Total pages in book: 26
Estimated words: 23860 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 119(@200wpm)___ 95(@250wpm)___ 80(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 23860 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 119(@200wpm)___ 95(@250wpm)___ 80(@300wpm)
I do the same, kissing him back and tasting his tongue until my fingers grip his shirt and pull him closer.
My whole body lights up, and it doesn’t matter that I barely know this man. He stirs things so deep inside me I didn’t know they were there, and I never want it to stop.
“Is there something I can help you find?” I hear someone ask and then watch as the man taps Phillip on the shoulder.
Phillip pulls back from the kiss, and he’s irritated that we’ve been interrupted. Instead of waiting on Phillip to bite the store associate’s head off, I perk up.
“Romance,” I say to the man, smiling brightly.
Taking a glance at Phillip, I see he’s less than thrilled to stop kissing me, and I have to hide my smile. My “husband” is a powerful man. He doesn’t have to say that for everyone to know it, so it’s best to avoid a scene.
“Sorry.” The man becomes flustered as he looks between us. “That way.” He points, and I peek at Phillip again to see him giving the man a look that could kill.
“Come on,” I say and grab Phillip’s hand to pull him along. He doesn’t protest, and when we’re out of earshot of anyone else, I whisper to him, “Are you okay?”
“I’m fine.” His fingers tighten with mine so that I can’t get away from his hold.
As much as I’ve enjoyed his sweetness, these darker moments speak to me too. There’s something about it that feels safe, but maybe I’m crazy. My mother tried to tell me there was something wrong with me because of my outbursts.
“Are you sure?” I ask again when we make it between two long bookcases, giving us a little bit of privacy.
“I don’t like to be touched,” he blurts out and then sighs heavily.
“Oh.” His words shock me.
That isn’t the Phillip I know at all. I try to pull my hand away from his, not wanting to upset him. Yikes. Did I push myself on him? Have I been reading him wrong all along? Probably. What do I know about reading people anyway? I could be as crazy as my mother.
“Not your touch. I’m talking about the woman from before.”
“Is that why you used me as a human shield?” I tease. When I heard her call out to him and saw how beautiful she was, I was jealous. Even though I had no right to be.
“Yes, and I didn’t want you to get the wrong idea.” There’s sweet Phillip again.
“Did you really not remember her name?” Was it so easy for him to forget people?
“It might make me an asshole, but I meet a lot of people.”
“She seemed to think she was more than that.”
“When you have money, that tends to happen.” I stare up at him as a knot forms in my stomach.
I didn’t know he had money at first, but I guess he could say that I’ve done that to him. Guilt starts to fill me. There’s no way to fix this right now, so I decide to do us both a favor and change the subject.
“Why don’t we find something to read?” I turn my attention to one of the bookshelves as Phillip keeps a hold of my hand.
Why is my touch so different to him? I’m not really his wife and he doesn’t know me.
“Audrey—” It feels like there’s something more that’s going to come after he says my name, but his phone starts to ring and interrupts him.
When Phillip releases my hand to take his phone out, I move down the aisle of books. I manage to watch him out of the corner of my eye, and when I see him clear the call, it makes me curious. Then it starts to ring again, and he lets out a curse under his breath before answering it.
“What?” he snaps into the phone.
That’s when I can’t help but wonder which side of Phillip is the real one.
Chapter Ten
PHILLIP
“I’m sorry to interrupt you, Mr. Howard, but this is important,” David says, and I glance over at Audrey.
“Talk,” I tell him as I watch Audrey move down the aisle. She’s pretending to look at books, but she’s got her eyes on me.
At first when I saw the number flash across my screen, I assumed it was the normal weekly report from my head of security. If I’m busy or don’t answer his call, I send it voicemail and he knows I’ll return the call when I have time.
As someone who formerly worked for the mafia and still has ties to some of the heads of houses, I can’t be too careful. David is in charge of all of my security, and it’s his job to watch my back. If there’s trouble, he’s the man that sees it coming my way, so the fact that he’s calling me twice isn’t good.