Total pages in book: 65
Estimated words: 61427 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 307(@200wpm)___ 246(@250wpm)___ 205(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 61427 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 307(@200wpm)___ 246(@250wpm)___ 205(@300wpm)
“It does,” she agreed.
“But you haven’t given up?”
She leaned back in her chair, the action causing her breasts to jut enticingly against the material of her yellow tank top. Caleb forced himself to look only at her face. Anything lower than that was guaranteed to blow his concentration to smithereens.
“No, I haven’t given up,” she said in a soft voice. “Sure, I might have some trust issues now, thanks to my ex, but I’m working through those. You know, trying to understand why I didn’t see the signs, why I let him manipulate me so completely. But I still think love can be a good thing, if you find the right person.”
Caleb absorbed everything she’d just said. Love. It was such a foreign concept to him, since growing up he hadn’t had any of it. He’d never known his father, and his mother had decided drugs were more important than her five-year-old son. In a sense, his first relationship with a woman ended up with him finding his mom’s overdosed body on the living-room carpet.
Could love be a good thing? To him, the answer was a big fat no. What was the point in opening yourself up to another person when they would only kick you aside sooner or later?
He scraped back his chair, discomfort gathering in his gut. This was too…intimate. He was getting too close to sharing a very private part of himself with this woman, and he couldn’t do that. It made him uneasy.
“We should get back to work,” he said.
Marley nodded. “I’m almost done with the wallpaper,” she replied, getting up to drag a small stepladder toward the wall. She climbed up on it, looking over at him and adding, “I just need to finish this part near the ceiling and then we can—” A yelp flew out of her mouth as she lost her balance.
Caleb reacted instantly, reaching the spot just in time for her to topple right into his arms. A flash of heat tore through his body as he found himself yet again cupping her firm bottom. His groin stirred and hardened. Her sweet scent assaulted him, mingling with the paint fumes in the air and making him light-headed with desire.
“What is it with you and ladders?” he asked roughly.
She stared up at him, amusement dancing in her eyes. “I never claimed to be graceful, okay?”
He choked back a laugh. “Good, because you’re not.”
They stared at each other for a moment and some thing in the air shifted. She had one arm around his shoulder, the other pressed against his chest and her touch seared through the material of his shirt and heated his flesh. The room grew thick with tension, heavy with attraction. He wanted to taste her again. To drag his hands over that exquisite body, kiss her, touch her, until she cried out with pleasure.
Suddenly he couldn’t move, couldn’t breathe. He knew he should let her down, but his arms refused to cooperate. They just held her tighter, pulled her closer.
“Um, so…” Her voice came out husky. She stopped talking, the tip of her tongue darting out to moisten her lips.
“Don’t do that,” he burst out.
She froze. “Do what?”
“Lick your lips like that.” Despite himself, he reached out to rub the bare flesh of her arm.
Marley’s breath hitched. “Why not?”
He ran his hand up and down her hot skin. “Because it’s already hard enough.”
“What’s hard enough?” she whispered.
“Trying not to kiss you again.”
Those big brown eyes glimmered with heat. His cock swelled as her gaze moved to his mouth. For God’s sake, didn’t she realize he only wanted to kiss her more when she looked at him like that?
“You know what I think?” she said, her soft voice sliding over him like a sensual caress.
“What?”
She rubbed her palm against his chest in a feather-light stroke, then twined both arms around his neck and murmured, “I think you should just go for it.”
With her head slanted up toward him and her lush lips pursed, Caleb knew there was no way he could resist her. He wanted this. No, he needed this.
He slowly lowered his head. Their lips were inches apart, so close. Not close enough. An unsteady breath left his mouth. He shouldn’t do this. His lips moved closer, nearly touching hers. He really, really shouldn’t do—
A loud chime rang through the kitchen, startling them both. Their heads moved apart, and Caleb nearly lost his grip on the sexy woman in his arms.
“An email just came in,” she murmured in explanation.
The annoying chime sounded again, and Caleb traced it to the open laptop sitting on the counter.
“Ignore it,” she said, sounding a little breathless. “It’s probably just my brother. He’s supposed to send me pictures of tiles.”
But the moment had passed, and the interruption had been much needed. Saved by email. Caleb’s entire body shrieked in protest as he gently set Marley on her feet. His pulse was still racing, his cock stiffer than a two-by-four, but he knew his body would forgive him. He wasn’t sure he’d be able to forgive himself if things went any further.