Total pages in book: 87
Estimated words: 81831 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 409(@200wpm)___ 327(@250wpm)___ 273(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 81831 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 409(@200wpm)___ 327(@250wpm)___ 273(@300wpm)
“You won’t hurt me,” he says, his hand rubbing gently up and down my back. “I’m tougher than I look. We’ll figure this out, don’t worry. I’ll call my friend Pete in the morning. He used to work with the Bad Dog PD before he quit to start a private security firm. He might be able to help me get your house on the cops’ welfare check list. Having a cop car driving by a couple times a day would probably ease Ben’s mind, right?”
“Probably.” I burrow closer to his warmth, wishing he didn’t smell so damned good. Like soap and cedar and…icing? I pull back a bit, lifting my gaze to his. “Did you make a cake?”
He smiles and clucks his tongue. “Oh, sweet, innocent Melly. Of course not. I don’t make desserts. I order them delivered to my mouth. Or, in this case, con my sister into bringing them over.” His voice takes on a tempting tone as he adds, “She brought the gourmet kind you like and there are still three left. You could have them before dinner. Or for dinner. I won’t tell anyone.”
My eyes widen as I try to decide which I’m more excited about—the fact that Aaron’s face is just a few inches from my face or the gourmet sugar therapy in the other room.
I mean, obviously it’s Aaron. He’s so sexy and strong and there for me in a way I never would have imagined. But I can’t have Aaron, at least not long term, so…cupcakes it is.
I pull back, clearing my throat and trying to pretend that I don’t want to lean back into his arms and stay there for the rest of the night. Or worse, the rest of my life. “I need cupcakes before dinner.”
“Then cupcakes you shall have,” he says, taking my hand and leading me down the hall.
“I might need all three of them. Just for me. No sharing.”
He glances over his shoulder with a smile. “I wouldn’t expect anything less. Where do you stand on coffee this late in the day? Want me to make a pot or will you stick to chamomile tea with your sugar?”
I pull a face. “Coffee forever, man, any time of day or night. Chamomile tea smells like a diseased ass covered in flowers.”
Aaron laughs hard, hard enough to make the first easy smile of the evening curve my lips.
“Well, it does,” I say.
Aaron pulls me close again, hugging me tight with his good arm. “You crack me up, and I agree. Chamomile is nasty. I’ll make coffee.”
I press closer, hugging him back, trying not to think too much about how right it feels. “I’ll grab a quick shower while you do that. Get the mascara off my face.”
“Take your time. The cupcakes and coffee will be here when you’re ready.” He presses a kiss to the top of my head that I feel everywhere. “So will I.”
I lift my chin, my throat tight and a wonderful, terrible swelling sensation in my chest. My lips part, close, then part again, but no words emerge, just a fretful sound that I don’t know what to make of.
But apparently, Aaron does, “Yeah, I have a thing for you. A way more than sex thing. But we don’t have to talk about it now. Or ever. If you want me to keep my feelings to myself, I can do that. I don’t want to add to the stress of everything you already have going on right now.”
I shake my head slightly back and forth. “That’s not what I was thinking.”
“What were you thinking?” he asks, his voice as soft and gentle as his eyes on mine.
“I was…” I swallow. “I don’t know. It wasn’t a thought, more a feeling. Like when you’re about to jump off a cliff and you’re not sure what’s hiding under the water, but…you almost don’t care. You’re just so ready to jump.” He pulls in a breath, but before he can speak, I add in a rush of breath, “But I shouldn’t be ready to jump. I still barely know you and you’re going to be gone soon and a few great days doesn’t make up for years of being a jerk to me in high school.”
He presses his lips together, nodding.
“You don’t know me, either,” I babble on. “Not really. Not normal me. I’m not a ‘bang a guy on every piece of furniture in my living room’ type of girl. That was a unique experience. I’m usually boring and tired and cranky. I don’t have energy for sex because I use up all my energy at work and taking care of Chase. By the time I flop into bed, all I want to do is sleep. And I’m starting to like sleeping alone, without a man snoring on the pillow next to me.”