Total pages in book: 36
Estimated words: 34098 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 170(@200wpm)___ 136(@250wpm)___ 114(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 34098 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 170(@200wpm)___ 136(@250wpm)___ 114(@300wpm)
She closed the distance between them.
“You ended up on the streets at a young age, fighting for your place in the world. Fighting to survive and exist. You’re a strong man, Mason. I can imagine it didn’t take you long to build a reputation for yourself. You’ve never hurt me. Do you think I didn’t notice the sudden men around the library? You’ve got that guy who brought me here to you, he seems to like hanging out in the science fiction section of the library, and he stands in that aisle all day. Only leaving when another guy takes over long enough for him to have a toilet break. Yeah, I saw all of that.”
“I’ve got a lot of enemies.”
“I guessed.”
“I don’t want this life to touch you.”
She nodded her head. “And your life does scare me a lot, but I know that I love you. I know there’s no one else in this world that I want.” She took his hand and slowly placed it over her head. “You sent men to protect me. You took me out dancing. You make me laugh, and want to sing, and just live. This has been one of the most amazing feelings, and I wouldn’t change it for the world.” She pressed her hands against his chest, lifted on her tiptoes, and gently pressed a kiss to his cheek.
Mason sunk his fingers into her hair and pulled her in close.
“Do you think after you’ve just admitted who I was, that you still love me, and I know I’m going to cherish you for the rest of my life, a simple peck on the cheek is enough?”
Holly giggled. “This is supposed to be my romantic gesture to you.”
“I wanted to tell you,” he said. “I knew William would do it the first chance he got, but I wanted to be the one to tell you who I was.”
“I already knew. Trust me, Mason. Please, I’m not like those other people in your life.” She cupped his face and stared into his dark brown eyes. She couldn’t imagine the life he’d lived. Everything that had led him to become the man he is. She had no regrets over who he was. She loved him so completely. “I love you. I want to spend the rest of my life with you, grow old with you. Have kids. I want to make memories with you.”
He slammed his lips down on hers, and Holly melted against him. This was what she wanted more than anything. She loved him so much.
Feeling his lips touch hers, it sent pleasure rushing through her body, and she couldn’t get enough of him.
“I fucking love you,” he said.
“Good. Don’t ever cheat on me, Mason, because if you do, I will cut your balls off.”
“Why my balls?” Mason asked.
“Because I love you. I didn’t love William, and any woman you touch, I’ll hurt.” Holly didn’t know if she would be able to do that, but the very thought of him touching another woman filled her with so much rage, she couldn’t even think straight. There was no way she would allow a woman to touch what was hers.
Mason had chosen her. She loved him. And she was never going to let him go. She didn’t care what William had told her, or tried to tell her. Holly had tried to reason with herself that Mason wasn’t a good guy, but she liked him, and those feelings hadn’t changed. He was a bad person but there was more to him than that. Mason had only been good to her.
“How about I try and put a child inside you right now?” he asked.
“I’ve got nowhere else to be.” She’d call the library, deal with her job then, but for now, she needed to feel Mason inside her more than anything else.
Epilogue
Five Years Later
It was their anniversary. Not their wedding anniversary, as that was Christmas Day. Holly had wanted to get married in the winter, surrounded by snow. Luck hadn’t quite been on their side, and the only date available to the two of them was Christmas Day.
Their anniversary was shared with their three children on Christmas Day. They completely exhausted their kids throughout the day with new toys, and playing. At night, he always got his wife to himself.
Staring across the dance floor, he waited. He already had Michael ready to time the song to begin when she entered.
Five years ago, this very night, his life had changed. Mason had been bored. Life had sucked big time and he’d been going through the motions all the freaking time. His life had been one big cycle of shit. He hated it.
Then that night, his woman, the person he’d been waiting for, had walked in, complete in one of the sexiest red dresses he’d ever seen, and she danced to a song. She hadn’t cared who watched or saw her. He watched, he saw, and she’d been completely hypnotizing. Holly. His wife. The mother of his three children. The love of his life.