Total pages in book: 106
Estimated words: 105231 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 526(@200wpm)___ 421(@250wpm)___ 351(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 105231 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 526(@200wpm)___ 421(@250wpm)___ 351(@300wpm)
“No.”
“Yeah, I guessed not. We’ll go out tomorrow night.”
“I don’t . . . we’re not . . . Travis, we’re not dating!”
“Yeah, we are. You just said yourself that we are doing everything that a couple does, except the dating part. Which I’ve fixed.”
“You can’t fix anything because we’re not actually dating.”
“Why not?”
“Well, you haven’t asked me for one.”
“Why would I do that?” he scoffed.
“Um, because that’s what people normally do.”
“Right. Stupid people. Because if I ask you that gives you the option of saying no.”
“So you’re just not going to give me the option?”
“Exactly.”
Oh, he was a nutter.
But right now, he’s your nutter.
Well, so he said. He seemed to think that they were a done deal.
That she was going to be his.
Was she really going to turn him down when this was everything she’d ever wanted?
It seemed crazy. But how would this really work? She wasn’t going to be here forever.
Could she keep this apartment as a base? Would their relationship survive her being away for weeks, maybe months at a time?
“I thought we were just friends,” she said. “Why did you change your mind?”
“Maybe I was trying to fool myself into thinking we were just friends. When really, I wanted more.”
“Since when? It wasn’t all that long ago that you hated me,” she pointed out.
“Never hated you, baby. And I was wrong.”
“I just . . . it’s a big shift.”
“Really? Is it that big of a shift considering what we did a week ago in my apartment?” he asked.
“I don’t think we should keep talking about that.” She could feel herself blushing. She still couldn’t believe that he’d been going to eat her out right there on his kitchen island.
And Caren was aware that it was crazy she was blushing when she had no problem being naked in a club filled with people.
The two things were quite different!
“If we weren’t attracted to each other that wouldn’t have happened. But we are. We wanted each other.” He ran a finger down her cheek and over her lips. “And we still do. We both want more. You can’t deny it.”
God no.
She couldn’t.
Her breath was already growing faster just from him touching her cheek and lips. Imagine what would happen if he moved his hand lower? If he cupped her breast and played with her nipple?
She might explode.
“You want me,” he murmured.
“I do.” She couldn’t deny it. No one would believe that. “Are you sure I’m what you really want, though?”
“Oh yeah, baby. So sure. Seems I needed some time in order to see that you are exactly what I want and need. Seeing you last night, calling you my girlfriend, it all felt fucking right. I want you, Caren. You’re going to be mine.”
Shit.
She was definitely in trouble here. The sort of trouble that she didn’t want to fix.
“How would any of this work, though?” she asked as he drew her head to the side and kissed down her neck to suck on the area where her neck and shoulder met.
Lord. Did he know how that affected her? How much she wanted to melt at his feet? To beg him to keep going?
“How it works is just what I said before. You’re mine, we date, we go to the club, you let me track you, put better security into your apartment, eventually you are in my bed. Although eventually might actually be right now because I cannot seem to fucking resist you.”
He wasn’t the only one struggling with that.
“I’m leaving soon.”
He tensed.
Shit. She shouldn’t have just blurted that out, should she?
Had she ruined everything before it had even begun?
He reached for the bottom of her top and drew it up over her head. She was wearing a short-sleeved top underneath.
“And where are you planning on going, baby?”
Jesus. When he called her baby in that soft, cajoling voice it almost killed her. Arousal filled her and she wanted to drag him against her and demand that he kiss her.
Over and over again.
That he didn’t stop.
“I’m planning on flying to the Middle East within the next fortnight,” she said. “And I don’t know how long I’ll be gone. I could keep this apartment . . . and return . . . what is it?”
He’d gone as still as a statue. She was kind of worried that he wasn’t even breathing.
His face had grown darker. “The Middle East? With who?”
“Um.” He was worrying her now. She bit her lip.
“You better not say by yourself.”
“I wasn’t going to say that. You see, River—”
“River?” he interrupted her. “That guy from the restaurant? You’re going with him?”
“Uh, yes.”
“Why would you be going with him?” His eyes narrowed as he studied her.
“Nothing like that! Sheesh. Oliver hired him to help me as my assistant and a sort of bodyguard.”
Tell him about Aadan.
She would if he didn’t look like his head was about to explode just from learning about River.