Total pages in book: 61
Estimated words: 60231 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 301(@200wpm)___ 241(@250wpm)___ 201(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 60231 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 301(@200wpm)___ 241(@250wpm)___ 201(@300wpm)
I just don’t care.
Let them talk. They’re going to anyway.
I’ve made so many decisions to make everyone else happy. This—Luke—will make me happy.
“Here’s the thing,” I say, running my hands across his chest. “I don’t think what we have is just a friendship. I don’t think it’s ever been just that.”
His breaths are shaky.
“And I’ve had many life experiences since I left this town, but none of them feel the way I feel when I’m with you,” I say, smiling up at him. “I don’t know what this looks like or how it would work. If it can work. But I am one thousand percent sure I won’t wake up in the morning and regret this. I’ll only regret it if we don’t.”
A slow smile slips across his face. “Well, Ms. Kelley, I’d hate to disappoint you.”
Something tells me that won’t happen.
CHAPTER 14
Luke
“And I’ve had many life experiences since I left this town, but none of them feel the way I feel when I’m with you.”
It’s no wonder this woman has always owned my heart.
I study her, taking in her beauty and intelligence. Her honesty.
I’ve tried to resist her, but I can’t. I want to make her feel good. I want to show her how special she is, how she’s more than a paycheck and an avenue to exploit for personal gain. Although I’ll definitely gain from this interaction.
My heart pounds.
But I stand to lose a lot, too.
Memories of the hurt after she left before are just below the surface, reminding me that I might find myself in that situation again. It would be worse this time. I’m not sure I would survive it in one piece. But as I take her in and consider turning her away, that’s impossible.
I’ve loved her for too long.
Loving her is as natural as breathing. I don’t have to try. And, if I try not to love her, I fail and end up miserable, clinging to the pieces of my life that still make sense and hoping that something changes someday.
Maybe that day is today.
I take a long, deep breath.
I can only hope that Laina feels this way, too. I can only hope that she’ll want to try for more. I can only hope that she’ll want the happiness that has eluded me since she left—happiness that I think she hasn’t been able to find elsewhere, either—and will decide that it’s worth the risk we’ll have to take to try to recapture it. Because one thing is clear to me. My happiness only exists with Laina Kelley.
She landed here for a reason. And maybe that reason is so I can make her mine.
CHAPTER 15
Laina
“Sit down,” Luke says. The words are a command and not a request.
A chill slips down my spine as anticipation starts to get the best of me.
We’ve done this before—too many times to count. I’ve been under him, on top of him, and beside him. But it’s never been like this.
This Luke, the one staring at me with darkened eyes and a delicious smirk, isn’t the sweet and playful guy who took my virginity. This man is confident. Deliberate. And, if I’m really lucky, he’ll take playful to a whole new level.
“May I start by sitting on your face?” I ask, grinning innocently at him.
“Later. Sit in a chair.”
I’m confused about how this will work if I’m sitting at the kitchen table, but I’m curious enough to play along.
“I’m big into foreplay,” I say, facing away from him. “But I’m not really understanding what you’re—oh, wow. Wait. What are you doing?”
Before I can begin the question, my hands are held together behind the chair. My jaw goes slack, and my core heats to a boil.
“Do you trust me?” he asks, his lips brushing the shell of my ear.
I shiver. “Depends.”
“What if I promise you that I’ll make you come?”
“Absolutely. And whatever word means more than that if you make me come faster. I—oh!”
Before I can finish the thought, a black rope cinches around my middle just above my belly button and sucks me against the chair.
“Luke,” I say, my heart racing. “What are you doing?”
“Just playing with you a little bit. If you want me to let you go, I will. Just say the word.”
I try to wiggle my hands but can’t move them at all. It heightens my other senses, delivering a delicious new level of anticipation.
“I can’t play with you if I can’t move,” I say, lifting a brow. “Complicated thing to understand, I know.”
He moves the chair so I’m facing the refrigerator. Then he pulls a chair in front of me and sits.
“I didn’t say you were playing with me,” he says, enjoying himself. “For a woman who writes song lyrics, you sure don’t understand basic English.”
“Very funny.”
He grins. “My God, you are beautiful.”
I wiggle against the rope again.