Total pages in book: 28
Estimated words: 26602 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 133(@200wpm)___ 106(@250wpm)___ 89(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 26602 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 133(@200wpm)___ 106(@250wpm)___ 89(@300wpm)
“Yep. Mattie booked it all for us.”
I nod as the door shuts, trying to get a hold of my nerves. Faltering a bit, I shoot him a smile.
“Um, so how are you?”
He shoots me a dazzling smile and I practically faint.
“Good, good. Mattie said you had something to tell me?”
I swallow again, and my hands clench and unclench nervously.
“Yes, actually. This might sound crazy, so please feel free to say no,” I start. I don’t want to pressure the man I’m paying into anything he is uncomfortable with.
“What am I saying no to?” he asks with a wicked grin. Kade sounds unbelievably cocky, and it’s a huge turn on.
I give him an exasperated look and try to explain.
“I need you to be my pretend boyfriend for the convention.” Quick and easy seemed like a much better way to get that sentence out. His raised eyebrows make my heart sink. Oh shit. I just screwed up.
But then he cocks his dark head.
“A pretend boyfriend? And what does that entail?” His grin is smoldering and his eyes are bright.
“Just maybe holding hands where people can see and some flirting. Nothing that makes you uncomfortable,” I say shakily. Although given the events that occurred under the table last night, I highly doubt there are many things that makes this man uncomfortable.
Kade simply crosses his arms across his wide chest in response.
“You don’t have to if you really don’t want to,” I ramble. “I just think that it would make the panel a lot more interesting. Readers always ask where I get my inspiration from, and it’s boring to say I have an active imagination. I mean, I do – have an active imagination, that is.” Kade is openly smiling at this point as I’m sure a deep red blush covers my cheeks and neck. “I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have presumed-”
“I’ll do it,” he cuts in, loud enough to be heard over my tirade.
“What? Really?” I ask, totally stupefied.
“On one condition,” he proposes.
“Name it.”
“I want one night,” he says with a sly smile.
I furrow my eyebrows in confusion.
“One night of what?”
“To get to know you,” he states simply. “Biblically, of course. It wouldn’t be fun any other way.”
Now my brow is up in my hairline.
“Biblically?” I squeak.
“Yep. Intimately. Physically. Sexually. Whatever you want to call it.”
My gasp echoes through the silent room. Blue eyes are piercing mine, holding not an ounce of shame or embarrassment. He is so confident in his request and desperately, I want to give in. But it seems so…wrong.
“That’s crazy. You’re crazy.”
It’s all I can come up with in the moment. He just smirks again, those blue eyes gleaming.
“You want it. I know you do.”
Suddenly, Kade’s crowding into my space and I take a step back into the wall. Kade follows, his body mere centimeters from my own. I can feel the heat radiating from his broad chest and gulp down an undignified noise.
“Jane, I felt you last night. You can’t hide how much you want this,” he says, his voice husky and so sexy. “How much you want me.”
He’s commanding in his tone, which should most definitely turn me off, but I can’t find it in me to care.
“You were so wet,” he rasps into my ear. “In fact, I bet you’re wet right now,” he continues, lips now grazing the delicate shell. Fingertips just barely smooth over the fabric of my dress where it sits on my thigh. I can do nothing but nod my head. I want to hike up my dress and spread my thighs wider right here, begging for him to take me. But then he steps back, leaving me both relieved and severely disappointed.
“Tonight. Meet me here,” Kade says without a hint of question in his voice.
“Okay,” is all I can say in a breathy tone. I press my lips together and try to calm my racing pulse. “Tonight, and then you’ll be my boyfriend?”
He grins again, gaze smoldering. He reaches out to fix the hem of my dress where it had ridden up slightly with the movement of his hand.
“That’s right, Jane. One night, and then I’m all yours.”
Smirking once more, he turns and strides to the door. I’m still trying to breathe normally when he reaches for the handle.
“We should go now. We’ll be late,” he says with a bow. The tone of authority is really doing it for me – we both seem to have forgotten that I’m the one paying him for his presence today. I definitely do not feel even remotely in charge here – more like a willing victim.
I push off the wall and pass through the open doorway, Kade following behind me. As soon as the door clicks shut I feel a warm hand low on my back, just high enough to avoid being scandalous. Trying to tamp down on a shiver running along my spine, I let Kade guide me to the elevator. His hand remains for the entirety of the ride down to the lobby, shifting only when he moves from lower back to hip, his arm draped across my back.