Total pages in book: 85
Estimated words: 83786 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 419(@200wpm)___ 335(@250wpm)___ 279(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 83786 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 419(@200wpm)___ 335(@250wpm)___ 279(@300wpm)
“Don’t talk logic to me, Bas,” she scolded playfully. “I’m trying to brood with you.”
“Fuck, sorry.” I lifted my hands in surrender and felt a little jolt as she giggled.
“Bas,” she said, drawing my name out. “Where the hell did that come from? Do you like to fish or something?”
“What?” I asked, confused by the change of subject.
“Bass? Like the fish?”
I let out a bark of surprised laughter, nearly choking.
“What?” she asked innocently. “It’s a valid question!”
“It’s short for Sebastian,” I replied with a wheeze.
“Oh.” Her mouth snapped shut.
“Do I like to fish?” I repeated, still snickering.
“Everyone has nicknames,” she shot back, her eyes wide. “How the hell would I know?”
I couldn’t stop laughing. The question was so out of left field.
Then Harper let out a little snicker that quickly turned into her whole body shaking with laughter.
“Knock it off!” she ordered, still laughing. “It was a valid question!”
I just laughed harder. Jesus, she was so unexpected.
With a huff, she rose from the couch and stood in front of me, her hands on her hips.
“Quit it!” Her voice was filled with exasperation, but her expression was anything but annoyed. “Oh my god. I’m out here telling you my secrets, and you’re laughing. Go back to your brooding, I’m going inside.”
Before she could turn away, I reached out to grab her hips to keep her in place.
“That’s not fair,” I replied, controlling my mirth. “I didn’t laugh at your secret. Wait, what was your secret?”
“That I got fired!”
“Why’s that a secret?” I asked curiously. “No, never mind. We’ll get to that later. I wasn’t laughing at that. I was laughing because you asked me if I liked to fish.”
“Everyone calls you Bas!”
“Yes, they do.” I rolled my lips in between my teeth to stop my smile.
“Like a fish. A bass fish.”
“You gotta stop trying to explain it,” I said hoarsely, barely keeping it together.
“It’s not that funny!”
“Baby, it’s fucking hilarious.”
We both froze.
I was a man who used endearments. I called women sweetheart, doll, beautiful, gorgeous. Not all women—but the ones I was close to. I didn’t even really think about it. I’d picked up the habit when I was a funky-looking teenager, and I’d just never stopped.
Harper had to have known that. It wasn’t a secret.
But there was no way in hell I could play off calling her baby.
I became hyperaware of the round hips under my palms, the little hollow that my thumbs rested in, and where my fingertips were brushing the globes of her ass.
I swallowed hard, trying to find my way out of the hole I’d just fallen into when Harper’s hand left her hip and came forward, her fingers dragging through the hair above my forehead.
Oh, shit. Were we doing this?
She paused, her eyes darting down to mine.
Then both her hands were in my hair, and I was dragging her closer. She stepped in between my knees and tilted my head back, her fingers drifting over the rings in my ears and then down my jaw.
Fuck, she smelled good. Like flowers and something darker. Feminine and warm.
Slipping my hands under her sweater, I ran my thumbs over the smooth skin above the waistband of her jeans. She shuddered.
Her fingertips trailed over my chin and traced my lips before finding the ring in my septum. She gave it the smallest flick and then smoothed up the bridge of my nose.
It was as if everything around us was fucking gone. The only things I could focus on were those small points of contact. Her warm skin under my fingertips and her hands on my face. The tension grew to an unbearable point, and I wasn’t even sure if I was breathing.
I’d been with plenty of women and had good experiences with most of them, but I’d never in my life felt that kind of chemistry. We were barely fucking touching, and I was hard as a rock already.
Widening my fingers, I brushed them upward, and my dick twitched when my thumb found a small barbell in her belly button. It was so fucking unexpected on this woman who described herself as nerdy and was wearing a sweater she’d dug out of some old lady’s closet.
With a groan, I jerked her forward as I lifted the sweater, finding that little ring with my mouth.
“Fuck,” she breathed above me.
Then she was climbing into my lap, and I lifted my head as she settled in, straddling my thighs.
“Come here,” I ordered, sliding my hands into that thick-as-fuck hair.
When her lips found mine, her hair falling down around my face and neck, I had to consciously keep my hands gentle. She tasted like fucking candy, and she used her mouth like it was her goddamn job. Harper White knew how to kiss, and she knew exactly how she wanted it. There was no hesitation in her hold as she cupped my face in her hands, changing the angle as she licked into my mouth.