Total pages in book: 60
Estimated words: 55383 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 277(@200wpm)___ 222(@250wpm)___ 185(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 55383 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 277(@200wpm)___ 222(@250wpm)___ 185(@300wpm)
That reason formed like a rolling picture in his head that wrapped around his brain and wouldn’t let go. Maria. Naked. Under him. In his bed. Under his control. . .
Yeah, his reason for staying was as simple and as complex as that. He wanted her. And he would have her.
Chapter Four
When Maria arrived downstairs the next morning, Beth glanced up from the reservation desk, a somber expression on her face, as if the light had already been extinguished from the day. “He’s not here.”
Knowing exactly who ‘he’ was, Maria let out a slow breath. “Where is he?”
“He went to the Keys, I think to meet that land-developer guy. That Villareal dude is kind of scary, isn’t he?”
“Yeah. I wouldn’t want him for an enemy, that’s for sure. But I’m pretty sure he’s met his match in Garrett.”
Beth nodded her head in agreement. “Garrett said to tell you that he’ll be gone for a few days.”
Maria smiled at the other woman. “Well, yay for us, right?”
Beth gave her a puzzled smile in return but shrugged her shoulders. “If you say so.”
****
Late the next evening, Maria wearily pulled herself out of the water, her arms and legs shaking from the two extra laps she’d added to her routine. Turning to grab a towel from the table, she sucked in a breath at the sight she encountered.
Garrett was leaning against the same chair where he’d been the first time she’d seen him . . . and he was doing the same thing now as he had been then, staring at her relentlessly. He was fully dressed, didn’t appear to be about to make use of the swimming pool, and she knew he’d sought her out on purpose. Her entire being flooding with something she wasn’t about to try to dissect, she ignored the flutter in her belly. “Hey,” she threw out nonchalantly as she wrapped the towel around her torso, not bothering with her hair.
“Hey,” he grunted back.
As she ran her damp palms down the sides of the towel, she stated the obvious to break the looming silence, “You’re back.”
“I am.” His words were precise and succinct, leaving her no indication of his mood, and at the same time, they kicked the butterflies up to such a degree that it was now impossible to ignore the quivering in her belly.
The fact that her belly was quivering—that only made her want to get away from him, from whatever it was that was making her feel this way. She stood perfectly still, wanting to get to the door but not prepared to have to walk so closely past him to reach it. “So . . . how was your trip?”
“It sucked shit.”
She glanced at the door again, gauging her possible escape. “I’m sorry,” she mumbled distractedly under her breath.
“Are you really?”
Having no idea how to respond to that, she lifted her shoulders, just once.
His eyes narrowed, as if finally understanding that she wanted to be any other place than where she was standing now. “You want to know why it sucked shit?” he asked impatiently.
Maria had no clue where he was going with this, but she didn’t think she cared to follow, so she shook her head.
Her negative response didn’t stop him from giving her an answer, though. “It sucked shit because Villareal happens to be a player. Evidently, he thought the way to soften me up to his terms was to get me laid.”
The blunt response sent a provocative shiver down her spine for several reasons. One, she didn’t want to think about Garrett getting laid. Two, she didn’t want to acknowledge the reason she didn’t want to think about him getting laid. And three, the question of why he was telling her all of this was screwing with her head and making the butterflies stronger, all at the same time.
When she continued to remain silent, he pushed away from the chair and took several steps towards her, as if he were stalking prey. “You want to know the reason that the thought of getting laid by some random chick in the Keys sucked shit, Maria?”
Quickly, she shook her head. No, she didn’t think she wanted to know. Not if she didn’t want a mess of convoluted crap exploding this very second.
He took another two steps forward and stopped, blasting her with an angry, accusatory look. “Can’t think about fucking anybody but you.” As he scanned her up and down, his words sent a vicious hit to her equilibrium and she put a hand out to the table, balancing herself before she fell over.
He resumed walking toward her and Maria began scooting backwards, until her back hit the tiled wall. Within seconds, he came to stand in front of her, and lifted her chin with a single finger. His voice when he spoke was low, rumbling, “I know this is the point where you start screaming about lawsuits and harassment.” He stared down into her eyes and she began having to fight an almost-overwhelming need to lean into him. His words turned harsher as he continued, “but I don’t want to hear that shit right now. Do me a favor and save it for later.”