Total pages in book: 38
Estimated words: 35305 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 177(@200wpm)___ 141(@250wpm)___ 118(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 35305 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 177(@200wpm)___ 141(@250wpm)___ 118(@300wpm)
Lilah arrives five minutes later, with takeout bags in hand and a smile on her face. It only grows when she sees me standing there, waiting for her.
"I thought we could eat here today," she murmurs. "That way, I don't have to rush back when the truck gets here."
"Sounds good," I agree, taking the bags from her hands to deposit them on one of the tables halfway across the store. There are a few readers scattered around, browsing or reading, but they're engrossed in their own worlds.
"I'll leave you two to it," Jasmine says, hooking the strap of her purse over her shoulder.
"You can stay," Lilah calls softly.
"No can do. I have an author to track down, remember?" Jasmine grins at her. "With any luck, I'll have all his details by the end of the day."
Lilah laughs, shaking her head. "I'll pray for him."
Jasmine shoots me a look that isn't quite hostile but isn't exactly friendly either. She doesn't say anything, though. I think she's already said everything she needed to say. Now, she's leaving it up to me to prove what kind of man I am. If I choose wrong, I think she may let me live long enough to regret it. Actually, she may keep me alive, chained in her basement, long enough to ensure I regret it.
The bell over the door jingles as she hurries out, leaving me and Lilah at the table alone. I just stare at her for a long moment, my head and my heart at war. One whispers a whole lot louder than the other, though. It has been for days.
"I talked to Jasmine," I murmur as Lilah unpacks our food.
"Please forgive anything inappropriate she said," she mutters. "If I didn't know her parents, I'd swear porn stars raised her."
"She was fine, sweetness." I hesitate for a long moment and then mutter a curse. "You aren't putting a bid on the building."
She freezes in the act of pulling a tray out of the bag, her body going so still I'm not even sure she's breathing. "That's my business, Lincoln."
"Yeah? I think it's mine, too."
"Why?" She glances up at me. "So you can gloat about winning?"
I just stare at her. "Is that really what you think about me?"
"No," she whispers, curling in on herself a little, like she's ashamed she said it at all. "I'm just…I don't know, okay? I'm just trying to process everything. It's a lot, you know?"
"You love this building, Lilah."
"Doesn't matter when I can't afford it. In three weeks, it'll be your building, Lincoln. I might as well learn to accept that now, right?"
My stomach churns at the defeated way she says it, as if she's absolutely certain she's already lost it. Christ. Why let me in like she has, why invite me into her bed every night, when she's known all along that she isn't going to fight for the building?
I study her for a long moment, my heart aching at the truth staring me in the face. She's sleeping with me for the same reason I've been willing to give this place up. Because what's between us isn't about this building. It's bigger than that.
But Jasmine is right. If I take the building, I risk losing her. I won't just be the asshole standing between her and her dream. I'll be the one plucking it out of her hands and crushing it, just to build my own goddamn empire.
I can't do that to her. I won't do it. I'm not going to be the kind of man who lets her sacrifice what matters to her just to get what I want. That kind of man doesn't deserve her, and I desperately want to be the kind who does. I want to be the one she spends a lifetime smiling at the same way she did when she got here a few minutes ago, not the one who steals that smile.
"Promise me something," I say, striding across the few feet that separate us. I place my hands on her shoulders, turning her to face me. She fights me for a minute, as if she doesn't want me to see what's written all over her face. But I've already seen it. "Promise me that you won't make any decisions yet."
"I've already decided, Lincoln. I can't afford this place," she whispers.
"Just promise me, Lilah."
She searches my face for a long moment before nodding hesitantly. "Fine. I promise."
I tug her into my arms, pressing my lips to hers in a grateful kiss. I don't tell her that I'm going to fix this, but that's precisely what I'm going to do. I'm no longer satisfied with her building. I want her heart.
One way or another, I intend to earn it.
Chapter Eight
Lilah
"You look like you're ready to throw up." I eye Sarah with amusement as she scrubs her hands down her sides for the fifth time in the last sixty seconds. The shop is closing soon, and she has a date.