Total pages in book: 62
Estimated words: 60931 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 305(@200wpm)___ 244(@250wpm)___ 203(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 60931 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 305(@200wpm)___ 244(@250wpm)___ 203(@300wpm)
“No. You kicked me out of the book club, and I have no incentive to read it.”
“I like the book. You seem to like me and don’t want me ghosting you. There’s your incentive to read it. And I’m busy. I can’t go shopping with you tomorrow.” I reverse my ninety-degree turn and take quick strides to my apartment door.
“Do I have to like the book? I said I was good with sexy and charming. Remember? Perfection is overrated.”
Inserting the key, I close my eyes and clench my teeth but don’t respond.
Over the next week, I don’t go to great lengths to avoid Eric, nor do I intentionally put myself in his path. We pass occasionally, and he’s always toting a copy of The Last Person and sporting a ridiculous smile.
“I’ve read the required chapters,” he breaks our silence, following me up the stairs after we arrive home at the same time Friday afternoon. “Does that earn me entrance to the next book club?”
“Can you behave?” I open the door and continue as he picks up his pace behind me.
“At book club?” Eric snags my hand just before his door.
I try to pull away, but he tightens his hold, traps the book under his arm, and unlocks the door to his apartment.
“Of course, at book club. What else would I be talking about? Let go of me.”
He drags me into his apartment, shuts the door, and tosses the book on the floor.
The audacity!
“What are you—”
He frames my face and kisses me, pressing my back to the door. “You look pretty today. Has anyone told you that?” he whispers.
Why can this man kiss so well? It’s unfair, and it’s dangerous. And I know this because I don’t want to be caught in his web. And no. No one has told me I look pretty today.
“I got to the sex scene,” he mumbles, sucking and biting along my ear and neck. “Now I know why you like that book so much.”
Eric shoves his hand up my shirt, yanking my bra out of his way, just like Andrew does with Jasmine in the book. When our lips connect again, he carries me to the living room and sits on the sofa with me on his lap. It’s Jasmine and Andrew.
He removes my shirt and his shirt. We kiss some more. Then I take the lead, shoving him back before crawling off his lap. I bite my lip while sliding out of my shorts and panties. He reclines more on the sofa, so most of his body engulfs it—just like Andrew.
I straddle his waist and lean forward, kissing my way up his chest to his neck … and mouth.
“Higher,” he whispers.
He did. He read it, and he liked it. I have never felt more turned on in my life. I grip the arm of the sofa with both hands while crawling up his body and rubbing myself against his torso.
Eric grips my hips. “Higher, baby,” Andrew says those exact words to Jasmine as he guides her to straddle his face the way Eric guides me to straddle his face.
I moan, and my head tips back in ecstasy, just like Jasmine’s does, when Eric’s tongue makes its first swipe. It’s teasing, seductive, and empowering to be above him like this, yet I surrender to his hold on me.
I officially love everything about Eric Steinmann. He’s flirty and sexy. Smart and passionate. Chivalrous. And he says sweet things like, “You look pretty today,” just seconds before nuzzling his face between my legs.
After I orgasm with his name on my lips and my fingers clenched in his hair, I waste no time repositioning myself between his legs.
“Baby, you don’t have to …” Eric gives me a weak protest with a drunken gaze, just like Andrew gave Jasmine.
“I know.” I smirk while unzipping his jeans.
His first word is a sharp “fuck” as he tugs a fistful of my hair. Minutes later, he repeats that word, but it’s drawn out while his face contorts into something so beautiful, and it’s precisely how I pictured Andrew.
Life isn’t fiction; I get it, even if sometimes I don’t like it. So I don’t expect this to play all the way out. But … it does.
Early the following morning, I retrieve my scattered clothes and kiss his cheek while he sleeps. “I have to go,” I whisper.
As I start to pull away, Eric cups the back of my head, our faces a breath apart. He grins. “I like you. I’m pretty sure I’m starting to like you a lot.”
My heart soars.
“I like you a lot too.”
He brushes his lips across mine. “Despite my obvious mating dance and charm that you’ve mentioned, I’m not a player.”
“No?” I bite my lower lip.
“No.” He pinches my nipple.
“Stop!” I giggle, trying to pull away.
“I don’t want you dating anyone else.”