Total pages in book: 66
Estimated words: 59904 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 300(@200wpm)___ 240(@250wpm)___ 200(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 59904 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 300(@200wpm)___ 240(@250wpm)___ 200(@300wpm)
But all he did was gently wipe the tears off her cheeks.
"I obviously need a lot more practice in not making you cry."
She choked back a teary laugh.
"Hush now, love. We'll talk more tomorrow."
"I don't want—-"
"Tough." But his voice was casual, and he was also reaching for her as he spoke, and before she knew it, the billionaire had her tucked back under the covers. "Good night, Sarah."
She flipped to her side and pointedly refused to answer even as her stomach started churning at the rudeness of it all.
"Just say good night back." The billionaire's tone was faintly amused. "There are other and better ways to get back at me, but doing something that you hate isn't one of them."
Shit. Shit. Shit.
"You're already beating yourself up for it, aren't you?"
"Okay, fine," she snarled without looking back. "Good night. Happy now?"
A lazy chuckle was her answer, followed by three words delivered in a soft, wicked tone. "That's my girl."
Aaaaaaaaaaargh!
Ten
NAOMI'S BIRTHDAY PARTY officially started the next day, and with it Fox Lodge temporarily closed its doors to guest bookings while transforming itself to a Great Gatsby-themed paradise. The party also came with a structured itinerary, and the first item in the program had the whole family welcoming guests and escorting them to the three key areas for morning entertainment: women were directed to the patio for a winter spa brunch, the kids were taken to the play area at the basement, while the men were escorted to the library.
Over a hundred guests had been invited to celebrate Naomi's fortieth, and Sarah was more than happy to find out that all of them had confirmed attendance. The more, the merrier, Sarah thought, believing the sheer size of the party's guest list would not only keep her busy but also safe from any possibly nefarious plan of a certain billionaire.
Or so she thought.
A guy had just come up to her, introducing himself as someone playing for the NFL, when an arm suddenly curved around her waist, and Sarah stiffened, knowing who it was without having to look.
"It's nice to see you again, Garth," Damian drawled.
"Yeah, you, too, Fox."
When the other guy's questioning gaze swung between Sarah and the billionaire, Damian said easily, "Sarah's my stepsister."
"Right." The younger man couldn't seem to stop staring at the way Damian's fingers were idly caressing Sarah's hip. "That's, ah, cool." And then he coughed and cleared his throat, saying, "Anyway, I gotta go."
"What the hell was that?" Sarah burst out as soon as the football player was out of earshot.
The billionaire lowered his head, his arm tightening around her waist as he whispered straight into her ear, "Marking my territory."
Aaaaargh!
Color burst in her cheeks, and she waited until she was sure no one was looking at them before stomping on his foot as hard as she could. It had Damian grunting in pain, but Sarah didn't care. "Stop messing around!"
"It's not as if you truly found him attractive," Damian dismissed with typical arrogance. "You saw the look on his face when he found out you're my stepsister. Men like him will never be able to defend you—-"
"I don't need defending—-"
"You don't," the billionaire agreed silkily, "but you wouldn't mind it either if I were the one doing the defending." His tone turned pensive. "What was it that you used to like saying about us? You'd happily be the sub to my—-"
"Will you shut up?"
"Only if you call me what you used to call me."
"Damian! Be serious!"
"If you don't—-"
"Dom."
"That's not quite it."
Oh God.
"Last chance," he warned.
She took a deep breath and whispered, "My handsome Dom."
A devastating smile curved over her lips, and oh God, it was like seeing the sun shine for the first time—-aaah!
Damian had bent down to brush his lips over her mouth and had already pulled away before she could do a thing.
She looked around, horrified, embarrassed, and aroused all at once, and while none of the locals were acting any differently, there were various out-of-state guests who were now staring at them with scandalized expressions on their faces.
She turned to Damian, hissing, "Do you see what you've done? If Mom's guests start walking out—-"
"Let them," the billionaire dismissed with a Gallic shrug. It was Damian Fox at his cockiest, and she hated it. Hated, hated, hated it so much because it was also times like this when he looked his sexiest in her eyes.
Aaaaargh! Control, Sarah! Control!
Yanking her hand out of his hold, she shot him a quelling look, saying, "Whatever it is you think that's going to happen between us—-"
"It's already happening," he corrected her gently.
"No, it's not—-"
"Sarah? Oh gosh, it is you!"
Sarah quickly whirled around at hearing her name called out, and then she found herself grinning with genuine pleasure at spotting a familiar face.
"It's been so long, Harry!" She rushed forward to give her friend a quick, warm hug while Damian went on to shake hands with Harriet's husband, who had their five-year-old son up in his arms.