Total pages in book: 85
Estimated words: 79938 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 400(@200wpm)___ 320(@250wpm)___ 266(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 79938 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 400(@200wpm)___ 320(@250wpm)___ 266(@300wpm)
After double checking that the front door was locked and the Open sign was off, Meg headed for the back door. She nearly missed a step. God, he was so gorgeous it actually hurt to look at him. He wasn’t as brutally large as Galen, built more like a blade meant to slice and stab than a crushing war hammer. But his white shirt still stretched across serious muscles in his shoulders and chest, and she knew from experience exactly how much strength he could bring to the table.
Stop that.
Stop thinking about that night.
Theo held the door open for her and she caught a whiff of his scent as she stepped past him. It stopped her cold. Sandalwood and spice. A combination she would associate with the best sex of her life until her dying breath. Meg closed her eyes and inhaled, taking in every bit of him she could manage, a junkie in need of the smallest fix.
She couldn’t say yes to whatever he was proposing. It might start with dinner, but it wouldn’t end there. And wherever it ended would only result in her plans derailed, her heart shredded, and her life in shambles.
No, Meg couldn’t say yes.
She forced herself to open her eyes and keep moving. She locked the door behind her and headed for the street. Theo kept pace easily. “No car?”
Who drove in New York? Oh yeah, someone as rich as sin like Theo. “I take the subway.”
“The subway.” He said the words like talking about shit on the bottom of his shoe. “No. Absolutely not.” Theo fished a set of keys out of his jeans and pushed a button, making a car down the street chirp. Meg didn’t need to look at it to know it was expensive. Of course it was.
She clung to her patience with slippery fingers. “Goodnight, Theo.” If she got into the car with him, she had no idea where she’d end up. Not because Theo was some crazy murderer, but because Meg didn’t trust herself with him. Throw Galen into the mix and she was a goner.
No, her only option lay in running as far and as fast as she could.
“Meg.” There it was again, that hint of growl in her name. He stepped closer, his presence overwhelming her despite there being a good foot between them. “Meg, let me walk you to the subway station.” He reached out and tucked a flyaway strand behind her ear, his thumb brushing across her jaw as he withdrew. That tiny touch had lightning dancing beneath her skin. She wanted him. Good lord, she wanted him. Meg was Pavlov’s dog panting for another taste.
“I don’t think that’s a good idea.” She reached out without having any intention of moving and touched his bottom lip. Meg dropped her hand immediately, the memory of his lips on other parts of her burning through her body. What was she thinking? She had to get out of here and she had to do it now. It took every bit of will she had to step back and then step back again. “Please don’t come here again.”
Theo studied her with those gorgeous blue eyes. He seemed to see more than she had any intention of showing, and she held her breath as he considered. Finally, he nodded. “Okay, princess. I won’t come back here again.” He shifted closer and cupped her jaw. Even knowing she should shove him away, Meg couldn’t help leaning in, a flower seeking his warm sunlight. His lips brushed hers, the contact so fleeting she was half sure she imagined it.
And then he was gone, releasing her from the trap of his touch and moving back. “You know where to find me should you change your mind.”
“That won’t happen.” It might happen.
“I guess we’ll see, won’t we?” He chuckled and headed for his car.
“Arrogant ass,” she muttered. Theo might be sin personified, but he was wrong on this note. She would not be seeking him out.
Meg headed for the subway, every step leaching out the spark of energy being in Theo’s presence had brought her. By the time she made it home, she wasn’t a woman who’d caught the handsome prince’s eye. She was just a graduate student with more debt than she knew what to do with and no magical solution for how to keep moving forward.
The door to her apartment was perpetually off its level, so she had to throw her shoulder into it to get it both opened and closed. The flimsy deadbolt wouldn’t keep out a mouse determined to break in, but she’d never had a problem with that sort of thing in the years she’d lived here.
A quick shower and she collapsed face-down in her bed. Normally, she worked too damn hard to be anything but completely exhausted at the end of her days and sleep came with little effort, but tonight her mind wouldn’t stop racing.