Total pages in book: 89
Estimated words: 90009 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 450(@200wpm)___ 360(@250wpm)___ 300(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 90009 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 450(@200wpm)___ 360(@250wpm)___ 300(@300wpm)
Waffles meows, and the moment dissolves. Lilah gives a light chuckle as she steps back with the kitten still cradled in her arms.
I’m nowhere near ready for this night to be over.
“Would you like a glass of wine?”
She smiles. “Sure.”
I shrug off my jacket and loosen my tie before popping open the top buttons of my dress shirt as I move toward the kitchen. Her attention stays on me as the silence stretches between us. I pour her a glass of wine and then grab a bourbon for myself before heading back to the living room. I find her tucked into the corner of the couch with Waffles pressed against her side.
After settling beside her, I pass her the wine.
“Did you have a good time tonight?” I ask, taking a sip of my drink.
She nods, a small smile tugging at her mouth. “Yeah, it was nice.” Then she rolls her eyes and her expression turns wry. “Zane, however, is a total jerk. I can’t believe he brought his new girlfriend over and introduced her to Callie like that.”
“Zane’s an asshole who never deserved her in the first place,” I say with a grunt.
Lilah’s head tilts, a grateful look crossing her face. “Thank you for saying that.”
I frown. “Why wouldn’t I? It’s the truth.”
With a shrug, she runs her fingers along the stem of her glass. “I don’t know. He’s your teammate. Bro code, I guess?”
I level her with a look, one that leaves her fidgeting beneath my steady gaze. “Come on, Lilah,” I say. “You know me better than that.”
“You’re right, I do. That’s not the way you operate.”
She sips her wine before rising and padding across the room toward the floor-to-ceiling windows.
Something shifts inside me as I watch her.
“This view has to be one of the best in the city,” she says, gazing out at the glittering skyline. “I never get tired of it.”
Unable to resist the lure of her, I set my glass down and cross the room to stand behind her. I’m close enough to feel the warmth of her body as the scent of her perfume dances in the air.
“You’re wrong,” I murmur. “The view’s got nothing on you standing there in that dress.”
“Thank you. You’re always so good to me.”
A comfortable silence settles between us as a faraway look enters her eyes.
It doesn’t take long before a frown mars her expression.
“Penny for your thoughts,” I say softly.
A weak laugh tumbles from her lips as she takes a sip of her wine like she’s trying to buy time.
My mouth curves into a grin as I catch the slight color that blooms in her cheeks. “Wait just a second. Are you actually blushing?”
She raises a hand to her face as it floods with more color.
“Okay, now you gotta tell me what you’re thinking about,” I say with a low laugh, nudging her gently.
She groans. “No, I can’t.”
That’s all it takes for my brows to rise.
In all the years I’ve known Lilah, she’s never shied away from talking to me. So whatever this is, it matters. And there’s no way in hell I’m walking away until I get to the bottom of it.
23
LILAH
Unsure how to respond, I take a deep gulp of my wine.
“Holy shit,” he says with even more amusement. “Does this conversation really call for liquid courage?”
“Maybe,” I mutter, lowering the glass. “This is so embarrassing. I don’t want to tell you, okay? Can we just drop it? Please?”
He shakes his head. “No way. Spill.”
I glance at the wine, watching the deep red swirl in the glass. “Ugh.” It takes several seconds to work up the nerve to speak again. “So, I told you I walked in on Devon and Marissa while they were…”
“Fucking,” he supplies, the humor in his voice vanishing like smoke.
I swallow hard and take another drink, finishing it off. “Yeah. That.”
The memory presses in, hot and sharp. “He had her bent over his desk and his hand was in her hair, gripping her ponytail. He slapped her ass a few times, all the while talking dirty.”
I finally dare a glance at him from beneath my lashes. His face gives nothing away, but the intensity in his eyes is palpable, as if he’s absorbing every single word.
“It felt like I was staring at someone I didn’t even recognize,” I whisper. “Like she was able to unlock a part of him that I couldn’t.” I glance down at my empty glass. “I need a refill.”
He takes it gently from my hand and sets it on the console table. “No, you don’t.”
The way he looks at me sends a jolt straight through my body. His gaze flickers to my mouth and then back to my eyes.
I blurt out the one thought I haven’t been able to make sense of. “He was never like that with me.”