Total pages in book: 68
Estimated words: 64683 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 323(@200wpm)___ 259(@250wpm)___ 216(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 64683 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 323(@200wpm)___ 259(@250wpm)___ 216(@300wpm)
Beautiful, Ethan found himself thinking again when his gaze briefly skimmed over Anah's slender frame. With her red-gold hair swept up in an elegant chignon, the pale column of her neck was fully exposed, and the sight had Ethan shoving his hands deep into his pockets. It was the safest thing to do, in light of his sudden inexplicable urge to yank off the tablecloth and wrap it around Anah's neck like a scarf. She was so fucking exposed, dammit.
Sarah cleared her throat. "Ethan?"
Ethan jerked, realizing too late that everyone was staring at him.
"I was saying I had a problem," Sarah said meaningfully. "A really huge problem."
Ethan glanced at Aidan. Was it just him...or did Sarah sound rather gleeful for someone supposedly troubled?
Aidan suppressed his smile and simply shrugged in response. You're on your own with this, man.
Sarah coughed again, and Ethan, realizing he was supposed to answer, asked obligingly, "Is it anything I can help you with?"
Sarah's face brightened. "There is, actually. You see, Damian promised Anah a dance, and her favorite song's playing now. But..." Sarah's face fell dramatically. "We can't seem to find Damian."
Damian, who had been about to come up behind his wife and wrap an arm around her waist, swiftly turned back upon hearing her words.
Ethan and Adrian started coughing at the sight of Damian's retreating back.
Anah's cheeks turned red. She had a feeling she knew exactly why the two brothers were coughing, and the thought had her trying one more time to get her wrist out of Sarah's hold. This was so seriously embarrassing!
Sarah, however, was undaunted even though she, too, had a suspicion of what had caused the pair's sudden coughing fit. "So what do you say, Ethan?" Sarah asked innocently. "Could you take my husband's place and dance with my friend?"
And that was how Anah ended up in Ethan's arms, her fingers gingerly curving over his shoulders while his hands claimed her waist in a firm hold that she almost wished she could think as possessive.
An acoustic version of Love Me Harder was playing in the background, and as the suggestive lyrics of the song infiltrated her mind, Anah's nervousness got the better of her. She started to trip over her own feet—-
"Careful."
Ethan's deep, velvety voice was rich with amusement as he caught her before she fell, and she stammered out an apology while determinedly fixing her gaze on his suit pocket.
Ethan's lips curved in a smirk when he saw where she was staring. "New decoy?"
Anah frowned. What new - oh! Her cheeks turned a deeper shade of red when she realized he still remembered her confession about using books as a decoy.
"I wish you'd be a little more forgetful."
Ethan laughed.
"And just to be clear—-"
"I know," Ethan cut her off dryly. "You didn't put her up to it."
"Oh."
"If you've known Sarah for as long as I do, you'd know that no one needs to put her up to anything. She gets into trouble all on her own."
"She isn't that bad," Anah protested, feeling the need to defend her friend.
"She is," Ethan retorted, "and her own husband would be the first to confirm this."
This time, Anah could no longer help laughing. Glancing up, she was about to ask him to share with her any of Sarah's past escapades when she caught sight of Ethan staring down at her broodingly. "Is something wrong?"
"You catch me staring at you," Ethan murmured, "and that's your first thought? That's something wrong?" He watched Anah do her best to keep herself from smiling...only to lose the battle a few moments later. It was an adorable sight. Too fucking adorable, actually, that it cut his heart into two.
And it was then he knew.
Things could not go on like this any longer.
DÉJÀ VU, Guilia couldn't help thinking when she came home to her apartment and saw Ethan lounging in her living room. The one time he had showed up unexpectedly at her place, she had ended up trying to kill herself. Tonight, though...who knew?
She crossed the room and managed to keep a smile over her lips even as her heart was slowly withering. She knew, without a doubt, that her worst fears were finally happening. Ethan had finally realized the truth, and she was almost tempted to ask him what it was that opened his yes. How did you find out that you no longer love me?
The thought had Guilia's knees wobbling a bit, but somehow she still managed to keep moving, and even her voice remained steady as she greeted him. "Ciao, caro. This is quite the surprise."
"I know." The velvety huskiness of his voice had Guilia's lips automatically curving with the kind of smile that she knew Ethan hated. He once told her she had a certain smile that made him feel she only thought of him as her personal slave, but she had only laughed his words off and told him he was imagining things.