Total pages in book: 84
Estimated words: 79155 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 396(@200wpm)___ 317(@250wpm)___ 264(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 79155 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 396(@200wpm)___ 317(@250wpm)___ 264(@300wpm)
It was as if somewhere in the last five or so years, I’d just decided that I wasn’t as desirable anymore. That my “fun years” were over. That I’d never get back that youthful passion and energy, and I’d just be content to live a life growing older and counting small pleasures where I could.
Kace had come into my life and thrown a damn cherry bomb right into all of that.
I closed my eyes, still trying to center myself. I didn’t know when my eyes closed, and when I fell asleep, it was deep and peaceful. Comfortable. Like I was finally in the right place.
Or at least a place that was right for me.
12
KACE
Knock knock knock knock.
“Kace. You in there?”
My body was heavy with sleep, like I was under a weighted blanket and very desperately didn’t want to move.
I let out a quiet hum before falling back asleep again.
Knock knock knock. “Kace?”
I slowly opened my eyes and realized that it wasn’t a weighted blanket at all—it was Nathan’s arm wrapped around me in bed, and he was snoozing away.
“Fuck,” I muttered when I realized what must be happening. “Vivienne?” I called out.
My assistant was outside my bedroom door, knocking because she’d walked in on me nude one too many times in the past.
As I spoke, Nathan finally started to wake up. First he tried to pull me closer, sucking in a breath of air and then sighing happily.
He must have been having some sort of good dream.
I heard Vivienne outside the door. “Just checking to see if you’re up,” she said. “The construction guys are out front. I just let them in.”
“Hey,” I told Nathan, shaking him awake. “Your dudes are here.”
Nathan groaned a little before his eyes opened. “My dudes?” he asked, clearly still confused and sleepy.
“God, your eyes look pretty when you’re sleepy,” I told him. The morning sunlight was streaming through my bedroom windows, illuminating his eyes to reveal flecks of gold and green.
“Kace?” he repeated. Then he bolted up in bed, looking around. “Oh, fuck. Oh, fuck, fuck, fuck.”
“You’re fine, cutie. Chill.”
“This is not chill,” he said, getting out of bed. “I’m still naked. My clothes aren’t even in here. My team is outside already? How did we fall asleep?”
Nathan had gone to full freakout mode in about ten seconds flat. All I wanted to do was stare at his body before dragging him right back into the warm bed with me, but I knew how he was feeling right now.
“Okay. Don’t panic. We can do this,” I said, hopping out of bed and padding over to the door that led into my closet. “All we need to do is find some clothes I have that look like something you would wear. Come here.”
I opened the door and headed into the closet, turning on the lights.
“Jesus Christ,” Nathan said. “This isn’t a closet, this is like a small clothing store that just happens to be attached to your room. Your closet has windows in it.”
“It’s pretty dope, huh?” I said, seeing the closet through new eyes now that Nathan was here. When I’d first moved in, I couldn’t believe that I had a room-sized closet, complete with rows and rows of built-in shelves, drawers, and racks. There were floor-to-ceiling glass windows between some of the built-ins, just like every room of my house had windows. I’d been here long enough that the closet had started to feel normal to me, but Nathan’s reaction had shocked me back into reality. It really was lavish.
It was nice having him in the private areas of my home. Places where even my hookups usually never came. It didn’t feel like having a stranger with me—for some reason, I already felt comfortable taking Nathan anywhere, like I’d be down to have him anywhere I’d go.
I headed over to the section where I kept T-shirts. “Okay, here. A simple, plain white T-shirt. You’d wear one of those, right?”
“Yes,” he said, taking it from me.
“I can’t say I own any flannel, but what about… this?” I rummaged through the rack until I found a sportcoat. “I had to wear this to a meeting about a year ago.”
Nathan scratched the back of his neck, his expression twisting into a tortured look. “I definitely don’t wear sportcoats to construction sites. The white shirt will be enough. I just need pants. And… um, boxers, I guess.”
“What about a kiss?”
Nathan looked dumbfounded. “Huh?”
I took a step closer to him, skating my fingertips along the soft, downy hair on his chest. “Do you need a kiss?” I asked, dropping my voice a little lower and bringing my face close to his.
I leaned in, gently pressing my lips to his. He was still frozen in place, stiff, like he couldn’t fold this moment into his concept of reality. I kissed from his lips over to his jaw, moving along the soft stubble there.