Total pages in book: 42
Estimated words: 40128 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 201(@200wpm)___ 161(@250wpm)___ 134(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 40128 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 201(@200wpm)___ 161(@250wpm)___ 134(@300wpm)
“I think you look beautiful. Downright sexy, as a matter of fact, birthday girl.”
I blush, dipping my head. “Thank you.”
He tips my chin, bringing my eyes up to look at him. “Don’t thank me. I’m the one blessed to look upon you.” He brings my hand to his lips and kisses it, causing my pussy to drool all over my panties like a foolish, pathetic little girl. Why does this man have his hooks in me so deep? Because I’ve loved him since I was a little girl, even before I knew what love really was.
Chapter Nine
Will
Funny how I avoided seeing her for months, but keeping my distance for a few hours had been torture. I’d been up since three in the morning, pacing throughout my apartment, trying to figure out what to say. How to make her see that I was in this for life and that no one would ever come between us.
“Um…Lanie. I don’t know where to begin.”
She tugs her hand from mine and huffs with that cute little sass that drives me wild. She stops in the middle of the sidewalk and crosses her arms under her ample breasts, pushing them upward. That thin top does nothing to hide how fucking hard her nipples are. “You can start with why you abandoned me for the past three weeks. I sent you a ‘congratulations’ and received a general thanks. Nothing else. All my messages were left unread.” Fuck…
“Babe, I don’t have the same phone anymore. Graduation morning, I accidentally ran it over. Due to security concerns, I didn’t save in a cloud, and my card in the phone was crushed. Because I was busy, I didn’t bother getting a new phone for three days. By then, you didn’t message me again.”
“Why would I have bothered?”
“I wanted to message you, but then I would have kidnapped you, tied you to my bed, and made love to you all night long.”
“You make it sound so terrible.”
He cups my elbow and pulls me into his arms, cupping my cheek. “Your father would have hunted me down. Besides, I promised my mother that I wouldn’t take advantage of you.”
“Is that what you were fighting about in the jewelry store?”
“Yes. She already had me make that promise and I’d broken it, so she was angry with me.”
“Oh.”
“It’s been difficult to keep my distance. I promise you that I’ve never touched another woman or given in to anyone’s flirtation or outright offers. I don’t know what you think you saw between Chrissy and me, but there was nothing going on.”
“I know. My father showed me the footage inside the salon.”
“Yeah, I forgot about that until your father called mine to tell us.”
“Yes, and I still want to punch her in the face for putting her hands on you and for even cutting your hair.”
“Normally Max does it, but I didn’t want you to see me looking like a bum, so I gave in. Maybe it’s time you learned to cut hair.”
“Maybe, I will,” she says, tilting her lips.
“Where do we go from here?” she asked.
“Well, I hope we start all over and begin with happily ever after.”
“I have a feeling we’re going to have lots of bumps in the road.”
“As long as you’re with me, I’ll do all I can to smooth out those bumps. So why have you been so busy? What have you been doing? I know nothing about you.”
I sigh because I have no secrets, but there’s a lot to tell. “I decided to get multiple degrees, and then I started taking over my father’s company little by little. I’m becoming vice president, and eventually I will be the president of the Riders. But for the past few weeks—or rather, months—my true occupation and focus has been this.” I stopped her in front of our house that I built.
“This is why you’ve been busy?” Her wonder and awe are captured in her voice and expression. Fuck, I’m so damn happy she loves it. I slide open the control panel and enter the code, opening the gate.
“Yes, doing this. Some things haven’t gone according to plan.” Her eyes widen and her lips twist. I take her hand and lead her through the gate, closing it behind us. As safe as I feel in Steeleville, we need our privacy.
“Am I going to fall through the floor?” she asks with a serious face before cracking a grin. The light in her eyes goes straight to my dick, but I have to hold it together so I decide to punish her for being a smart ass.
I pull her in close and my fingers clutch her waist, tickling her sides. “Oh my God, stop. Okay, okay. I quit. I’m sorry,” she giggles. Her laughing plea stops me as I hold on to her tightly, breathing in that perfection.