Total pages in book: 111
Estimated words: 107453 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 537(@200wpm)___ 430(@250wpm)___ 358(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 107453 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 537(@200wpm)___ 430(@250wpm)___ 358(@300wpm)
What do we do, I mouth to Dev. He’s way better with this emotional stuff than I am.
But Dev is at her service in no time, striding past her toward the bed. “I’ll just get rid of those bad boys right now,” he says.
Aubrey lifts her face, shakes her head. “No, that’s not it.”
He stops as she spins around and flaps a hand to the living room. We passed through it to reach the bedroom, but now she’s turned back and is pointing to the coffee table across from a couch. A bucket of ice sits on the table, a bottle of champagne peeking out. Two flutes are next to it on the table. “It’s just…”
Maybe that champagne is getting to her? Hell if I know.
She cuts a path to the bottle and picks up a white envelope leaning against the bucket. Sliding a pink manicured fingernail under the flap, she opens it, reads, then bursts into big, rich peals of laughter, like she did on the grassy hill outside 7-Eleven yesterday.
I don’t get it.
Dev shrugs, seeming equally perplexed. When Aubrey looks up from the card, a smile has tipped her glossy lips. She must have reapplied her lip gloss in the car. Her mouth is shiny and entirely too kissable, especially when she laughs like that, all carefree.
Before she lets us in on the joke, though, she heads to the hotel phone next to the couch and stabs a button. In a few seconds, she says, “Yes, I’m curious if this champagne is complimentary.”
She’s quiet, but her grin grows wider. Wilder too. “Thank you.”
After she hangs up, she clears her throat and reads the card. “Surprise! Just a little something extra from your groom. Because you deserve it, my beautiful bride,” she says, then meets our eyes with glee in hers. Like it’s a graduation cap, she tosses the card high in the air. Her brown eyes twinkle with wicked delight as she grabs the neck of the bottle, tugs it out of the bucket, and waggles it in a way that’s far too sexy. But she is holding a phallic object, so it’s not unreasonable for me to think dirty thoughts. “Champagne’s on Aiden tonight, boys!”
“I’ll drink to that,” Dev says.
“Such a shame he remembered to book his super-saver fare but forgot to cancel the Cristal he paid for.” I shake my head in mock sympathy.
“Karma’s a bitch.” She sings out the last word like it has ten syllables and heads toward the en-suite bathroom. She freezes in the doorway, though, turning into a statue of a woman, all long, lush red hair curling down her back, leading to a fantastic ass.
Wow. Just look at that backside.
That black skirt is doing illegal things to her body, hugging her nice and tight. But I really shouldn’t think about her curves, especially after last night, especially after Dev and I made a gentleman’s pact to give her the honeymoon she deserves.
Yet I can’t look away. Call it the curse of an ass man. I want to bend her over the bed and spank that fine flesh, to hear her yelp, then moan in pleasure, then beg for more.
After a few seconds in the bathroom entrance, Aubrey unfreezes, glancing over her shoulder, and…fuck my dirty fantasies. She’s even prettier like that, lips parted, something sly and clever flickering in those irises. “The tub is big. Hope you brought your bathing suits like I told you to.”
She heads into the bathroom, and I’ve got no choice but to follow her.
“Holy shit,” I say once I turn into the spacious room.
It’s not a bath.
It’s a hot tub set into the corner of a giant bathroom, with a big marble step heading up to it. From the tub, you can enjoy a view of the water and the emerald trees below.
But I’m not thinking about that view.
I’m thinking about the future view of her in the tub. And whether I’ll be stupid enough to get in it with her.
Chances are, I probably will.
When I catch Dev’s gaze, he’s staring at her like he’s picturing the same damn scene.
This is going to be the hardest honeymoon in history.
18
THE DAILY DOSE OF GOOD
Dev
I’m not disciplined for nothing.
The way I see it, all my training in the weight room, on the ice, and at the dinner table when I resist carbs will come in handy tonight.
I can resist the woman I want just like I can resist bread.
I’ll have to be my own goalie, saving me from me.
The key will be routine. First, we’ll grab some food, and as we eat, I’ll make sure we chitchat about anything else in the world besides sex, beds, and romance.
Starting now.
On the walk to the restaurant, Ledger waggles his phone and tells us he needs to return a call to his dad, so he ambles ahead, and we give him some space. I reach into my grab bag of fun facts and turn to the woman by my side. “Did you know there’s a prehistoric bird once thought to be extinct that’s now roaming through the wilds of New Zealand again?”