Total pages in book: 71
Estimated words: 73230 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 366(@200wpm)___ 293(@250wpm)___ 244(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 73230 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 366(@200wpm)___ 293(@250wpm)___ 244(@300wpm)
She looked back at me.
“You haven’t.”
I licked my suddenly dry lips.
“I don’t want you to go.”
“Why?” she pushed. “You and me aren’t a thing any more. It hurts too bad to see you.”
I closed my eyes as sorrow washed over me.
“I’ve loved you since the day I saw you. Every single day that’s gone by, I’ve only fallen deeper and deeper in love with you.” I told her roughly. “I need you here. With me.”
“You hurt me.” she challenged, suddenly sitting up so we were nearly eye to eye.
“I had to hurt you. I had to get you away so I could find him. It wasn’t going to end with you not giving him a chance to make his move.” I hesitated. “Granted, I probably could’ve gone about doing that differently, but I was on pain meds, and I was trying to find the quickest way to get you away from me before he didn’t aim his gun at me the next time, but at you.”
She frowned.
“I need you.”
She looked away.
“I did that on purpose,” she whispered. “Told my sister I was going back to school so you’d get your head out of your ass.”
Her voice was almost carried away by the wind as it rushed through the trees.
“You were so sure I’d get my head out of my ass?” I asked, moving until I was on the chair directly in front of her, facing away.
She moved her legs apart for me, then moved until one foot dangled over my left shoulder.
I took her sock covered foot into my hand and started to pop her toes.
Once done, she poked her other foot over my shoulder, and I popped those, too, being careful to stay away from the cut that I knew had to be hurting her.
Then I started massaging the unhurt one.
“I wanted you to talk to me,” she whispered.
She sounded like she was crying.
I leaned my head sideways to rest against the inside of her knee.
“You needed time to process everything…without me here,” I said.
“You didn’t know it was Jet. You only knew it was someone that was hell bent on keeping us apart. What was your excuse then?” she asked.
“I knew that if he couldn’t find you, he’d follow me in hopes of me leading him to you,” I explained. “It worked, too. My sister was able to pull some video clips of the places I’d been to, finding a familiar face among the crowd. Although he was easier to spot than most because of the burns.”
She breathed in a trembling breath.
“I can’t believe it. I can’t believe he’d do that to me. After everything we had, why would he do that to me?” she asked, voice breaking halfway through.
I reached up behind me and tugged her forward, situating her until she was resting in my lap, her head under my chin.
She wrapped her hands around my neck and sobbed.
“You hurt me,” she cried.
Her tears ran down my neck and disappeared into the collar of my shirt.
I would’ve cried with her if I didn’t think it was inappropriate for a grown male to be seen losing it.
“I’m sorry. I’ve missed you, too,” I admitted, voice not as strong as I would’ve liked it.
She took a deep, shaky breath.
“Are you done leaving me?” she asked.
In answer, I leaned her over until I could reach into my pocket, pulling out a velvet lined box and sitting it on top of her knee.
She gasped.
I flipped the box open, letting her look her fill, waiting for her gaze to meet mine.
“Yeah, darlin. I’m done leaving you,” I promised.
Her lips quivered, and I watched fat tears continue to roll down her cheeks.
But she’d never looked so beautiful to me.
“So what do you say, darlin’? Will you marry me?” I asked.
She bit her lip.
“Yes…but I have one more thing to take care of before we make it official,” she licked her lips.
“And what’s that?” I asked, circling one finger along the length of her collarbone.
She bit her lip.
“Okay, maybe two.”
I raised my brow at her in question.
She fell forward and placed her mouth onto mine.
Instinctively, I parted my lips, growling as I devoured her.
I reveled in her taste, dick hardening painfully as she slowly started to work my shirt up and over my head with deft hands.
I stopped her when she reached for the button of my jeans.
“What?” she asked worriedly.
In answer, I picked her up and started walking into the cabin, stopping only long enough to slam the door behind us.
She gasped when I walked straight to her bedroom and laid her down softly next to the clothes that were piled high next to a suitcase on the bed.
I shoved everything off the bed with my arms, then crawled up between Tasha’s splayed thighs.
“You’re not wearing any panties,” I growled softly as I ran my hand up the smooth skin of her thigh, straight up the outside of her shorts.