Total pages in book: 75
Estimated words: 71275 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 356(@200wpm)___ 285(@250wpm)___ 238(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 71275 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 356(@200wpm)___ 285(@250wpm)___ 238(@300wpm)
I backed up, grinning as she looked at me sternly. When I sank back onto the sofa, she moved to take my leg and prop it back up.
“You have to be more careful.”
“I’ll do whatever you want—on one condition.”
She narrowed her eyes. “What?”
“Take off those clothes and sit in my lap for the rest of the day. I swear I won’t get up again.”
A laugh burst out of her. “Seriously?”
“Deadly,” I assured her.
“Do you always think about sex?”
I nodded. “Yes. I think about fucking you every waking minute, sweets.”
“You won’t be thinking about it when my stomach is big and round.”
I reached out and grabbed her hand, tugging her to me. “You’ll have my kid growing inside of you. My own fucking baby mama. Yeah, I’ll think it. I’ll worship you like the goddamn queen you are.”
The musical laughter that trickled out of her as she fell onto my lap made every damn thing that was wrong in my life right.
“King,” she said softly.
“Yeah?”
“I love you, and it doesn’t feel weak. It feels like the most powerful, real thing I’ve ever known.”
• Thirty-One •
I’m just trying to keep the man from going feral on anyone.
Rumor
One would assume a week of being fucked several times a day and treated like the sun rose and set at my feet would give me enough confidence to face the fake engagement party being held tonight. But it was with the man I loved. The father of my child pretending to be engaged to another woman. That was hard. Very, very hard. Perhaps if I didn’t have all these pregnancy hormones racing through my body, I could focus. Be the support he needed to handle the job. Keeping it all in and not making this difficult for him was all I could do.
The knock on the door was a welcome interruption from the thoughts haunting me. I took one last look in the mirror. The dress that Annette had sent to me through Maeme was unlike anything I’d ever worn. The wedding dress that Hill had chosen for me was simple. He’d called it elegant, but I’d thought it was kind of plain. This was elegant. Not to mention expensive. The tag that had still been on it when I opened the hanging bag caused me to rub my eyes and squint to make sure I’d seen that correctly.
I picked up the silver clutch that Maeme had brought with the dress, but all that was inside of it was my phone and some lipstick. Then, I walked over to open the door to the bedroom I’d gotten ready in at Maeme’s. It was no longer called the blue room. She referred to it as my room, and something about having a room that was considered mine warmed my heart. Sure, I missed the cottage, but I also didn’t feel safe being alone. Even if the Insantos had been … wiped out.
Sebastian smiled at me, then let out a low whistle. “Damn, Rumor. He’s gonna fucking kill me.”
Yes. I was afraid of that too. Not because of how I was dressed, but because Maeme had insisted that I not go unattended to the engagement party. Of course she had waited to share this with me until after King left to go to the Kingstons’ house to prepare for the party. They were setting up extra security and planning a course of action if the man who was stalking Scotlin decided to show up. Their hope was he would, and they’d be ready for him. King had told me last night that they believed he was someone on her father’s political campaign.
“You sure you don’t want to change?” Sebastian asked, rubbing the back of his neck.
I shrugged. “I have nothing else. Annette sent this dress for me to wear, and Maeme approved it.”
He simply nodded and let out a nervous, clipped laugh. “Of course they did.”
I waved a hand at him. “You look good in a tux.”
A crooked grin curled his lips. “Thanks.”
It was the truth. He was an attractive man, and I was sure he was well aware of it. Seeing him like this made me anxious about seeing King. He’d be dressed in one too. Remembering how he looked in a tux made my heart flutter. Scotlin would be clinging to him, and that was going to be painful, but I would be the one he came home to.
“You’re ready then?” he asked.
“Yes. Might as well get this over with.”
“My thoughts exactly.”
He stood back so that I could lead the way. Maeme was standing at the bottom of the stairs as we descended, and a big, bright smile lit her face when she saw me. She was dressed in a pale blue satin dress that hung to the floor. Maeme was a beautiful woman, but seeing her like this had me awestruck.