want to assume it meant anything more than what it was.”
I don’t even realize I’m crying until he swipes a thumb across my cheek. “Hey, sweetheart, what is it?”
“You left and said you were coming back. Then you didn’t and Zeke was here and I guess my mind went to all the negative places.”
“You thought I didn’t want you?”
I shrug, giving him a watery smile.
“Nothing could be further from the truth.” He leans over and kisses my cheeks, effectively kissing away my tears. “The entire time I’ve known you, I’ve fought my attraction to you. I told myself that as long as I was close to you, that it would be enough. Last night proved to me, nothing will ever be enough with you. I’m sorry that I hid all those things from you and made you doubt yourself. But I want to be the one to write love notes to you. I want to be the one that gives you flowers, and I want to be the one that’s in your bed. Not just one night. All of the nights. Melody, you’re it for me.”
“I want all of your nights too. I always have.”
He stands and grabs my hand, pulling me to him. “Can we pick up where we left off last night?”
I nod enthusiastically.
He stops once we get to my bedroom. “I should probably shower first.”
“No. I don’t want to wait any longer. I want us to be together, Hayes. I want to belong to you.”
We kiss, standing at the foot of the bed. How he manages to soak my panties with a single swipe of his tongue is a mystery.
He pulls back. “Before we continue, you need to know something,” he says.
“Okay.”
“I want to make sure you understand me one-hundred percent so we don’t have any more miscommunications or doubts.”
I nod.
“Once we do this, once you let me have you, that’s it. We’re stuck together for life. I’m an all-in kind of guy, and Mel, I’ve been all in with you from day one.”
I guess Hollywood didn’t lie after all. “I understand and I want that very much.”
“Excellent. Get naked and get on the bed.”
“Bossy,” I say.
But I still follow his instructions, shimmying out of my PJ shorts and panties and toss them, but he catches them. He lets the shorts fall to the floor, then he’s bringing my simple cotton panties to his nose and inhaling.
“W-w-why is that so hot?”
“Because we’ve wanted each other for so long and we fucking belong together.”
Once I’m naked, I crawl up on the bed and lay down completely exposed to him. I’m not hiding one curve, one dimple, one lump or pooch or roll or anything. I believe Hayes, he wants me. Just the way I am.
I lean up on my elbows and watch him as he does that man thing–pulling off his shirt by reaching behind his neck. Up and over it goes, and then holy juice boxes, he’s shirtless.
And gorgeous.
Which, of course, I knew he would be. But the muscular torso he just revealed is any woman’s fantasy. I’m trying to decide which I like best, the chest hair that tapers into a thin line that points downward, or the neat little boxes of his ab muscles, but then he unbuttons his jeans. He hisses when he lowers his zipper, then kicks off the offending fabric.
His tight boxer briefs highlight the size of his tree trunk-sized thighs. Yet they do nothing to hide his hard length.
“You keep looking at me like that and this is going to be over a lot faster than I’d like,” he says. He reaches into his boxers and grips his dick. “Spread those creamy thighs, beautiful. Let me look at you.”
His boxers come all the way off and then he’s gloriously naked in front of me, fisting his erection.
“Now spread those legs like a good girl and let me see what’s mine.”
His dirty mouth and bossy words are working overtime on my arousal. I’m pretty sure I’m leaking on the bed at this point. But I do what I'm told and spread my thighs.