Total pages in book: 47
Estimated words: 46715 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 234(@200wpm)___ 187(@250wpm)___ 156(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 46715 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 234(@200wpm)___ 187(@250wpm)___ 156(@300wpm)
“It makes me a terrible excuse for a daughter too. Especially because I don’t even know what we are. I thought you were just….” A man shuffles by my seat, reminding me I’m in public. I lower my voice. “Just, you know….”
“Sex,” he says, and I can hear the smirk in his voice.
“Exactly.”
“I want you for more than that.”
“For what?” I whisper.
I wait for him to say it, to paint this bright future into existence.
“To keep seeing you,” he says after a long pause. “To spend more time together.”
But that’s not enough, is it? It doesn’t justify risking everything Dad’s built his life on.
But I don’t think I’ve got it in me to say no, not with the heat taking hold of me. So it was theoretically feasible before I heard his voice saying he wanted to see me.
And I want to find out about Vanessa, about him and me.
“Will you do it?” he asks.
“Yes,” I reply, not sure how I feel about the whole public thing.
It will be good to be able to speak without the endless temptation of our bodies, but there’s also the fact my body screams out for his.
Hearing his voice takes me back to the times he touched me.
“Good,” he says. “Because I don’t know how much longer I could’ve gone without seeing you. I was trying damn hard.”
“Me too,” I whisper.
“We know it’s wrong.”
“But if we’re just seeing each other….”
He knows what I mean – if we’re not going to collapse into lust-filled heaps and consume each other with the magnetic force that pulls us together.
“Exactly,” he says, but I can hear it in his tone.
He knows we’re just making excuses to keep doing what we want.
“I’ll see you soon,” I reply.
CHAPTER
THIRTEEN
Silas
I wait in the tattoo room, pacing up and down. We’re going to keep the door open when Lauren arrives, meaning I won’t be able to give into the primal urge constantly gripping me.
Giorgia Bianchi, the owner, stops as she passes by the tattoo studio. She’s a tall, lean woman with a shaved head, every inch of her arms, hands, and neck covered in intricate tattoos, Viking runes, and constellations.
“Your date stood you up?” she jokes.
I laugh grimly. “I’m sure she’ll be here soon.”
“I’ll have to look at the piece once it’s done, assess her work.”
“She’s good,” I say firmly, thinking of the tattoos on her thighs, the design for the headstone. “I was supposed to send her examples of styles I wanted, but she got carried away. She’s extremely creative and passionate. She ended up sending me some, and I….”
I stop, realizing what I’m doing. I’m gushing about her like I’m smitten, which I am if such a word can be applied to the savage intentions growing deep inside of me.
“Woah,” Giorgia says. “If I didn’t know any better, I’d say the billionaire finally found his beauty.”
I roll my eyes at her ironic tone. We met through her brother, a tattooist and one of the craziest base jumpers I’ve ever known.
I say nothing, and Giorgia walks on. I want to tell her yes, damn right. I’ve found my beauty, my one and only.
I never want to have to hide what I feel for my woman.
Lauren appears at the door a few minutes later, her bag over her shoulder. She’s wearing a black top, hugging the outline of her juicy breasts, her jeans emphasizing her wide hips.
Her wild hair is up in a messy bun, begging me to smooth the wayward strands into place.
“Hey,” she says softly.
“Hello.” I keep my voice steady, reminding myself anybody could walk by, to maintain this tame façade. “I hope the drive here was okay.”
I trail off with a smirk. “I’m trying to make small talk. Is this how people do it?”
“We could try,” she replies with a small smile of her own. “Yes, Silas, the drive here was fine. There was a little traffic, but nothing too bad.”
“It makes a change from talking about dating apps,” I say with a tight smile.
She looks at me sharply. “If I didn’t know better, I’d say you didn’t want me to make an account.”
“Maybe I want you all for myself.”
She stares at me for a long moment, her face so gorgeous I almost kiss her.
Then somebody walks by the busy studio hallway, reminding me again.
Civilized.
She deserves more than sudden lust and then retreat.
“Do you want to meet Giorgia?” I ask, smoothing over the intimacy as best as I can, not that I want to.
“Sure,” Lauren says, unable to stop her twitching smile.
“Are you something of a superfan?” I ask.
She nods. “Yeah. Maybe. Just a little. I love her work. I even bought her art books. I think she’s great. She’s the one who inspired me to tattoo myself since she did her constellations herself.”
“Come on, then.” I step forward, waving a hand. “Let me introduce you.”