Total pages in book: 78
Estimated words: 75592 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 378(@200wpm)___ 302(@250wpm)___ 252(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 75592 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 378(@200wpm)___ 302(@250wpm)___ 252(@300wpm)
Nancy looked away pretty quickly at that, turning her attention to the bed itself.
But she wouldn’t touch the bedding with her bare hands, choosing instead to use her pen to move them around.
“Could I maybe put a robe on now?” I asked, trying to keep the anger out of my voice.
It was one thing to have the place searched. It felt like a complete other to be pulled out of bed and inspected like I was hiding drugs up inside of me or something. Especially considering that Rook hadn’t gone away for drug crimes and both our drug tests came back clean.
“Fine,” Nancy said, opening the nightstand.
Rook’s hand reached for mine, giving it a squeeze as I passed.
Not wanting to take long in the bathroom, I grabbed the robe and slipped my glasses on before coming right out and making a beeline for the coffee pot.
Nancy moved past us to inspect the bathroom, leaving us alone for a short minute.
Rook moved in behind me, pressing his chin to my shoulder. “Sorry about that,” he said.
“It’s fine.”
“It’s not. You looked panicked.”
“I’m not… a fan of being startled awake.” In my life, that was never a good thing.
“I should have set an alarm,” Rook said, his body still close.
“It’s not your fault. We were both tired.”
“For good reason,” he said, his hand snaking around my midsection, his fingers teasing under the swell of my breast through the material of my robe.
“Rook.” I meant for it to come out as chastisement. But my voice was too airy, too needy.
“Maybe if she came out here to find me balls-deep inside you, she would learn her lesson about bothering a newlywed couple.” His hand shifted, closing over my breast.
“No.”
It was a soft objection, one I didn’t even want to make. But Rook’s hand immediately moved away.
“Sor—” I started, apologies for turning down advances as ingrained as saying sorry when you stepped on someone’s foot.
“Don’t. You never need to apologize for saying no,” he said, pressing his head to the side of mine.
“Besides, I want you all to myself anyway. No one gets to see what I see, hear what I hear, when you’re on my cock.”
I wanted to shimmy out of my shorts, hop myself up on the counter, spread my legs, and demand he take me right then.
If it weren’t for Nancy and her scrunched-up face as she came back into the kitchen, I just might have done it.
“Can I get you some coffee?” I asked, waving toward the dripping coffee pot.
“No. What did you do after the courthouse?” she asked, looking at Rook.
“We had a picnic. We should have the pictures back from it in a few days if you want to see.”
“You had a photographer?”
“Yes.”
I could tell by her pinched face that she wanted to be annoyed about that. But there was no rule that said we couldn’t hire a photographer, a baker, or party planners.
“Oh! I think we have a bit of wedding cake leftover, if you’d like to try it!” I said, feigning friendliness. Even if I really wanted to have that cake with my morning coffee.
“No. But I need to check the kitchen.”
“Of course,” I said, forcing a smile as I took Rook’s hand and moved over to the couch with him.
Rook reached for my legs, pulling them over his lap. And for a moment, we got to play the part of a happy, newly married couple.
“You looked like your heart was being ripped out when you offered her the cake.”
“I plan to eat it for breakfast. And, no, I don’t care how bad for me that is.”
“I once ate half a cold pizza for breakfast, so I’m not judging.”
“Everything seems alright here,” Nancy said, her tone suggesting she was disappointed by that fact. “I don’t need to remind you that you are not to leave town without permission.”
Emboldened by her antagonism toward Rook, I snuggled closer to him. “That’s totally fine. We don’t plan to leave the apartment. Or, well, the bed, for a week.”
The twinkling in Rook’s eyes said he appreciated the assist. And maybe even that he would be happy to make that claim a reality.
Nancy sniffed, but had nothing to say to that. Instead, she reiterated a few more of her rules to Rook—as if he could possibly forget them at this point—then made her way out.
“It always feels like a trip to the principal’s office each time I see her,” Rook said. “Even after all this time.”
“I honestly thought when you came up with this little plan that you were exaggerating about how bad she is. But it’s like someone sucked all the joy out of her, so now she has to do it to everyone else. She must have really loved that husband of hers…”
“That’s the thing,” Rook said, shaking his head.
“What is?”
“When he woke up from the coma, he divorced her.”