Total pages in book: 47
Estimated words: 46599 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 233(@200wpm)___ 186(@250wpm)___ 155(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 46599 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 233(@200wpm)___ 186(@250wpm)___ 155(@300wpm)
When I saw him, the man I’ve dreamed about every single night since I left, I panicked.
No, I freaked.
I could barely talk. And then I realized he didn’t even know who I was. So the name came out, just like that, blurted before I had a chance to think about what I was saying, what I was doing.
I silently pray that there are other partygoers in the pond area. And yet a part of me – the deep-rooted part which pulses every time I think about him – hopes the exact opposite.
We’ll be alone, and then….
And then what?
What’s my long-term plan here?
I can’t let him believe I’m somebody else forever.
We round the corner, the small pond coming into view. The garden is wilder around the edges, weeds growing, scaling the walls, the grass longer.
My chest tightens when I realize we’re alone. The sounds of the party seem distant, from a different world.
When I turn, I find him staring at me.
I almost melt, gazing at him with my body thrumming, my thoughts expanding with everything that could happen. But then I have to remind myself.
He wouldn’t be here if he knew who I was.
He thinks I’m June, the first name that came to my head.
He steps forward, looking powerful in his pale blue shirt. His sleeves are rolled up, his shirt open at the top, giving me a glimpse of his chest muscles. He seems bigger than I remember, his clean-shaven jaw tight, his eyes narrowed as he stares captivatingly.
“Do you like it?” I ask.
He takes another step, so close I could reach out and touch him. Maybe another woman would. She’d have that courage, the confidence to believe he’d touch her back, kiss her, respond to her attention.
But that isn’t me. It’s difficult enough just to meet his gaze.
“It’s beautiful,” he says, but he never takes his eyes off me.
“I prefer it back here,” I say quickly. “It’s better for photos. It’s so wild, so…so untamed, you know?”
I wonder if he guesses I’m secretly talking about him. I wonder how he’d feel if he knew.
“Untamed.”
He smirks, making my legs tingle, my sex flutter, and my soul soar.
A silly part of me screams Ben Bradshaw is smiling at me!
“Yeah,” I say. “Don’t you think?”
He nods, taking another step. He’s almost touching me now. I have to crane my neck to look up at him. His rock-hard chest muscles are right there, tempting me to reach out, to press my hand against them.
“I think that’s a perfect word,” he snarls. “But don’t you want to tame it?”
“What, the garden?”
He chuckles gruffly. “What else?”
“Well…uh, that’s not really our job since this is an Air BnB.”
Our eyes meet, and his smirk widens.
I laugh, but it’s more like noise to let out tension. There’s nothing funny about this.
Everything feels significant, like it matters, and I can’t help but wonder if this is what falling in love feels like.
Idiot, I scream in my mind.
Falling in love?
We’re staring at each other, nothing else. And sure, he’s getting even closer. And sure, it looks like he might kiss me.
But then he pauses, his face bare inches from mine.
“What do you do, June?”
I flinch at the use of my best friend’s name, the name I stole. How long until he finds out who I really am?
“I study photography,” I murmur. “One day, I want to work as a photographer. Maybe traveling or for weddings. Anything, really. I love it. I love everything about it.”
“I can tell,” he says seriously. “You’re going to do very well.”
I shake my head, stunned when he moves even closer.
Our lips are almost touching now.
“How could you possibly know that?” I ask.
I feel his breath against me when he laughs, warm and welcome. My mind fires hotly with the notion of him kissing me. My legs feel like they’re going to start trembling, my skin tingly, nerves buzzing up and down me.
“Your passion,” he snarls. “I can tell how badly you want it.”
“I do,” I whimper, wondering if he knows I’m not just talking about taking pictures.
“How badly?” he snarls, reaching out and grabbing onto my arm.
I gasp as he squeezes.
It’s not hard, but it’s not soft either. I can feel the strength in his touch. He wants to let me know how strong he is and how much power he has over me.
He leans down, his lips moving toward mine.
My whole freaking being is shattering over and over as if trying to comprehend this moment that is too much to handle. I can’t believe he’s doing it.
He’s going to kiss me.
I can’t believe he wants to kiss me, but then his lips are so close to mine, almost brushing.
“Becca,” Alex calls from behind the private section of the garden.
“Yeah?” I yell in response.
It’s a reflex.
But it’s too late.
Ben takes several steps back, tilting his head at me. Then he looks closer as if finally remembering who I am.