Total pages in book: 117
Estimated words: 111416 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 557(@200wpm)___ 446(@250wpm)___ 371(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 111416 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 557(@200wpm)___ 446(@250wpm)___ 371(@300wpm)
Or it could’ve been sometime during all those late nights when they kicked up their feet in the living room and shared stories about their careers. Or the mornings she’d roll out of bed to find breakfast already waiting for her on the table with a mug of freshly brewed coffee, prepared just how she liked it.
Or when she finally gave in and began to wrap her arms around him every time they rode the Harley.
Or the way he whispered her name when he was deep inside her.
Or the way they looked so perfect together in that ceiling mirror.
She hadn’t thought too much about it until now. She could no longer deny it did happen, and when she wasn’t expecting it.
Maybe she’d been avoiding the truth because this was only supposed to be an assignment and nothing more.
But when she stepped between his legs and he hauled her against him, pressing the ice to her aching cheek and studying her face, she knew without a doubt things had changed.
At least for her.
She tried to imagine coming home at night to an empty apartment and she no longer could.
Yes, they hadn’t slept together all night. Not once. But that was because she had been trying to avoid any kind of attachment. To prevent their working relationship from moving into one more personal.
But not staying in his bed all night hadn’t hampered that. It was the time while they were awake that grew the connection.
“You okay?” he asked softly again.
She snapped herself free from her surprising—and a little bit disturbing—discovery. “You already asked me that.”
“Yeah, and you told me ‘fine.’ Coming from a woman, that word isn’t as reassuring as it should be. I want you to be honest with me.”
“I have no reason to lie.”
He studied her face. At least the part not covered by the ice pack and his big hand.
When she avoided his eyes, he used her chin to turn her to face him. “What’s going on?”
“Nothing.”
“Bullshit. I’ve seen you naked, Nova, now I want the naked truth. I’d be stupid not to expect a reaction after what I did but not quite the reaction you gave me when we were both playing a part.”
“You thought I was overreacting?”
It took him a few seconds before he answered. “I wouldn’t call it overreacting but I saw something on your face that caught me off guard.”
“Your handprint?”
His lips thinned. “No. Something deeper than that. And you’re trying to avoid talking about it.”
“If me wanting to avoid a certain discussion is true, then you should respect that.”
“You just confirmed my suspicion.”
She raised her gaze to his. “Of what?”
“Here’s the thing… I expected you to get pissed and you had every right to be. What I didn’t expect was you to be hanging onto that anger the way you did. Especially after you were pushing both me and Stitch. I figured you were trying to distract him from asking too many questions, so I added to your distraction with something even bigger. I apologize.”
And, of course, what he did worked. “Fletch, I’ve already let it go.”
“It’s still lingering since it’s coming from a deeper place.” He tapped gently on her chest with his index finger.
She sighed, grabbed the towel-covered ice and pulled away from him, giving him her back, so he could no longer analyze her reaction. “No woman likes to be hit.”
“No shit.”
“It’s worse when you can’t protect yourself.”
“I’m sure plenty of ol’ ladies crack their ol’ men upside the head when they step out of line. Stitch probably wouldn’t have blinked if you had hit me back.”
“I’m not talking about bikers, Fletch.”
He grabbed her arm and spun her around. “Family?”
“Not the family you’re thinking of,” she murmured before downing the rest of her beer and putting the empty bottle aside.
It only took that long for Fletch to read between the lines. The man was far from dense. He was sharp and had already proven to her that he was damn good at his job. So, of course he’d easily pick up on what was only an insinuation.
The fact was, she trusted him. She’d never trusted anyone in her line of work as much as she trusted Fletch. It actually surprised her that she wanted to tell him something she’d kept from everyone else, including her co-workers, her superiors, even her friends and family.
Because of having to prove herself in her line of work, she never wanted to fail at an assignment, especially with one so big and important as the Russos. She was embarrassed with how far she had to go to prevent that failure.
However, she could see her personal relationship continuing with Fletch even after this assignment was over. And if so, then what she was about to reveal would come out eventually anyway. Whether tonight or another night when they were lying next to each other in bed and sharing secrets in the dark. Because she had a feeling that was where they were headed.