Total pages in book: 89
Estimated words: 88463 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 442(@200wpm)___ 354(@250wpm)___ 295(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 88463 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 442(@200wpm)___ 354(@250wpm)___ 295(@300wpm)
I kiss her again, unable to hold back. Everything about today and tonight has felt so damn intimate with this woman. And now, here in my office, in the quiet, after some pretty intense sex, with both of us sated, I can’t keep the words to myself anymore.
“I love you, baby. More than anything.”
She blinks slowly, her eyes filling with tears. “I love you too.”
Chapter Twenty-One
Willow
“Hey, Shawn, how are you?”
I lean back in my chair and push my fingers through my hair, happy to hear from my friend. I loved being in Seattle for a few days, but the week that we’ve been home has been so productive, and I’m completely obsessed with my new workspace. Ry has to drag me out of here at dinnertime some days because I’m so absorbed in work I lose track of time.
“I’m great, thank you for asking,” Shawn replies with that swoony-as-all-get-out British accent that makes all the listeners lose their goddamn minds. “I haven’t talked to you in a long while, darling. What’s new in your corner of the world?”
“A lot, actually. Oh, let me show you my new booth. I’m putting you on speaker so I can send some photos over.”
I quickly tap the screen and then wait for Shawn to react.
“Fucking hell,” he says with surprise. “That’s brilliant. Did you move, or remodel your adorable house?”
“I sort of moved. For the summer, anyway.” I wince at the thought of moving back to Missoula at the end of the summer.
“Why does it sound like there’s a story there?”
“Oh, there’s a story.” I chuckle and swivel back and forth in my desk chair. “A long one.”
“Better shared over a beer?”
“For sure.”
“Will you be at that conference in Chicago next month?”
“That’s the plan, yes. I should be there.”
“Excellent, I can’t wait to hear this story of yours. Hey, have you started prepping for the project we’re working on together?”
“Coincidentally, I finished doing just that a bit ago so I could start recording tomorrow. Wanna talk about it?”
“Yeah, let’s compare notes. I’m on page one sixteen.”
I bring the document up on my iPad and find the page he’s talking about. “Got it. First sex scene. Do you want to run lines, or . . . ?”
“I want to see if we’re on the same page with how this reads. Do you think she’s scared of him in that first paragraph?”
I skim the page. “Oh, I see what you’re saying. I read it as her being apprehensive, but not afraid. Like this: I don’t want you to touch me there.”
“Why not, little one?” Shawn jumps in, reading the lines. His voice has lowered seductively, making me grin.
Holy shit, the listeners are going to love this.
“B-b-because I—”
“You what? Does it make you feel naughty when I kiss you right here, darling?”
“I don’t know what it makes me feel.”
Shawn chuckles over the speakerphone.
“I think you know. And do you want to see what you’re doing to me? Bloody hell, you’re so fucking sexy, I can’t wait to—”
“He might want to stop there.”
Shawn stops reading, and I whip around to find Ryker standing in the doorway of my office, his arms crossed over his chest, his jaw clenched.
I laugh, but he doesn’t look amused at all.
“Hold on, Shawn.”
But Shawn doesn’t hold on. In fact, he initiates a FaceTime call, and I answer.
“Hello, darling,” Shawn says to me with that smug grin that all the ladies fawn over on social media.
“Shawn, this is Ryker.” I tip the phone so Ry can see him. “Ry, this is Shawn North, a colleague of mine, and we were just going over some notes for a project we’re working on together.”
“Good to meet you,” Shawn says with a nod, and Ry takes the phone from me. “Wait, you’re Ryker James. Congratulations on the retirement.”
“Are you telling me that Willow’s never talked about me?” Ry demands, scowling at me, and I roll my eyes.
“She’s mentioned that you’re good friends,” Shawn confirms.
“More than that now,” Ry says, and I reach for the phone.
“Oh my God. Stop it.” I yank the device out of his hand and shake my head. “If you’ve listened to all the books I’ve done, you know that Shawn and I have worked together a million times. So you can just calm the hell down, Captain.”
Shawn’s grinning, clearly entertained.
“Don’t stop him on my account, darling.”
“Call her darling one more time,” Ry growls.
“Darling—”
Ry taps the screen, hanging up on my friend, and I gape at him.
“Ryker James.”
“No.” He grips my chin and tilts my face up, and his eyes are fierce as he stares me down.
“Okay.” I rub my hands up and down his chest. “Shawn and I are only colleagues. You know that.”
He closes his eyes and tips his forehead against mine. “I came to see if you were finishing up for the day, and when I got to the door—”