Total pages in book: 32
Estimated words: 29845 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 149(@200wpm)___ 119(@250wpm)___ 99(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 29845 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 149(@200wpm)___ 119(@250wpm)___ 99(@300wpm)
It’s crazy but maybe my father thought I would be better off. Maybe that’s why he gave me away. No, he’s certain that this man is a cold-blooded killer and a criminal. So I guess he just didn’t care. His life will be much easier without me around anyway.
Man, it’s hard realizing that the only person you have in the whole world doesn’t even want you. Hard and painful. Dads are supposed to protect their daughters and keep them away from dangerous men. Yet, my own father threw me to the wolves to save himself. As if my life isn’t tragic enough.
Fine, if this is my fate, then I’m going to take advantage of it. Chris said that if I behave, nothing bad will happen to me so I’m going to do everything he asks of me. If that means I can live like this, it’s worth swallowing a little of my pride. He’s going to pay me to care for his dogs. There are things way worse than that.
I dry off and turn down the covers on the huge bed. I’m about to get under the covers when I hear a knock on the door. I’m just about to open it, but before I can grab the knob, Chris barges inside. He starts to speak but stops, pinning me with a look I’ve never seen before, something that has my insides twisting.
“Damn, maybe you shouldn’t go shopping tomorrow. Maybe I’ll just keep dressing you in my shirts.”
I try to ignore the throbbing down there. Instead, I cross my arms and raise a brow. “Why bother knocking if you’re just going to barge in?”
He responds with a smirk so sexy I almost launch myself to him. “The knock is a courtesy. If you want me to wait for you to open the door, then get there faster.”
“Sorry, my legs aren’t as long as yours.” I look down at the huge calves exploding out of the legs of his shorts. He’s not wearing a shirt and I can’t take my eyes off his tan skin, washboard abs, and bulging muscles. Looking this good should be a crime.
“I just came back to tell you that if you need anything, the third floor is mine.”
“Okay, I was about to go to bed.”
“Just in case, then. Good night.”
“Good night.”
He’s already halfway out the door when he says over his shoulder, “You can come to me for anything, Cassidy. Anything. Even if it’s in the middle of the night. Whatever you need, I’m here.”
Great. How am I supposed to sleep now that a Roman God has exposed himself to me like this? I wonder if he noticed I was drooling like a kid in a candy store. Someone who looks like that must have women falling all over him every day but that doesn’t stop me from dreaming about what it’s like to be with him.
I sink into the big bed and pull the lush covers over me. I lay my head on the billowy pillows and my mind goes blank. I thought I’d be up all night fantasizing about Chris but being in this bed is like lying on a cloud. I’m out as soon as I close my eyes.
3
CASSIDY
“It wasn’t all a dream,” I whisper as the sunlight comes streaming through the drapes. I’m really here in this house, sold by my father, to a handsome and dangerous man called Chris the Collector.
I think back to everything that happened yesterday and realize with a pang that my life will never be the same, my relationship with my father will never be the same. Who knows how long Chris will let me stay? It doesn’t matter. He’s not asking anything else from me except taking care of—
“The dogs!” I leap out of bed and check the time. It’s still early and Chris didn’t specify when the dogs needed to be fed, so maybe I haven’t screwed up on day one.
Scrambling, I run my fingers through my hair, hoping I don’t look as bad as I feel. I search for my dress on the chair where I left it, but it isn’t there. Someone must have taken it while I was sleeping. But why?
Chris said there are just three of us living here and he’s already seen me in his tee shirt. That just leaves the housekeeper who I assume is a woman. I won’t feel too humiliated if another woman sees me dressed like this.
That settles it then. I’m going to take care of the dogs in an oversized shirt and my underwear.
I creep down the stairs and into the kitchen. The dogs look up at me but don’t move from their beds.
“I see you lived through the night, kitty,” I say when I see the little white puff ball peek at me too. I rummage through the cabinets, searching for dog food, and find it in the walk-in pantry along with a stack of clean dog bowls and a chart showing exactly how much food to give each dog. Perfect. I mix their food and place the two large bowls over the wire fence that separates us.