Total pages in book: 156
Estimated words: 151044 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 755(@200wpm)___ 604(@250wpm)___ 503(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 151044 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 755(@200wpm)___ 604(@250wpm)___ 503(@300wpm)
I took a bite of my pretzel. “Stupid. I miss you and Elara. Can I be done with wedding stuff for a while? It’s no fun doing these things without you.”
“I thought things were going well.”
“They are, but I’m ready to go home. I miss my regular life.”
He sighed. “I miss it too.”
I slid off the massive king size bed and went to my suitcase in the corner. I sure hoped Percy wasn’t around, because I stripped off my pants during my nap and I wasn’t in the mood to put them back on. “Did you talk to your brother?”
“I did yesterday. You were right. He’s pretty banged up over Elle.”
I stopped rummaging and stood up straight. “I don’t get it. She won’t talk to me about this and I don’t understand why she’d break up with him. She was obsessed with your brother long before ever meeting him. I thought they had something real.”
“So did Barrett. But sometimes people invest too much into the assumption and a person doesn’t live up to the expectation. Maybe her crush was more fun than the reality.”
After my afternoon with Barrett I found it hard to see him as the shallow, pretty boy I’d once thought him to be. “If anything, I think she would have discovered Barrett can be refreshingly deep.”
“My brother?” Hale laughed. “That might be reaching. Why don’t you just tell her you know and ask her what’s going on?”
I tsked. “Sometimes I think you know nothing about women. That’s not how we operate. She’ll tell me when she’s ready.”
“Tell you something you already know?”
“Exactly,” I mumbled around the thick end of a pretzel pinched between my teeth like a cigar. “I don’t officially know until she tells me.”
“What are you looking for?”
I took a bite of the pretzel and stopped ransacking my clothes. “I don’t even know. I’m bored.” Now I had to fold all this crap again.
“Well, you’re ass looks great.”
I laughed. “How would you know?”
“Because I’m staring at it.”
“You’re—wha—” I spun and sucked in a huge gasp, instantly choking on salt and spit when I saw him lounging against the doorway, phone in hand. “Hale!” I tossed the pretzel and bolted for him.
He grunted as my body slammed into his with the grace of a rabid carabao. “That’s the greeting I hoped for.”
“I can’t believe you’re here!” I ran my hands over his long, cashmere topcoat, admiring the familiar sight of his Brunello suit as I peppered kisses all over his face. He laughed, silver eyes smiling as he looked every bit like my perfect wet dream.
“Easy. Easy.” He caught my face and kissed my mouth.
I was too shocked to kiss back so I continued to blather against his soft, full lips. “What are you doing here? How? When? Why didn’t you tell me? I can’t believe this! Am I still dreaming?”
“This isn’t a dream.” He pinched my butt and I squeaked. “You’re wide awake.”
I angled my hips closer to his. “God, I’ve missed you.”
His hand slipped under my panties, cupping my ass cheek. “You have no idea.” He crossed the room and dropped me onto the bed, following me down. “Stay still so I can kiss you.”
I laughed and squeaked with unrefined excitement, shoving back his coat and latching onto his body like ivy climbs over stone. “You’re wearing too many clothes.”
His hand went to his belt, the metal clip loosened and he gripped his engorged length. Sometimes there was nothing better than a fully dressed quickie to take the edge off. He yanked my panties aside and I caught his wrist.
“Wait!” I shoved a hand against his chest “Percy.”
“What?”
“Mr. Purcell, my mojo domo guy, he’ll hear us. He’s everywhere!”
“You mean the majordomo?”
“Yes, the butler of my mojo dojo casa penthouse.”
He laughed. “I’m so glad the Barbie movie made such a lasting impression on you.”
“Hale, the Barbie movie is life, but that’s not the point. We can’t have a situation with the butler in the penthouse with the sex. It’ll be like Clue-themed porn, and super awkward next time I send him out for my bagel.”
He cocked his head in confusion then laughed. “Relax, baby. He’s gone for the night. I sent him home.”
“Ohhh. Then, by all means, proceed.” I hooked my leg around his ass and pulled him down for a kiss, my hands roughly yanking his tie to get the knot loose.
“Rayne,” he rasped. “Choking me.”
“Sorry.” I abandoned the tie to jerk other things that needed attention.
He only got one arm free from his jacket before he drove deep inside of me. His pants never hit the floor.
My eyes closed at the familiar fullness and I sighed, all the pieces of my chaotic mind settling into their designated corners. I moaned and stretched beneath him. Hale’s touch had a way of calming my entire nervous system.