Total pages in book: 99
Estimated words: 101254 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 506(@200wpm)___ 405(@250wpm)___ 338(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 101254 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 506(@200wpm)___ 405(@250wpm)___ 338(@300wpm)
But I haven’t conquered my own demons. Adding his to the mix wouldn’t be a good thing.
A tingle flashes through me as his flesh touches mine.
Just the pinky. The pinky that I’ve been thinking about.
I yank my hand away.
He turns to me. “I’m sorry. That was an accident. I got too close.”
“No, it’s… You didn’t do anything wrong. I just…”
“I understand, Tessa.” He pauses. “But I’m not going to deny I’m attracted to you. Very attracted to you.”
His words put me on edge, but they don’t elicit as much fear as I expect them to.
Because I find him very attractive as well. More than I’ve even admitted to myself.
I want to tell him that he’s pretty much the best-looking man I’ve ever laid eyes on. That his broad shoulders make my heart flutter, his full lips make me wonder how they’d feel against mine, and his hypnotic dark eyes make me want to get lost in them and never be found.
The old Tessa would have made a move by now, or she would have coyly encouraged him to make a move.
“Maybe you weren’t ready to hear that,” Ben says. “I won’t do anything to make you uncomfortable, though. I won’t do anything you don’t want me to. I’d love to help you if I could—”
“You’ve already helped me. You took over the planning of both of these parties. Your only responsibility was the bachelor party, but you took on the bachelorette party for me.”
“That wasn’t a big deal. I had Braden’s wallet and an expert party planner at my disposal. It was nothing, really.”
I reach toward him, but I don’t touch him. Yet I feel him—his stubbly jawline, his warm skin. A phantom caress. “No, it was something, Ben. It was something I couldn’t handle—or didn’t think I could, anyway—and you took it off my plate.”
“Like I said, it was easy for me. I had everything I needed at my disposal.” Then he cocks his head. “But I’m wondering if perhaps I did you a disfavor.”
I lift my eyebrows. “What do you mean by that?”
“Nothing,” he says. “Forget I said it.”
“I can’t forget.” Because I know what he’s thinking.
I can see it in the gorgeous contours of his face.
“You think I was sitting at home doing nothing when I could have been working on the bachelorette party.”
“Well…” he hedges.
“Is that why you offered me a job? Because you didn’t want me dwelling on things any more than I already am, and you’d already taken over the bachelorette party?”
He sighs. “I offered you a job because our company needs good accountants.”
“Is that the only reason?”
“What if it isn’t?” he asks, his gaze meeting mine. “Does it matter, as long as my heart was in the right place?”
His dark eyes are so warm and inviting.
When a warm breeze drifts over my skin, I feel something.
I feel something familiar yet foreign.
I like this man.
I like him a lot.
I like him more than I should.
I’m not sure I can ever even have sex again.
I’m certainly not there yet.
Certainly not when the idea of his pinky touching mine makes me flinch.
But Ben makes me want to heal. He makes me want to want those things again.
And while that should scare the hell out of me—and it does—part of me also relishes the thought.
Part of me…
I grab his pinky.
The feel of his finger on mine doesn’t scare me, doesn’t make me flinch.
Because I chose to do it. I chose to do it. The power is mine.
He cocks his head once more. “Is this okay?”
“It’s okay.”
Then we turn, neither of us saying a word, our pinkies still entwined, and we continue walking along the shoreline.
Chapter Fourteen
Ben
I meet Braden the next morning for breakfast and a cold plunge.
The cold plunge first.
He and I started this ritual after we made our first million. It’s forced meditation.
Because when you’re submerged in icy-cold water—I prefer fifty-five degrees, which isn’t exactly icy cold, but it sure feels that way—all you can think about is not freezing your ass off.
You focus on your breaths—in and out and in and out—keeping them slow and steady.
No other thought enters your mind, so yes, it’s forced meditation.
When you live the life that Braden and I live—running a billionaire company that employs thousands of people who depend on you to be your best every day—your mind is always going.
I know mine is. The cold plunge has helped me through some difficult times. Those demons I’ve mentioned to Tessa, to name a few.
Braden and I like to challenge each other.
He and I are both up to ten minutes in the cold plunge, but today I’m going to make it to eleven.
Hell, I need it. I had a hard-on all last night thinking about Tessa Logan.
And damn, I don’t even want to think about her that way. Not before she’s ready.