Total pages in book: 78
Estimated words: 77309 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 387(@200wpm)___ 309(@250wpm)___ 258(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 77309 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 387(@200wpm)___ 309(@250wpm)___ 258(@300wpm)
“No, we haven’t, I mean—” I force myself to stop stammering. “We haven’t slept together and never will.”
She gives me a bemused look. “You’re kidding, right?”
“No, absolutely not. Conlan is—”
“Gorgeous? Filthy freaking rich? Charming when he’s not being a total piece of crap?”
I rub my face. “Yes, he’s good-looking and rich, but I don’t find him charming at all. He’s selfish, immature, self-destructive, and generally a pain to be around for long periods of time.”
This conversation is beyond weird. I’m talking about Conlan, my current husband, with a girl he took home barely a couple days ago. That girl is also nineteen and basically our prisoner at the moment. And oh, yeah, I’m not sure if I’m still Conlan’s assistant or not, but I sure as heck am acting like one.
I absolutely hate this, but I can’t help myself.
If there’s a chance to find out more about Conlan, I have to take it.
He’s frustratingly closed-off, and it’s rare to see one of his fuck-buddies a second time.
“Well, whatever, I’m just saying, if you ever get a chance to have sex with him, I highly recommend it. This coming from a girl that’s had her fair share of partners.” She grins, stretching out. “Conlan’s top five. Hell, Conlan might be number one, if I’m being honest. That is some Grade-A, high-quality dick right there.”
I sit down at the end of the couch. “Please don’t talk about his dick.”
“Why? I’ll give you details. You want to hear it, don’t you?”
I rapidly shake my head. “Absolutely not.”
“He’s big. Really big. And thick. The tip—”
“Allison, I’m serious, stop describing his penis.”
She makes a face. “Penis. God, that’s such an ugly word. I sucked his penis. Gross.”
I lean toward her, heart racing. I don’t want to know this about Conlan, even if I sort of already did—he comes down in tight clothes all the time, and he’s not shy about his, uh, package. If a girl glances down and happens to see the outline of his massive dick against a pair of tight running shorts, is it really her fault?
“Con and I got married,” I blurt out just to make her stop giving me dick-deets.
Her jaw opens and her eyebrows shoot up. “No kidding?”
“Seriously.” I rub the bridge of my nose. “Okay, here’s the deal.” I give her a rundown of the plan we came up with. Marriage, muddying the waters, all of it. “You need to keep the story straight.”
“Nobody’s going to believe it,” she says with a laugh. “I mean, have you heard my reputation? It’s pretty bad.”
“Doesn’t matter. So long as the story has some uncertainty around it, that’ll be enough.”
“And I guess me staying here for an entire freaking month is a part of the plan?”
“Basically,” I say. “Your father thinks it would be best.”
“I’m sure he does.” Her face darkens, growing serious. “My father doesn’t know what I need. That man doesn’t care about anything but his own career.”
I hesitate, surprised by her sudden turn. “Does he do this sort of thing often? Lock you up in a hotel, I mean?”
“Not since I got old enough to stay the fuck away from him.” She stares down at her phone. “Whatever, it’s fine. This is a nice room, okay? Maybe I’ll stick around for a while.”
“He really needs you to behave. For a month, anyway.”
“Who? My father or Con?”
“Both.” I stand up, hesitate, then awkwardly pat her ankle. She doesn’t react and I feel like a moron. “Just try to hang in there, okay?”
“What’s your involvement in all this?” she asks before I can get out of there. “It’s obvious why Con’s playing along with my asshole Dad. But why you? Aren’t you just the assistant?”
“Money,” I admit. “It’s always money, right?”
“Usually, unless you have a lot of it. But that doesn’t really fill the hole.”
“Sure as hell helps,” I mutter, opening the door. “Just hang tight here for a while, okay? I’ll come back in a bit and we’ll figure out how we’ll get your wardrobe out here.”
“Maybe Con can just give me money to buy new stuff.”
I smile to myself. “Not a bad idea. Hang tight.” I leave, letting the door click shut, and turn toward the elevators.
A man’s standing nearby. I startle, yelping slightly.
“Sorry to scare you,” he says. “Hotel security.”
“Right.” I flash him a tight smile and hurry past.
He doesn’t look like hotel security. Tattoos, long beard, hard eyes, black jeans and a windbreaker. The guy looks more like a criminal waiting to mug people.
Conlan’s taking this seriously. He’s already got his guys watching over her, but I’m not sure that’s going to work. Allison’s not going to stay in that room for long—maybe a night or two at most before she gets antsy.
Then what? This whole situation is bizarre. I do not want to talk about Conlan with anyone, much less with a mouthy nineteen-year-old that knows what his penis looks like.