Total pages in book: 99
Estimated words: 95951 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 480(@200wpm)___ 384(@250wpm)___ 320(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 95951 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 480(@200wpm)___ 384(@250wpm)___ 320(@300wpm)
“I can handle it,” she assures me. “And I’m your vault, bestie. You know I’ve got you.” She reaches over and squeezes my arm.
“We kissed.”
“I know that.”
“No, I mean we kissed again.” It feels off calling it a simple kiss because it was more like an avalanche of lust and desire rolling through my body. Her eyes widen, and I give her a quick rundown of what happened and what I proposed. It’s still hard for me to believe that I’m doing this. There is so much on the line.
“As long as we’re smart about it, for however long whatever this is lasts, it will be fine.” I’m not sure if the words are for her or me. I’m pretty sure I’m saying them for both of us.
“Two things: first, get it, girl.” She winks. “And the second, Corie, are you sure this is a good idea?”
“No. No, I’m not sure this is a good idea. What I do know is that I’ve never felt this way. I’ve never craved a touch, a kiss, or hell, just being in a man’s presence.”
“Do you think it’s just your crush from all those years ago?”
“At first, I did think that, but this is different, Sloane. I can’t explain it, but it is.”
“I’m worried you’re going to get your heart crushed. Not just, hey, this jackass cheated on me, and I’m mad about it, but broken into a million tiny pieces that you might not ever be able to put back together.”
I laugh humorlessly, “Oh, that’s going to happen,” I tell her. “He’s too magnetic. He’s too… everything.”
“You do realize you’re with most of the world’s dream guy, right?” She chuckles.
“Yeah, but they’ll never know it. He’s going to wise up and realize he wants more than his best friend’s little sister. I’m just along for the ride until he does.”
“You’re more than that,” Sloane says, her voice hard. “Stop letting what that jackass Conner did to you dictate how you see yourself. He was a loser you didn’t even care about. Not really. Sure, you liked the guy, but that’s as far as it went, unless there’s something you’re not telling me.”
“No. I mean, he was nice enough, and it was nice to have someone who was connected to all of this”—I wave my hands in the air at the house—“world. It was the idea of him that had me agreeing to date him, not the man himself. Although he’s an asshole, he is easy on the eyes.” I try to lighten the heaviness of the conversation. Besides, it’s true if you like the look of a GQ model.
“Sure, I’ll give him that, but that man has nothing on the five of them.” She nods toward the pool.
“Nope,” I agree. Sloane is right. Millions of women would give anything to be in our position at this very moment.
“Um, Reid, bud, you’re dripping all over me,” Sloane says with a laugh.
I turn to look, but a shadow falls over me, and then a drop of water. Looking up, I see a smiling Knox standing above me. “What are you doing, Beckett?” I ask.
He doesn’t answer. Sloane squeals with laughter, but I can’t look at her. I can’t tear my eyes away from Knox as he bends down and grips my hips, tossing me over his shoulder. Lifting my head, I see Reid racing off toward the pool, and he jumps in with Sloane in his arms.
I smack Knox’s ass, fighting him like I’m supposed to, but let’s be honest here, I don’t want him to put me down.
“Hold on, Corie girl,” he tells me before he launches into the pool with me still over his shoulder. He releases me when we hit the water, and we both come up sputtering. I swim after him. When I get close enough, I push on his shoulder, trying to dunk him, but it’s useless. He’s too strong.
However, the move has a better outcome than my revenge. Knox places his hands on my hips and pulls me close. I continue to try and dunk him, keeping up the ruse of being upset because I want his hands on me.
“Chicken!” Sloane calls out.
“You’re going down, Reynolds,” she taunts. “Grab a partner.”
I stop moving and look at Knox. “You don’t have to look,” he says quietly. “I’m the only man here allowed to put his hands on you.”
“Careful, Mr. Beckett, you sound a little possessive, maybe a little jealous,” I tease.
“Yes, and yes. Now, get on, beautiful.” He turns me in the water so my back is to his front. He moves in close, letting me feel his hard length against my backside. I push into him, and he groans softly in my ear. “On three,” he says huskily. He grips my hips, ready to help me onto his shoulders. “One, two, three,” he says as he dives underwater and helps me move to settle on his shoulders.