Total pages in book: 107
Estimated words: 97525 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 488(@200wpm)___ 390(@250wpm)___ 325(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 97525 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 488(@200wpm)___ 390(@250wpm)___ 325(@300wpm)
I stand up and pull off my clothes, leaving them in a pile on the marble floors. I slide the door open and step into the thick white steam of the shower.
The large rectangle enclosure is a cloud of fog, and I can't even see my hand before me. I stumble through the steam, my bare soles feeling their way across the pebbled stone floor until I reach Brant. His skin is hot and flinches at my touch. I don't say anything, only step closer into the hot spray of the body jets. I wrap my arms around his waist and rest my head on his strong chest.
"I'm not very good company right now," he mutters.
"You're always good company." I stand on my tiptoes and press a wet kiss on his lips. It’s too brief and I try to press closer to him, but he tilts his head up and looks toward the tiled ceiling.
"I'm so lost right now," he whispers.
"You have me. Together, we'll never be lost."
"I have you, but for how long? You aren't going to want to put up with this."
I rub the length of his arms and massage along the top of his shoulders, then craw my fingers up the cords of his neck and cup his face. “I’m here with you forever. I've been telling you that for years, Brant. Years when I knew about your condition. Years I've loved you through it. I don't love you despite this. I love you including this. Every part of you, even parts you don't know."
He groans and his chest vibrates against me. “You mean the people I don't know.”
“Well, yes. Just one.” I look up into his face and we are in a break in the steam, the spray of water keeping him into view.
“And you fucked him.”
“Yes.” I wiped away the water from my face, pushing my wet hair out of my eyes.
“That pisses me off." There’s a look I’ve never seen on Brant's face before, one of possession, and in it, I see pieces of Lee. I smile and rise on my toes, trying to kiss him.
He starts to turn his head away but then his palms close on my ass, and he pulls me tightly to him and presses his mouth against mine, his kiss hard and deep and then rips away from me. “I'm jealous of him, you know that? How ridiculous is that?”
“Jealous of Lee?"
"Yes, Lee." He says the name like it is dirty and grabs the bar of soap, rubbing it roughly across his chest.
"It's a mutual dislike. He's extremely jealous of you."
"He is?" The shock in Brant's voice makes me chuckle.
"Are you kidding? The brilliant billionaire who I’m madly in love with? Of course he's jealous. He knows exactly how much I love you, even if you are blind to it."
He rubs the soap slowly over my cleavage, then gently across and around one nipple. I feel our connection return, a righting of the balance between our souls. “So… this is why you won't marry me? Because of how I am?”
I swallow and move closer till our soapy chests are flush against each other. I lower my mouth to his wet skin and kiss the hard line of his collarbone. "It was why I wouldn't marry you. Because of my lies, the secrets I kept from you because of it. I didn't think you deserved a wife with such a huge secret."
He pulls away and studies my face intently, like I’m an equation he can’t figure out. "And now?"
I hold his gaze. "And now ... there are no more lies. Not from me."
His body stills, his muscles growing rigid, and when he speaks, it's only his lips that move. "Are you saying that now..." He pauses, water dripping off his nose, and his eyes are thick with vulnerability, "that you'll marry me? With me like this?"
I step forward, pressing every piece of me against him, wanting to crawl into and hug his broken, terrified heart. "I'm saying that nothing would make me happier."
He groans and presses his lips against mine so hard, so strong, that it almost hurts, his hands grabbing at my skin and pulling me against him as if he will never have the chance to touch me again. "That's a yes?" he asks abruptly, pulling off my mouth, as if the last-minute verification is needed.
I smile, finding his eyes. "That's a yes, Brant Sharp. I will marry you and be your wife whenever you want to have me."
"Yesterday," he blurts, returning his attention to my mouth. "Now." He presses forward and pulls me tighter, making me aware of the size of his need. "Forever."
Then my future husband makes love to me in the shower of our home. And I make sure, for the next fifteen minutes, that no one else crosses his mind. Literally or figuratively.