Total pages in book: 81
Estimated words: 78085 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 390(@200wpm)___ 312(@250wpm)___ 260(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 78085 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 390(@200wpm)___ 312(@250wpm)___ 260(@300wpm)
I quickly wiped my tears away. “What did you hear?” I asked.
Brax said nothing as Beth looked from him to me.
“What did you hear?!” I shouted.
“The only thing we heard was Mr. Tilson saying you were in love with…” Beth’s voice trailed off, and all I wanted was for the floor to open up and swallow me whole.
“I’ll leave so you can speak with my father,” I said, rushing out of the office.
“Harlee!” Brax called after me. “Wait, Harlee!”
I made it to my office and shut the door. I locked the knob, then pressed my back to the door and brought my hand up to stifle the sobs struggling to break free.
I heard a soft knock, then Brax’s voice coming from the other side of the door. “Harlee, let me in. Please.”
“Go away, Brax,” I called out. “If you care anything about me at all…please leave me alone. Please.”
I heard him exhale before he said, “Don’t push me away, Harlee. Please let me in.”
Tears streamed down my face as I turned and pressed my forehead to the door. Everything in me wanted to let him in. Well, almost everything. That stubborn part of my heart that was still hurt from his last rejection kept me from reaching for the lock.
Right when I thought he might have left, he spoke again. His voice was low and close to the door. “I know the truth, Harlee. I know you’re Ms. Seaside. I’ve known it for months.”
Stepping back away from the door, I pressed my hand to my stomach and fought the urge to throw up.
“Open the door, Harlee, so we can talk.”
I quickly looked around my office. “Damn it,” I mumbled. I only had one way in and one way out. Rushing over to the window, I looked down. Not even I was desperate enough to scale down three stories.
I spun around when Brax knocked on the door again and then rushed back over to it.
“You’re going to have to leave at some point,” he said. “I’ll wait here for as long as I need to.”
“Shit!” I finally unlocked the door and opened it.
Brax pushed his way in, shut the door, and relocked it behind him.
I backed up a few paces and twisted my hands together nervously. “What do you think you know?” I asked, ignoring the way my heartbeat pounded in my ears.
He walked closer until he was right in front of me. I tilted my head up to look at him and held my breath. When he framed my face with his warm hands, I wasn’t sure if I should panic or melt against him.
“I know you’re Ms. Seaside. And now I’m going to do the one thing I’ve wanted to do for a long while now.”
A rush of panic swept over me. The moment I had pretended would never happen, the moment I dreaded would happen, was about to rock me to the core. I was going to lose Braxton forever. I deserved it though, that much I knew.
I swallowed hard and then asked in a barely there voice, “Break my neck?”
He chuckled and slowly shook his head…before he leaned down and pressed his lips to mine.
The kiss was soft and sweet, and I instantly melted into him. It didn’t take long for things to turn heated as he deepened his kiss.
“Brax,” I gasped, pulling my mouth from his. “We really need to talk.”
He brought his hand up behind my neck, drawing my mouth back to his. “We can talk later. Right now, I need to be inside you, Harlee.”
My knees nearly buckled out from under me as I grabbed onto him. What did he say?
“But…you know who I am, and you still…”
He nodded. “More than ever.”
All I could do was nod back and whisper, “Okay.”
He snickered and quickly swept me up into his arms and carried me over to my desk.
“Anything important on here?” he asked, holding me like I weighed nothing.
“No. Um, I mean, maybe. But I—”
His large hand swept everything off my desk, and I was thanking the stars above I had the one office at the end of the building, away from everyone else. No one would hear the clatter of everything falling to the floor…or what was about to happen.
Setting me on my feet, Brax took his coat off and tossed it to the floor as I worked on getting his jeans unbuttoned.
My hands shook so badly, I wasn’t able to unbutton his jeans.
He took my hands in his and pulled them behind my back, giving me a sexy grin. “Let me do it.”
I nodded.
Taking a step back, Brax worked on my jeans first, unbuttoning and pulling them down, along with my panties. He knelt and pulled my shoes off one at a time, then divested me of my pants. I stood in my office with the lower part of my body completely naked. A shiver ran up my back, but not from being cold. It was the way he looked up at me, that wicked gleam in his eyes as he stood, lifted me, and set me on the desk. He unbuttoned his own jeans, but didn’t pull them down.