Total pages in book: 88
Estimated words: 83355 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 417(@200wpm)___ 333(@250wpm)___ 278(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 83355 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 417(@200wpm)___ 333(@250wpm)___ 278(@300wpm)
I can’t help but laugh, the tension running out of my hands. “I think about that a lot, actually. It’s like, I’m living three lives at once. Work Stella who was Employee of the Month last month, home Stella who spars with her dad, and then the one who does—” I wave a hand vaguely “—this.”
Chloe, finally, regains composure. “I need details. Was it weird? Was it hot? Are you traumatized forever?”
The questions tumble out, and I’m grateful for the chance to just let it all spill.
“Being with my uncle? It was definitely weird at first,” I say. “But then it was just… I don’t know. Hot, I guess? I mean, he’s insanely good in bed, and insanely handsome. You’ve probably heard of him—Hunter Roberts. He’s a construction dude.”
Chloe shakes her head.
“No, I don’t know anything about construction.”
I nod.
“Yeah, but have you heard of Roberts Construction?”
Chloe stares, her blue eyes wide.
“The one that’s building that new development over by the west side?”
“Yeah, that one. My uncle is the CEO and founder. He’s raking it in.”
“Holy fuck,” Chloe murmurs, amazed. “I know your dad is some hot-shot billionaire, but I had no idea your uncle was too.”
“I know,” I say. “I’m surrounded by rich, handsome dudes, and get this—our pastor, whom I’d never met before because I don’t go to church—turns out he’s the hottest pastor I’ve ever seen. Like, he could could be a professional Crossfit athlete, he’s that ripped and muscular. It’s honestly insane.”
Chloe’s face is a mix of awe and jealousy. “This is some next-level stuff, Moreland. So, let me get this straight: you’re sleeping with your billionaire uncle, going with him to therapy with a mega-hunk pastor, and still managing to show up here in a skirt the size of a napkin for $19 an hour?”
I nod. “That’s the bullet-point version.”
Chloe reaches across the table, grabs my wrist, and gives it a little shake. “I’m obsessed with you. No one in this place even suspects. They think you’re, like, a regular salesgirl who’s good with old ladies.”
“Maybe I am,” I say, grinning.
She barks a laugh. “Yeah, right. You’re my hero.”
The overhead lights flicker, and the sound of the front-door chime rolls in from the sales floor. We both sit up a little, instinctively ready to play it cool in case Miriam or one of the other lieutenants stalks through the break room. But it’s just another customer, the familiar drone of high heels moving past.
Chloe leans back, suddenly serious. “Do you think you’re going to keep doing it? With your uncle, I mean? I mean, if he’s hot and you don’t feel like you’re crossing a line, then why not?”
I look into my mug. The truth is still too new to touch, but I don’t want to lie. “I don’t know. I mean, I want to because Hunter’s insane in bed, with an amazing physique. And girl, that man knows how to make you feel all ten inches, if you get what I mean.”
Chloe giggles and nods.
“Then it’s totally worth it. Go get it, girlfriend.”
I frown.
“But there’s the whole family thing, and the church thing, and the fact that if Andie ever found out, she’d literally combust. Also, I’m not sure what happens when my dad gets back. Does it just stop? Or do we go full-blown secret mode? It’s a lot.”
Chloe nods, absorbing every word. “You need a plan,” she says, suddenly all business. “And I want updates. I want a live feed. If you so much as blink in a sexy way, I want to know before it hits your Instagram.”
I smile, feeling lighter than I have in months. “Deal. But you know none of this is on my Insta. That’d be asking for it.”
Chloe stands, rinses her mug, and looks over her shoulder at me. “You’re right. But you’re a legend, girlfriend. Never forget it.”
I snort, following her out into the harsh light of the fitting rooms. The espresso is still burning a path down my throat, but the rest of me feels weirdly clean, like the secret has been scrubbed out of my bones by saying it aloud.
Yet I haven’t even told Chloe the hottest part - that not only am I hooking up with my uncle, but that I might hook-up in a threeway with him and our sexy pastor.
Say what?
Those words were so fucked up, and yet a hot thrill shoots through my secret parts at the thought, and I press my thighs together. I know I already have a rep among my friends as wild, unpredictable, and altogether saucy.
I guess they just didn’t realize how fucked-up I really am … and how fucked-up and crazy and hot things are about to get.
11
ARE WE REALLY DOING THIS?
Stella
The mansion feels emptier at night, even with two humans rattling around inside it. No background party noise, no cleaning crew, no faint echo of a TV or phone call. Just me and Hunter at the kitchen counter, a slab of marble so cold it burns my bare thighs when I hop onto the stool. Above us, the pendant light hangs like a surgical lamp, spotlighting open cartons of lo mein and sesame chicken and the two of us, side by side but each pretending we exist in a vacuum.