Total pages in book: 95
Estimated words: 92417 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 462(@200wpm)___ 370(@250wpm)___ 308(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 92417 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 462(@200wpm)___ 370(@250wpm)___ 308(@300wpm)
“I’m not going to sleep with her, Xander.”
But I took that condom with me.
FOURTEEN
veronica
I let myself into my apartment and slammed the door behind me. Then I flopped facedown on the couch and screamed into a pillow.
What was the matter with him? Did he want me or not? Maybe it was just the forbidden aspect—he was hot for the nanny.
Or maybe I was the problem. What was the matter with me that I wanted him so badly? Was I trying to prove that I was still desirable because Neil had cheated on me? Was I just desperate for physical affection since Neil had been so stingy with it? Maybe I just needed to give up. Was sleeping with my boss really going to make my life better? Or would it just make me feel worse about myself?
Dragging myself into the bathroom, I stripped off my sweaty clothes and took a shower. I thought about tomorrow, when we’d be stuck in the car together for six hours—and that was just one way. What the hell were we going to talk about? Knowing Austin, he could be silent for the entire ride, but I’d lose my mind.
After I got out of the shower, I towel-dried my hair, brushed my teeth and put on the big white T-shirt I always slept in. It had been Neil’s at one point, and I sort of hated that I still liked sleeping in it, but it was comfortable, and I’d had it for so long that I never thought of it as his anyway. Plus, the only other pajamas I’d packed was a slinky lace nightie Neil had gifted me to wear on our honeymoon. I’d already thrown it out.
I checked my phone for messages—nothing—plugged it in, and turned off the light.
Stay away from that window, I told myself. The shade is already down, so you have no reason to go over there.
I went over there.
Timidly, I peeked around the side of the shade. Austin’s bedroom light was already off. Was he in bed already? Maybe he—
Three sharp knocks on the apartment door made me jump. With one last glance across the yard at his window, I slowly made my way to the door. Don’t get your hopes up, I admonished myself. He’s probably here to list all the reasons why he shouldn’t be here.
After a deep breath, I pulled the door open.
Damn, he was hot.
He’d showered too—his hair was damp and messy, and he wore the sweatpants he’d had on the night we’d kissed by the fire pit. His feet were bare.
So was his chest.
Deep in my body, things went loose, and then tight. My nipples tingled, and I folded my arms across my chest to hide their pointed tips. “Yes?”
“I want to leave early tomorrow. Can you be ready by eight?”
I tilted my head. “You came over here with no shirt on to ask me if I could be ready by eight?”
“Yeah.” He looked mad about it.
“You could have texted,” I pointed out.
“I wasn’t sure if you’d already gone to bed,” he said defensively. “You might not have seen it.”
“So you were going to wake me up?”
His scowl was back. “Look, just be ready.”
“I will.”
“Fine.”
“Fine!” I slammed the door in his face. “Jerk!”
Pouting, I stood there for a moment, fisting my hands in my hair, listening to the furious rapid firing of my pulse.
Then suddenly the door swung wide and he charged in, taking me in his arms without a word. Our mouths slammed together as he kicked the door shut, his scruff rough against my jaw, his hands sliding beneath my shirt. I slanted my head as his tongue plunged between my lips and ran my hands up his chest, chiseled with muscles and covered with hair. He backed me deeper into the apartment, never breaking the kiss.
He came back! He came back!
But part of me needed to know why.
“Wait,” I said breathlessly, gripping the back of his neck as his mouth worked its way down my throat. “Wait a minute. Why are you here?”
“Isn’t it obvious?” One hand moved down the back of my panties, his fingers grabbing my ass, kneading hard.
“I want to hear it.”
“Fine. I’m here to fuck you. Want me to narrate it too?”
I laughed, because it felt so good to be touched this way, to hear him talk this way, to know he wanted me like I wanted him. The scent of him—clean and masculine—filled my head. “Yes.”
Suddenly he swept me off my feet and carried me to the back of the apartment. “I’m taking you into the bedroom now.” He tossed me onto the bed, whipped the shirt over my head. “I’m tearing the clothes from your body.” He yanked my underwear down my legs, his eyes roving all over my skin. “I’m looking at you naked and wondering how the hell I thought I could stay away from you.”