Total pages in book: 85
Estimated words: 81208 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 406(@200wpm)___ 325(@250wpm)___ 271(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 81208 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 406(@200wpm)___ 325(@250wpm)___ 271(@300wpm)
I take a step back and find myself pressed against the length of Robert’s hard body. His scent envelops me, taking me back to the room of my fantasies, overwhelming my senses. Everything about him unravels me.
Rosie looks between us, her brows rising. Has she noticed how calm I am in his presence? Can she see what I feel? Settled. Safe. Anchored. Seen. All of this is crazy. It isn’t possible for a person’s body to know another’s the way mine knows Robert’s.
Except it feels real, as though I’ve slotted myself into place just by being in physical contact with him. He rests his big hand on my hip, hot as a brand, steadying as a weighted blanket.
“It’s time to move on,” he says to Mark and his hangers-on. It’s delivered without aggression, but his meaning is brutally obvious. If you don’t move on, I’ll make you. My panties are suddenly shamelessly wet.
I wonder if he’d say things like that in the bedroom. ‘It’s time to spread your legs, Goldie.’ ‘It’s time to show me your pretty pussy.’ ‘It’s time to take my cock out.’ ‘It’s time to fuck the cum out of me.’
Oh, man.
He must have some seriously potent pheromones because I’m losing my ever-loving mind. I turn and crane my head to look at him, finding his expression fierce and devastatingly handsome. I swoon a little as his hand tightens on my flesh, but his gaze never wavers from the men in front of us. He grits his jaw so tightly his beard ticks.
Mark mutters something under his breath, but his friend, who seems a little more sober, directs him away. Out of the corner of my eye, I spot Evan and Hunter on the other side of the dance floor, but I avoid more than a cursory glance. Even just scanning over them and sensing them in my periphery sends a jolt of heat and unease through me.
“Thanks,” I say, expecting Robert to let me go. His fingers flex, but instead of releasing me, he rests his other hand on my waist and lowers his lips to my ear.
“It’s time to go home, Goldie.”
I shudder just from the sound of his voice and the heat of his breath against my skin. I close my eyes, breathing him in, letting his proximity settle around me. My synapses fire like fireflies at midnight. I’d be putty in his hands.
I’ll never have a chance to find out the extent of his dominance and control, though.
“Yeah,” I whisper. My voice is lost in the music, but he hears me and straightens, releasing his hold.
“I’ll walk you out.” His hand on my elbow is electric, and I move, compelled.
Rosie follows, staring at me with wide, disbelieving eyes. Outside, Robert puts his phone to his ear. “Yes. The Blue Lounge.” He returns his phone to his pocket. “The cab will be here in five minutes.”
“You didn’t need to do that,” I say.
“How did you know we needed a cab?” Rosie asks.
“Sorry, Rosie, this is Robert. Robert, Rosie.” I wave between them.
“Two drinks at the bar.” Robert’s hands find their way into his pockets, and he widens his stance, blocking the wind from hitting us.
Silence hangs between us as Rosie presses her hand to her chest.
“It’s still bad,” I say. “I wonder what it was.”
“Who knows? I should carry antihistamines around with me. These reactions are getting more and more frequent.”
“Mushrooms,” Robert says.
“What?” Rosie and I both say in unison.
“You ate mushrooms?”
“Yeah. In the steak sauce,” Rosie says slowly. “How did you know?”
Robert shrugs. “It’s a common reaction. Best avoid them.”
As if it’s been conjured from thin air, the cab pulls up beside us. Robert opens the door, and Rosie slides in, staring at him like he’s grown a second head. I’m frozen to the spot, not sure how to say goodbye to a man whom I feel deeply connected to but barely know. “So—”
“So.” He smiles, and it’s like the sun streaming through gray clouds after the gloom of a storm. “Sleep well, Goldie.”
Getting into the cab feels like working against the pull of a magnet. I can’t stop looking at Robert as the cab pulls away. It’s not until we’re ten feet away that Evan and Hunter appear behind him. They’re distant figures when their eyes flash golden in the night, taking my breath away. It’s a relief that Rosie’s looking at the road ahead.
“What the hell was that?” She takes my hand. “You’re shaking.”
“I have absolutely no idea.”
“Whatever it is between you, it’s powerful. I told you. I have a feeling.”
“Me, too,” I say. “But I have no idea what the feeling is.”
5
GOLDIE
My store is at the end of Braysville’s Main Street. It’s a small place, not much wider than the width of a door with a narrow window where I display my locks. Inside is a treasure trove of locks, keys, door handles, and padlocks. I even have a key-cutting machine.