Total pages in book: 124
Estimated words: 116455 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 582(@200wpm)___ 466(@250wpm)___ 388(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 116455 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 582(@200wpm)___ 466(@250wpm)___ 388(@300wpm)
I turned to face him fully and clapped a hand over his mouth. “I don’t recall any such thing.”
I felt JT’s smile beneath my palm, and his expression was warm and affectionate. But the look in his eyes… Hoo, boy. The naked longing there hit my bloodstream harder than Castor’s punch drink.
I had the sudden realization, standing there in the fading summer sunshine, that Jonathan Turner Wellbridge III was flirting with me. How unbelievable was that?
More unbelievable still, I was… enjoying it.
JT grabbed my wrist to hold my hand more firmly against his lips. Then he opened his mouth and ran his tongue along my palm.
It was a little-kid maneuver, but there was nothing childish about the way I reacted. I sucked in a stuttering, shocked breath as my dick went from interested to seriously fucking aroused. When had my palm become an erogenous zone? How did JT know this about me when I didn’t?
Without taking his eyes off mine, JT turned my hand and took the tip of my index finger between his plush lips, sucking slightly. “I could remind you, Firecracker. I’d really like to remind you.”
What the fuck were we talking about? What was my name? All the oxygen in my lungs deserted me at once. My knees trembled, and my cock pulsed against my fly.
“I…” I licked my lips and tried again. “I…”
“Yes?”
“No.” I shook my head instinctively, forcing my mind out of my pants and back to the conversation. “You could’ve reminded me this morning,” I shot back, though the words came out way breathier than I’d hoped. “But you were too busy sneaking out.”
JT bit lightly at my fingertip. “I didn’t want to wake you.”
“Oh, yeah?” I swallowed. “You knew I was at the Tavern all day. But this was the one day you never came by to claim a barstool.”
“You knew I was there all those days last week.” He grinned, satisfied. “You noticed me.”
Noticed him? Was he insane? That would be like not noticing a tornado carrying your house to Oz. Or not noticing that time had stopped. It was amazing I’d managed to get any work done at all.
JT sucked my finger into the wet heat of his mouth just long enough for me to forget what gravity was, then pulled off with a pop and a cocky little smirk that should have been off-putting. Was off-putting. Definitely did not make me want to throw him down on the ground right here at my—
Fuck.
I took a step back and stared at him, panting. “Well, you picked the wrong time to remind me because now we’re at my parents’ house, surrounded by my family.”
JT made a show of glancing around us at the empty woods, but I shook my head firmly. “I can’t, Frog. Really. Not now. Any of the guests from the cottages could walk this way. And Alden’s drunk off his ass, and he’ll need me to drive him and Pop home. And then I have to close up the Tavern since Dan pulled a double today.”
“Okay.” JT ran a hand through his hair. He squeezed his eyes shut and blew out a long breath. “No, you’re right. Not now.”
I nodded and told myself my disappointment was irrational.
Then his eyes opened, and the piercing intensity of his blue gaze froze me in place. “So when?”
“P-pardon?” I squeaked.
“Not now, so when?” He stepped toward me again, and his hand cupped the back of my neck. “I’m not gonna wait around while you overthink things anymore. Especially since you tend to overthink things wrong.”
I scowled. “I do not!” I paused. “What’s that even supposed to mean?”
“It means earlier, back there—” He gestured toward the clearing by the lake where my family congregated. “—I was hoping you’d come talk to me, but you didn’t.”
“That’s because I… I…” Fuck. I had been overthinking. “I was busy.”
“So I decided… I was done waiting for you to come to me.” His hands smoothed up my hips and settled just above my waistband. The heat of his skin against mine felt incredible. And incredibly distracting.
“Oh. Well. Yes. That’s… good.”
“Mmhmm. And I’m done waiting for you to accept the offer Fortress sent me here to make,” he whispered, leaning in to nuzzle at the curve of my neck.
“Y-you are?” I narrowed my eyes. “Wait, so… you’re not gonna try offering me three billion percent profits? You’re not even going to throw in your Porsche? Dan says it’s a sweet ride.”
His laughter coasted over my skin like warm honey. “It definitely is. Would that have worked?” Then he answered his own question before I could. “I know you better than that, Firecracker. It might work if your cousin Brittany was in charge, but you have standards you won’t compromise. I respect that. I promise I do.”
“Oh. Yes. Well. Good.” I tamped down another flare of that same irrational disappointment that he’d given up already.