Total pages in book: 130
Estimated words: 129323 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 647(@200wpm)___ 517(@250wpm)___ 431(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 129323 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 647(@200wpm)___ 517(@250wpm)___ 431(@300wpm)
“Cassidy, I—”
“Let’s not do this here,” she says, and I raise a brow.
She tries to mask her unease with a smile, but I can see the turmoil brewing. I know it all too well.
“I’m good. Can we leave?” She turns to the window, officially closing the door to any further talk about what just happened.
It doesn’t matter, though, because I don’t need her to say I shouldn’t have kissed her like that. She might’ve been giving me the go-ahead signs, but she didn’t speak the words. Yet again, I forced her into a situation she didn’t choose. I know I messed everything up.
Because now that I’ve tasted her lips again, I’m not sure how I’m going to keep this just business. Assuming after tonight, she doesn’t tell me to go to hell.
I’m fucked.
16
CASSIDY
I’m not going to lie…I’m a hot mess.
Yep.
That’s me.
The idiot who pretended she could separate her emotions and work for this man. Someone who thought she could be subjected to the limelight, groped, and chased down, and not panic.
Hot. Mess. Idiot.
I know without a measure of a doubt, in order to help him, I will have to break my own heart.
I’d gladly fall on my sword to heal him. To save him.
The most tragic part of my misguided plan is that I’ve barely even scratched the surface of things to do for him. Ways to help him. It’s become painfully clear that this Aiden is not the boy I once knew. He’s changed.
Then there’s the whole fact that I’m falling all over myself because of one damn kiss. One incredibly amazing kiss.
Aiden kissed me.
Again.
Sure, we already had sex, but this is different. Feels different.
That night lives in a self-contained vacuum.
Now I’m in his life, living in his home, and I no longer have the luxury to pretend he’s someone else. After the first night, I took all my lustful thoughts, pushed them back in the corner of my brain, and remembered who he was to me and why I can’t get attached. I pretended we were both someone else.
Tonight, Aiden Slate kissed me.
The boy I loved as a brother, a protector…he kissed me, and shit, now I want him to do it all over again.
Re-reading the letters I sent him had helped keep things in check since the night I slept with him. It’s reminded me of why I sought him out to begin with.
But right now—my brain isn’t listening, and neither is my libido. Something unlocked within me when his arms wrapped around my body, and he claimed me for the world to see.
It might’ve been fake, but it felt real.
Because damn, the man can kiss, and now I’m back to remembering everything else he can do, and it has me on edge. Perspiration builds at my hairline. Palms sweaty. Legs pressed tightly together.
Thinking about the way he used my mouth—yeah, not going there.
Or the way he thrust—
God. Damn. It.
Nope.
Not going there.
I’m better than this. I’m stronger than this.
I pull out a letter, desperate to get my head back in the game.
It’s all your fault. Everything. You lied. You never came back. And now my life is over. I’ll never be the same.
I throw the letter as if it’s on fire, all thoughts of anything carnal gone, replaced by pure fear.
The truth is, I’ve been careful what letters I’ve read.
I’ve sorted these so many times. I know which envelope goes with which memory, and I’ve purposely left that one in the box.
Right now, after the incident at the bar, him touching me, I can’t go back to the past. Not there.
I can’t accidentally let my brain think about all that again. I need to do something. Anything that can help take my mind off it. The only problem is, it’s one in the morning. I can’t sleep.
With a long, drawn-out sigh, I pull back the fluffy cream duvet and step out of the bed.
The floor is cold, so I grab a pair of socks from the dresser before I head down the hall.
Maybe I can find a snack in the kitchen. Something comforting. Soothing.
It’s funny, I have barely had time to check out this place despite my curiosity. With the game schedule, we probably won’t be here all too often, but that doesn’t change the interest.
From the moment I stepped into Aiden’s private space, I’ve wanted to explore every nook and cranny. Inspect every item on every shelf. I want to know him. This Aiden. The man he’s become since leaving me behind.
I swallow, shaking off that thought.
It’s eerily quiet as I head toward the kitchen. The fluffy cotton on my feet keeps my steps silent, which is good because I’d hate to wake him. His schedule is nuts, and he needs his sleep.
But when I turn the corner, I startle.
There he is in the kitchen, and what I find knocks the breath from my lungs.