Total pages in book: 114
Estimated words: 111165 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 556(@200wpm)___ 445(@250wpm)___ 371(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 111165 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 556(@200wpm)___ 445(@250wpm)___ 371(@300wpm)
So I get the bill, pay for the drinks and appetizers we didn’t get a chance to eat, and then I drive Marina home.
She’s silent for most of the drive, on the phone texting Naomi, maybe even Jane.
By the time I pull up to her house, I’m exhausted by everything all of a sudden.
“I am so sorry,” she says to me again, taking off her seatbelt, her features shadowed by the streetlight.
“Me too. We’ll just…”
“Do it again,” she says quickly. “Not at Mr. Chow. Let’s just watch a movie. Call it date three point five.”
“Shouldn’t it be date two point five?”
She sighs, looking overly forlorn, which I’ll admit makes me feel a bit better. “I was really looking forward to this.”
I try and brush it off. “Yeah, well, shit happens. I—”
Before I can finish my sentence, she twists in her seat and leans across the center console, grabbing my face.
She kisses me so hard I feel my heart still with the shock of her impulse, her fingers pressed into my jaw, one hand going through my hair and giving my strands a sharp tug.
I moan into her mouth, my tongue sliding in against hers as the kiss deepens. I’ve been needing this so fucking bad and now that I have it again, I don’t want it to ever stop. My dick is already so hot and hard in my dress pants, it’s almost painful.
“Marina,” I whisper harshly, impatient, trying to undo my seatbelt so I can kiss her better, harder, messier. I want to throw her back against her seat, get between her legs, feel every inch of that decadent dress and her soft skin underneath.
But then she’s pulling away and staring at me with huge eyes, her mouth wet from my mouth. “I have to go,” she says quietly.
Then she quickly gets out of the car, shuts the door behind her and heads through the gate down the side of the house.
Gone.
Holy fuck.
What the fuck just happened there?
And holy fuck…
When can that happen again?
CHAPTER NINE
MARINA
“WORLD IN MY EYES”
Where the hell am I?
I stare up at a ceiling. It’s painted blue, framed by crown moldings.
Naomi’s place.
I lift up my head and look around. I’m on one couch in the living room and Naomi is on the other. I’m dressed in my velvet dress from last night. Naomi is in her robe and pajamas. A sea of wine bottles and tissues fill the floor between us.
Memories of last night come flooding into my brain.
Last night was a mess.
I felt so horrible for everyone.
Horrible that Naomi had to walk in on her husband screwing some random woman in their bedroom.
Horrible that I had to bail on Laz in the middle of our third date, in one of the nicest restaurants I’ve ever been to, while Laz was looking so devilishly handsome I could hardly think about anything but him.
And then there was that kiss.
I don’t know what came over me.
That never happened during any other third date I’ve been on.
But he looked so disappointed at how the night went, even though he was trying hard not to show it. I wanted to tell him that…
Hell. I wanted to show him how much I fucking want him.
Because I do.
He’s all I want.
The moment he showed up at my door, he stole my damn breath away. Even though I was still reeling over the phone call with my Aunt Margaret, suddenly he was there like a movie star, a rock star, like that Mr. Mysterious I thought he was the very first night I laid eyes on him.
And while I think I prefer him all scruffed up and beardy as he often is, it was a nice change to see that stunning jawline of his. He’s just so fucking beautiful, even now I feel the heat flaring up between my legs. Parts of me I thought were dormant are coming alive again. And they’re hungry as hell.
Naomi groans, bringing me out of my head. Now if only my body would cooperate. I can’t help my friend if I’m tangled up over my feelings for Laz.
I get up and check on her. She’s back asleep, having rolled over.
I grab a throw from her linen closet and put it on top of her, then get some Advil and water and put it on the table next to her. Part of me thinks I should stay with her but we stayed up until six in the morning and she hadn’t stopped crying once, so I think she needs a lot more sleep than this. I just hope that Robert isn’t that much of an asshole that he’ll come back.
According to Naomi though, she grabbed the gun from her closet and threatened to shoot his dick off, so I don’t think Robert is coming back here anytime soon.
With my phone dead, I have to wait until I’m in my car and halfway home before my phone gets charged and when it finally is I have a million texts from Laz and a voice mail. I assume the voice mail is from him.