Total pages in book: 62
Estimated words: 59983 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 300(@200wpm)___ 240(@250wpm)___ 200(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 59983 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 300(@200wpm)___ 240(@250wpm)___ 200(@300wpm)
He doesn’t get the hint, escalating to knocking on the door. Loudly.
“Want me to call the cops or something?” Rob offers.
“No.” Reading the look on his face, I realize Roman won’t give up so easily, so I set the rag on the counter beside the sink and go to the door. I unlock it but leave the chain attached. Through the two-inch gap, I raise my brows.
“You’re not going to let me in?” he demands.
“No. The bakery is closed.”
He narrows his eyes. “You do remember that you owe me money, right?”
I grit my teeth. “The loan is being paid per the terms set forth.”
“Look, I just want to talk.”
I shrug one shoulder. “Then talk.”
“Can’t I come in?”
“You have three seconds to make your point.”
“Fine.” He growls slightly, obviously annoyed I’m not letting him get his way. “I wanted to let you know that you’re still on for our previous commitments.”
What. The. Hell?
At my blank face, he smiles. “Oh, did you forget?”
“That I left you after you cheated on me? No. I haven’t forgotten that at all. That also means any commitment between us is over.” I wonder how many times he’ll need to hear it to get it in his head. I won’t be a backup for him to come to when things fall apart. I won’t be anything for him.
“You’re still listed as my plus-one to the Grayson Ball,” he replies, too smugly for my liking.
I roll my eyes. “I don’t care where my name is listed.” A fundraiser gala is the least of my concerns. “Take Maeve.”
“Your name is the one I provided on the RSVP months ago,” he argues.
“I don’t care.” Just to clarify, I clear my throat and look him dead in the eye. “I am not going to anything with you, ever again. Get lost, and stay out of my life.”
I close the door and lock everything back up.
He doesn’t bang his fists on the window or shout as I turn, but I feel the burn of his pissy stare on my back as I walk away. The urge to laugh hits me, but I catch myself before I show that much. As far as I can tell, I don’t need to deal with him for the loan. Markus is the middleman.
Roman’s visit stirs all my memories of Anton, though, and I hate how much he clogs up my thoughts. Later, after I close up, I’m distracted as I walk from the bakery, recalling how he looked when he ran after me on the sidewalk. I’m so lost in thoughts of Anton on the way to Jenni’s apartment that I don’t pay attention to my surroundings—and then he shows up in the flesh.
He rounds the corner of the alley I head down, and when I bring my gaze up and see him, I sigh heavily.
“Not stalking me, huh?” I call out.
“This time,” he says, holding up his hands as he approaches me, “guilty as charged.”
I stop, leaning against the brick wall of a building. Unlike when Roman showed up earlier, I’m not as intimidated to face off with his father. A teeny part of me is eager to just tell him the truth, that I’m having his child and there’s nothing he can do about it. It would be the “right” thing to do. The possessive and predatory glint in his eyes as he steps up close and cages me in against the wall convinces me otherwise.
He’s too in control.
Too commanding.
If he were to know about this baby, he’d try to dictate what should happen.
I don’t run, though, curious now. He’s had me followed, and while that’s an intrusion into my life, it’s remote. Almost as if he’s fine with letting me know he’s watching me because he can.
“And what do you want this time?” I ask, hating how easily this proximity to his hard, hot body can mess with me. I’m not wishing for a door between us like I did with Roman. I’m caught up in a stupid wish that he was wearing fewer layers than the suit that fits him so perfectly.
“This time?” He rakes his greedy gaze over me. “I’m going to want the same thing every time.” He sets his hand on the wall, pressing his body nearly flush against mine so I’m pinned between him and the hard brick. With his free hand, he tucks a strand of hair behind my ear. “You.” Against my wishes, I’m wet. He’s still the master of my body, still able to turn me on. From his presence alone and that admission of desire, I’m melting for him. Heat pools low in my belly, and I swear my nipples are already aching.
Damn you!
I lick my lips and strain to find a comeback. Anything. But with the next inhale I dare to suck in, I’m taunted by his smell. His presence. All of him. Being this close to him is frying my nerves.