Total pages in book: 38
Estimated words: 36820 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 184(@200wpm)___ 147(@250wpm)___ 123(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 36820 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 184(@200wpm)___ 147(@250wpm)___ 123(@300wpm)
Owen drops a towel and then drags his eyes over to me. “What?”
Since I know he heard and he’s not stupid, I cross my arms over my chest and wait for an answer. His eyes briefly skate over my body before settling at my lips. How a man can manage to set me on fire with just a heated look is beyond me.
I shiver under his intense stare. “You promised me hugs. I’m cashing in.”
At this, he softens and opens his arms to me. I all but run to him. As his arms wrap around me, I inhale his scent and bury my face against his chest. He rubs his hand up and down my back until I melt in his arms. Just when I think things might progress, we hear footsteps. Both of us jerk away from the other. Rhett passes the laundry room without so much as a hello, but the moment with Owen is gone.
“Mei,” Owen says, voice rough and pained. “We should forget what happened last night. It was wrong.”
His words dig into my flesh and then rip through me, flaying my heart open to him. Rather than tenderly taking it like I want him to, he sighs sadly and continues with his laundry sorting.
“Right,” I murmur, voice wobbling. “Night, Owen.”
It takes everything in me to keep the tears at bay as I go to find Addison. She reluctantly passes my sister to me, sensing my emotional stress, and starts to say something. I force a polite smile before ducking out.
Penny grunts when I squeeze her hard to my chest. I relax so I don’t make her angry, and pat her back to calm her. I’m almost to her and Mom’s room when I hear my mother’s voice through the door.
“You promised,” she hisses. “Why would you do that? You know people can’t see us together. It’s too risky.”
I can’t hear the response, but whatever was said, Mom huffs in frustration.
“I know. I want to freely see you, too, but we have to be discreet for now.”
Penny cries out and smacks the door my ear is leaned toward. Mom ends the call before opening the it, regarding me with a tired gaze.
“Who were you talking to?” I ask softly.
Her expression hardens. “Bed time, Penny. Let’s go.”
I pass off my little sister to our mother and try not to let it affect me when the door is closed in my face.
At this point, loneliness is my only friend, lover, and parent.
And I hate it with every fiber of my being.
Chapter 9
Owen
The guilt is eating me alive.
Guilt from touching her by the fireplace? I thought that would be the problem. Turns out, the pain I feel is for abandoning her when she clearly needs me now more than ever.
I’m sorry, Mei.
I’m really fucking everything up.
Why can’t I be a normal man in a stepfather role? Mei is so different than Addison. My daughter will always be a little girl whom I take care of. Though not much older, Mei is all woman to me. It’s as if my brain and heart are at odds when I’m around her. The sane part wants to comfort her and the horny part wants to strip her naked.
I’m an animal.
No other way around it.
And, since I can’t seem to stay in control of my fiery impulses around her, it’s best to put the necessary distance between us.
But that fucking sucks.
She’s so sad. Because of me.
I don’t know what to do.
Forcing away thoughts of Mei, I climb out of my car at the house my GPS took me to. It’s a cute, older home in a cookie-cutter neighborhood. Though I’ve never seen it before, this property will technically be mine in a few weeks. It’s strange to think it’s the reason for the whole fake marriage with Jin.
Why was she so obsessed with the old woman who lives here that she’d approach one of her own patients with such a proposal?
I suppose these are questions I should have asked myself weeks ago, but I was in a bad mental place because of Leah, and desperate for my own solutions. Having Jin as my wife has seemingly kept Leah at bay. For now.
A police cruiser pulls up along the curb in front of the house and my stomach tightens. I wouldn’t put it past Leah to try and have me arrested for something stupid.
Like nearly fucking your stepdaughter?
There’s no way she would know about that, plus, Mei is eighteen. That’s just paranoia creeping in. I toss a wave over my shoulder and stride toward the house. I hear the cruiser car door open and close as I knock on the front door. An elderly woman tells me to come inside, so I do, eager to get away from the cop. As I walk into the living room, I’m hit with a sweet cinnamon scent that makes my stomach grumble.