Total pages in book: 36
Estimated words: 33572 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 168(@200wpm)___ 134(@250wpm)___ 112(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 33572 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 168(@200wpm)___ 134(@250wpm)___ 112(@300wpm)
“It’s hard walking in the sand in high heels,” I remark. But my cruel statement only gets a sob in reply. Immediately, guilt overwhelms me. “Goddammit, woman,” I growl, bending to help her up. “You drive me crazy, you know that?”
“Don’t touch me!” Posey hisses, standing up on her own while wobbling to the side.
“You’re going to get lost out here,” I point out, my mind and my heart at war within me. “And where the hell are you going anyways, in a bikini and high heels?”
Posey shrinks into herself, looking small and confused among the expansive landscape. I want to pull her to me, shield her from the world, but I can’t give in.
“I was going to hitch a ride back to the airport,” Posey states. Her tears have stopped but her tone is sad, broken.
“That’s not going to happen,” I inform her. She starts to protest but I hold up a hand to stop her. “Because there aren’t any visitors at Mirago. Sure, there are tourists at a resort called La Mirage down the way, but they aren’t allowed off the property. As a result, you’re not going to be able to hitchhike. Trust me.”
“I see.” Posey bites her bottom lip. “Well, maybe Kixson or Narax or someone can take me.”
I cock an eyebrow. “I’m not sure if you noticed, but everyone’s a little busy getting acquainted right now. They’re not leaving that den of sin.”
“I’ll wait,” Posey says in a flat tone. “They can’t have sex forever.”
“You’d be surprised,” I drawl. “There are a bunch of ravenous men in there. They’re excited to meet a new group of beautiful women, and let’s just say they’ll be occupied for a long time. But I don’t get it, Pose.”
“Get what?” she asks, suddenly sounding very tired.
“The last two weeks, you’ve been all about coming to Mirago, telling off your asshole of a boss, making a new life for yourself.”
“So?”
“So what’s changed?”
“You,” Posey answers simply.
“Me?” I lean back, stunned by the statement.
“I thought that…” she begins slowly. She shifts so that she can face me, her stare brave yet hesitant at once. “I thought that in New York, there might have been something between us. I don’t just mean sex, either.”
“Okay,” I drawl. “And?”
“And when we practiced for our interview, you were so patient and almost lighthearted with me. You seemed to always be picking me out of the group. But then after we hooked up…”
“I was a complete asshole to you,” I finish her thought aloud.
“Your words, not mine,” she says with a shrug, but I can see how deeply I’ve hurt her.
And why, Trek? I scold myself sharply. Why did you shut her out like that?
Of course, I know the answer. I’ve known that this was going to happen since the moment I met Posey. Hell, from the moment I saw her damn photo in that damn application.
I’m in love with her.
It doesn’t make sense, but then again, love doesn’t have to. Somehow, I’ve become infatuated with the sassy redhead, and I want to keep her all to myself. I don’t want to share her with my brothers, and I was grappling with the fact while ignoring her on the outside. But seeing how I’ve been hurting Posey, maybe it’s time to be honest about how I feel.
I stand up abruptly. Posey looks up, worry and sorrow crossing her beautiful face.
I reach for her hand and she lets me pull her to her feet. We stand face to face, each of us struggling with an internal battle that needs to be ended, here and now.
“I can’t let you leave the island,” I say in a soft voice, our foreheads almost touching now.
“You can’t force me to stay here,” she whispers back.
“I’m not forcing you, but I am going to give you a choice.”
Her eyebrows shoot up. “What choice is that?”
“Stay on Mirago, just for the six-months that you’ve agreed to stay. Get your payout, so that you can have some financial freedom and independence afterward.”
“I can’t—” Posey begins again, but I startle her into silence her by placing my hand against her heart.
“And be mine. Only mine,” I finish my proposition.
For a few moments, my offer hangs in the air, the words surrounding us like the salty sea. Posey searches my face, her eyes darting back and forth as she looks for some catch to the suggestion.
“But why?” she asks softly. “Why are you offering this to me?”
I bring her hand to my heart and rest it there.
“Because I don’t want you to leave,” I begin slowly. “Because I will never let any of the other men here touch you. And because I’m in love with you.”
The redhead’s eyes grow soft, but then they harden again.
“Yes, but do your rules run both ways? I won’t be sleeping with the other men, but will you be sleeping with the other women?”