Total pages in book: 93
Estimated words: 86364 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 432(@200wpm)___ 345(@250wpm)___ 288(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 86364 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 432(@200wpm)___ 345(@250wpm)___ 288(@300wpm)
“Would you trade that for all our nights together at your place?”
I straightened and blinked at him. That was not the answer I’d expected from him. In fact, I’d expected another growled “no” or an order to get out.
“What?” I asked, still trying to wrap my brain around his question.
“If I fucked you here like you described, I’d never spend another night with you. I would end it.”
For a heartbeat, I thought about agreeing to his evil demand. One hot and crazy fuck here in his office sounded amazing. But reality set in and a fist closed around my heart, squeezing so hard I thought it would turn to dust. I didn’t want to contemplate how much I looked forward to our ridiculous meetings. We didn’t talk during the week other than to send the occasional text to adjust the time of our get-together or to cancel it, but when we were together, it was as if we were mutually exorcising all the stress, frustration, and pain we’d experienced while we were apart. It was more than simple sexual release. My nights with Declan were so cleansing. For days afterward, I felt like I could tackle anything and everything.
But to lose that…
I clenched my teeth and threw myself into the chair I’d exited seconds ago. “Hell, you’re mean.” I returned Declan’s glare with a scowl of my own, but he didn’t blink. “Fine. Whatever. You win. We’ll keep things the way they’ve always been.”
Declan didn’t smile, but I swore something shifted in his expression. Maybe a tiny lifting of his eyebrows. A new twinkle in his eye. The smug bastard just looked triumphant to me, and it made me want to throw his coffee in his face.
“What was your question?” Declan inquired after a full minute of silence.
“My what?”
Declan reached for his glasses, holding one arm pinched between his thumb and forefinger, but he didn’t put them on yet. “Your question. You said you had a question.”
“Oh, that!” A laugh bubbled up, but it sounded forced as I shoved to my feet. Something inside me still hadn’t shaken off the sudden fear of losing our “dates.” “I already know the answer to my question. I came in here to drive you crazy.” After a final wink and a reminder to eat his lunch, I sauntered out of his office, half expecting him to hurl a paperweight or a stapler at the back of my head.
It was going to be nice to not put on a suit every morning or deal with rush hour traffic after this contract was over, but part of me was going to miss irritating Declan Foster every chance I got. Maybe when this contract was finished, I’d ask if he wanted to have lunch once a month. Not a lunch fuck, but a real lunch in a restaurant surrounded by people. Those rare times I wasn’t intentionally driving him up a wall, we’d had some interesting conversations, and even his silence was calming and relaxing.
Nah. He’d never go for it.
As I left his office, my cell phone vibrated in my pocket. I snatched it up and glanced at the screen. A smile spread across my face and Declan’s grumpiness was forgotten in the promise of an unexpected chat with my best friend.
“Lovely Molly, what trouble are you getting into today?” I inquired the moment I answered the call.
“Is…is this Parker Cain?”
I jerked the phone away from my face to double-check the caller ID, even though it was unnecessary. I’d seen her name and the goofy picture I’d attached to her number before answering the call. Yet, the woman on the line was not Molly. She sounded older and her voice was ragged, as if she had a cold or was in some kind of trouble.
My heart leaped into my throat and I froze where I was in the center of the hallway. Something was very wrong. “This is Parker Cain. Who is this? Why do you have Molly’s phone?”
“This is Violet Robbins. I work with Molly at Longbourne. She mentioned you to me. As a friend. And I think you’re listed as her next of kin. I…” Her rambling stopped, but she’d failed to answer my most pressing question.
“What’s going on? Where’s Molly?”
“Molly…” She paused when her voice cracked. “Molly was involved in an accident this morning. She…she was hit by a car.”
“What?” The room spun, and I staggered to my left to catch myself on the wall. This couldn’t be right. Violet had to be talking about the wrong person. A different Molly. Definitely not my Molly.
“She was getting bagels for the team. A car ran a red light and hit her as she was crossing the street.”
“No.” The word got caught in my throat and turned into a whisper. I wanted to scream. Thankfully, the analytical side of my brain rallied and took control, despite my overwhelming desire to curl up in a ball. “What…what hospital was she taken to? Do you know what her status is? Has anyone talked to a doctor yet?”