Total pages in book: 25
Estimated words: 23333 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 117(@200wpm)___ 93(@250wpm)___ 78(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 23333 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 117(@200wpm)___ 93(@250wpm)___ 78(@300wpm)
Crow had never made any promises to her. In fact, he had told her she would never see him again. Every Christmas and birthday, he came and stayed with her. Like now, he was staying in the spare bedroom. It was a small house, with three bedrooms, one bathroom, a sitting room, kitchen, dining room, laundry room, and even a small pantry. She loved it and called this home. She wouldn’t give it up for anything.
There was only one thing missing—Crow.
Dating was not an option. A couple of customers who cam into the store regularly had asked her out on dates, and she declined. She was not going to give them the wrong impression. She was not interested, even a little bit.
There was only one man she wanted—Crow.
She was not going to try with anyone else. To her, that was cruel. If Crow didn’t want her, then she would be just as happy to be his friend. At least she kept telling herself that.
She was just nearing the end of her shift and was near the refrigerator section, when the man she couldn’t stop dreaming about entered.
“Hey, sweetheart,” he said.
Okay, her heart started to race. She knew his sweet words didn’t mean anything to him, but they meant a great deal to her.
“Hey,” she said, trying to play it cool, although it was the last thing she felt.
“So, I was thinking I’d take you to the diner for dinner tonight. Save you from cooking.”
“Oh, okay, yeah, that, like, totally works.” She forced a smile to her lips.
“You good with that?”
“Yeah, yeah, I’m happy with that.”
“Aren’t you finished soon?” he asked.
She nodded. “Yeah, in about ten minutes.”
“I’ll wait.” He winked at her, and Kelley realized she was going to have to actually work with him watching.
That was easy. This was what she did every day. Only, her heart wasn’t racing, and she never felt nervous before, but she could do this. She tried to ignore Crow, but it was like her body and brain were betraying her, as she just drank him all in. Every single particle of him.
He was taller than her, about six feet, maybe taller. He looked like a beast of a man, but sexy. His hair was short, and he had ink that came to his neck. From seeing him shirtless, she knew his arms and chest were covered in ink as well. His legs were bare of any ink. His back was also covered. He was strong and muscular. When he took on those two men five years ago, he didn’t even break a sweat.
She wondered what it would be like for him to hold her. To touch her. Those large hands that she knew were rough from hard work ... how would they feel on her body, giving her pleasure?
She dropped the trays of yogurt into the bottom of the refrigerator. “Crap.” She quickly picked them up, thankful none of them had opened. There was nothing spilled. It was all fine.
She offered him a smile and tried not to panic.
“I’ll wait outside. Those ten minutes are nearly up.”
Did his voice change? Did it go a little deeper? Before she could say anything, Crow turned and left, and she had no choice but to watch him. Damn it. She had to get her head in the game. There was no way he was going to look twice at a bumbling idiot. All he had done was stand there.
He must think of her as a childish fool.
****
Kelley was in a damn uniform, and it wasn’t even revealing. It was just a simple shirt, with long sleeves, a collar, and a pair of black pants. She could have quite easily been naked as he drank her the fuck in.
Crow couldn’t take his eyes off her. In fact, he couldn’t stop fucking thinking about her. Even last night, when she insisted they share a hot chocolate together. When did festive pajamas become sexy? They were never sexy in his book. Yet, they looked so damn sexy, and the way they seemed to show the smoothness of her neck, dipping down temptingly toward her cleavage.
There was no fucking way he was fantasizing about this woman.
Kelley was no longer a girl. She was all woman.
Her hair had been pulled back into a clip, and all he could think about was taking that clip out, running his fingers through her hair, and pulling her in close.
Fuck, this was a nightmare. He needed to go and find some pussy.
Only, that repulsed him. He didn’t want to go fuck some other woman; to him, it felt wrong.
Sitting on the seat of his bike, he knew it would only be a matter of time before she came out.
Why couldn’t he focus? This was Kelley, the girl he’d protected. The girl people wanted to exploit. He didn’t know much of anything else about her other than the fact that her mother wanted nothing to do with her. That was what Kelley told him. He figured there was history there, but he didn’t ask her what happened. He was no shrink, and he had no way of handling whatever drama she had. If she wanted therapy, he’d pay for it, but so far, she hadn’t asked for any.