Total pages in book: 149
Estimated words: 151384 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 757(@200wpm)___ 606(@250wpm)___ 505(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 151384 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 757(@200wpm)___ 606(@250wpm)___ 505(@300wpm)
“No,” she said with clear horror on her face.
Hell. Maybe he shouldn’t have told her that last part.
“Nothing to be ashamed of, Cherry.”
“Nothing to be ashamed of?” she squealed. Then she shook her head. “No, of course there isn’t since that didn’t happen!”
“You think I’m lying to you?” he asked in a stern voice.
Her eyes widened. “N-no. That’s not what I’m saying. I’m just . . . maybe you imagined it?”
“Cherry,” he said sternly.
“Cupcakes,” she muttered.
He frowned. “You want cupcakes?”
“What? No. I mean, sure, I always want cupcakes. But I also say that instead of swearing.”
“Instead of saying a swear word you say cupcakes?” he asked incredulously.
“Um. Yep. Is that weird?”
“Yeah. Little bit.”
She bit her lip.
“It’s also cute as hell.”
“Really?” she whispered.
“Really, sweetness. You’re sweet in more ways than one.”
“I am?”
“You are. And you don’t have anything to be embarrassed about.”
“I’m not so sure about that.” She wrapped her arms around herself. “And I don’t like that I have no memory of any of this.”
Yeah, he understood that.
“I don’t like that either.” Anything could happen to her in that state. What if someone else found her like that? “You’re not like that every morning, right?”
“N-no. I remember most mornings. I think.”
“But you never remember the mornings that you’re like a zombie?”
“Oh. Uh. Sometimes I do.” Her cheeks had a flush of pink in them as she chewed her lip.
He hated seeing her look so worried and unsure. “Come here.”
She shook her head.
He raised an eyebrow. Yeah. He didn’t think so. Tobias crooked a finger at her. “Come here, Immy.”
“No.”
“Immy,” he said in a low, stern voice. “Do as you’re told.”
“I don’t have to do as you tell me,” she grumbled even as she started walking toward him.
“Actually, that’s exactly what you have to do. Come here.”
She was only half a foot away when he reached out and drew her into his embrace. He wrapped his arms around her, rocking her back and forth. Eventually, she relaxed into his embrace.
“I embarrassed myself,” she whispered.
“Nope,” he said, wrapping his hand around the back of her neck and squeezing lightly. “You didn’t.”
“I did. And I don’t even remember doing it. Acted like a . . . like a . . . baby. So ashamed.”
Fuck no.
He wasn’t having that.
He lifted her up into his arms. She let out a squeal, holding on tight.
“Tobias!”
They were now face to face and he gave her a stern look. “Don’t start that shit with me, Immy.”
“What shit?” She pushed back against his chest, but if she thought he was going to let her go . . . she needed to think again.
“Being ashamed. You have nothing to be ashamed of.”
“I climbed you like a tree! And stretched your T-shirt. I need to replace that.”
“You’re not replacing anything because I’m not getting rid of this T-shirt. I’m going to wear it proudly.”
She gaped at him. “I don’t understand.”
“Immy, you’ve got nothing to be embarrassed about because I thought you were cute as fuck.”
“You . . . you did?”
“Yep. And I’m glad that you trusted me to take care of you in that instance. I just hope that you knew I would look after you.”
“I . . . I don’t know. I know I take a while to wake up properly. Sometimes, I just lie in bed until I’m more fully awake. Other times, I go searching for one of the guys. I know I’m a grown woman who shouldn’t need cuddles to help her wake up—”
“Did you hear me say that?” he demanded.
“Um, no.”
“No. Because who gives a shit if you’re grown or not. If you need fucking cuddles, then you’re gonna get cuddles. Understand?”
She was staring at him with wide eyes.
“Understand?” he growled.
“Uh-huh. Uh-huh. I understand.”
“Good. So what did we agree about what happened?”
“That I’m not to be embarrassed or ashamed and if I need cuddles then I darn well get cuddles.”
Suddenly, his sternness flipped into amusement. The man had more moods than she did pajamas.
And she had a lot of pajamas.
“That’s right, Cherry. All the cuddles.”
Darn it.
That sounded so nice that she wished it was true. But she wasn’t sure that she should accept those cuddles from him. She didn’t know him that well.
Although she enjoyed his company. And he was basically a friend of Cat’s. A friend of a friend was her friend.
That was the saying, right?
“Do you think you could set me down?” she asked.
“Hmm. I’m thinking about it.”
“Umm. Well, do you want to think quicker? Because I need to get hold of Jenner about this afternoon.”
“Fuck. Yep.”
“You know you owe a lot to the swear jar now, right?”
“We’re not at the house, sweetness. No swear jar.”
She grinned. “I brought it with me.”
That wiped the smile off his face. “Darn it. Gonna be fucking broke, aren’t I?”
For some reason, that made her giggle.
Maybe he was right. Perhaps she shouldn’t be embarrassed. Well, she’d try not to be.