Total pages in book: 138
Estimated words: 128980 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 645(@200wpm)___ 516(@250wpm)___ 430(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 128980 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 645(@200wpm)___ 516(@250wpm)___ 430(@300wpm)
“I have Saffron’s birthday party to go to.” I reel off my excuse easily, since it’s true, yet I hold no hope that it’ll make any difference.
“Then meet me before. Line your stomach.”
I cringe as I search Jake out, finding he’s now taken up position on the couch, laptop resting on his long legs. I’m trying to figure out who will be easier to brush off. I know my mother won’t hang up until I agree. Plus, I haven’t seen her for over a week. Yet I can’t very well take Sharp along. That’ll raise all kinds of questions that I don’t want to answer. He’s hardly unnoticeable, with his powerful presence and 6'4" lean frame.
How can I convince him that dinner with my mother doesn’t require him to chaperone? I’ll sit on that one for a few minutes and work out the best approach. I can’t deny I need some space from him right now. All this awkwardness is becoming unbearable. I can’t seem to say or do the right thing.
“TJ is coming,” she adds, sealing it for me. I love that my mum treats him as her own, even though he’s a carbon copy image of the ex-husband she hates. She sees the endearing quality in TJ, just like I do, probably because she worked hard to install it into him from when he was a toddler.
“What time and where?” I definitely see Sharp’s ear cock up as I speak.
“Marvelous! I’ll have my driver collect you at seven. Look pretty, sweetie pie!” She hangs up and I start chewing my lip, thinking how best to approach this.
“That was my mother,” I say casually, wandering into the kitchen to get a glass of water. As expected, I get no answer, not only because I’ve not told him anything that he didn’t already know. “She wants to have dinner with me tonight,” I call, pulling a glass down from a cupboard. “Her driver’s picking me up at seven.”
Again, not a murmur of acknowledgment.
I scowl at the tap as I fill my glass before wandering back into the living space. Jake’s not there. His laptop is closed and now sitting on the seat where his arse was looking comfortable a moment ago. I take a gulp of water, as well as a gulp of confidence, then go on my way to find him and tell him how it’s going to be. With every step, I get more and more confident, and I’m not ignoring the fact that I’m less worried about Mum and her questions about who Jake is, and more determined to gain some breathing space from him. I feel suffocated by…I don’t know what, but I know it is not good.
I’m so wrapped up in my mental pep talk that I forget to knock and walk straight into the spare room. My glass slips straight through my hand and hits the carpet with a thud, splashing water up my legs. “Oh fuck!” I choke, coming face to face with Sharp, naked and with a towel held limply in his hand. He doesn’t move. I don’t move. We’re just staring at each other, my eyes undoubtedly matching Sharp’s. Bugged. Shocked. Useless.
Cover yourself up!
I scream the order in my head, trying to shift the command from my brain to my mouth so I can voice it. My mouth isn’t playing ball. But something else is working, and it’s not to be ignored. I bring my legs closer together to try and stop the pulse from breaking out into a full, hard throb, my eyes dropping down his chest. Every tiny bit of air I was storing tumbles past my lips on a lusty gasp. His cock. It’s long, solid, and twitching.
“Camille.” His soft call of my name barely registers. I’m too rapt by what I’m faced with. Someone save me before I drop to my knees and start worshipping it. “Camille!”
I jump, so much that my back hits the edge of the door, sending a shot of pain shooting through my shoulder. “Fuck!” I reach up and grasp the top of my arm, dazed and confused.
“Are you okay?”
I shake some clearness into my vision, seeing Jake approaching, now with that small towel wrapped low around his tight hips. The definition of his stomach, drifting down into perfect hollows past his lower abdomen, makes me all fuzzy again. “Yes!” I move back, escaping, colliding with the damn door again. “Fuck!” I rub my shoulder. “I’m fine,” I say as I stagger into the corridor. Jake comes to a stop just before the door, a frown marring his face. “I’m going to dinner with my mum,” I blurt, moving away some more.
“I know.” He runs a quick scan of me, from top to toe, probably checking I’m okay. I’m not. My shoulder might ache, but I’m aching more elsewhere. I need to get away pronto.