Total pages in book: 95
Estimated words: 89592 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 448(@200wpm)___ 358(@250wpm)___ 299(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 89592 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 448(@200wpm)___ 358(@250wpm)___ 299(@300wpm)
She smells delicious, I can’t wait to devour her. We’re in our own car as soon as I ensure Ashley is in a car to take her home. As Sidney and I ride in the back of the Phantom, I fill her in on small details I believe she should know for this evening.
I watch through her eyes as her brain absorbs and turns over details. I’m confident she’s ready by the time we pull up to my parents’ estate.
My jaw tightens. In college, I used the connections I gained to build my future. I got to know all the right people for the time when I planned to make my own way in the world. Some think my father’s money is what afforded me my reach. I beg to differ. I made my name and reputation on my own merit and relentlessness.
The men who have chosen to deal with me do so out of respect for me. Not their ties with my father. I know that rides his nerves. I had my claws in too deep by the time he noticed what I’d done and planned to do.
I became my own man without his dictatorship. I learned a long time ago, my father does what’s best for what he wants. He would leave me out to dry if it meant getting what he wanted. I’ll never be put in that position again. Which is why I need Sidney and this engagement to buy me some time to get back from underneath him.
Sidney’s small hand on my thigh calms me, bringing me back from my dark thoughts. I turn to find her watching me. Seeing her concern, something tugs in my chest. Her beauty draws me in.
I reach to cup her small face, capturing her lush lips. As if she knows how much I need her in this moment, she reaches to lace her fingers in the back of my hair. I devour her for a few more moments before I have to force myself to release her. I place my forehead to hers, collecting myself.
“They can’t be that bad.” Her sweet voice fills my ears.
I scoff. “You’re a guest. They’ll behave for you, but I’ll be in for it every time you disappear from my side.”
Sidney pulls her head back to look up at me. “Am I not the kind of woman your parents would approve of?”
I can hear the accusation and wariness in her voice. I shake my head, pecking her forehead. My father is an asshole at times, but I could never call him a bigot. I smirk as I reveal a little-known fact.
“My great-great-grandmother passed the entire time she was married to my Scottish great-great-grandfather. She only hid her race because my grandfather feared for her safety when he would have to travel. It was at the very end of their lives, after her husband passed that she revealed to their circle the truth,” I say.
Sidney lifts a brow. “Um,” she murmurs.
“Let’s go, Love. I have a fiancée to show off.” I lift her finger to my lips, kissing the ring I placed there.
I can feel the nerves running through her as we enter the house. I squeeze her hand in my grasp to remind her I’m here with her. She has nothing to be concerned about.
We’ll have dinner, play nice and return to our home. Our home. I like the sound of that.
Again, I question releasing Sidney ever. Watching her plan our wedding, something inside me rose, wanting to complete the process and see to it she remains in my life.
Initially, I hadn’t planned to pursue the wedding entirely. Somewhere along the line, as I planned and lined things up, I changed my mind. Yet, I considered only remaining married until I’ve had my fill.
Not now. Now, I don’t know if I’ll actually have enough of Sidney, even after I have my first full taste.
I give our coats to Mark, my parents’ Butler. Sidney looks around the foyer, taking it all in. I grew up in this house, but I try to see it from her view.
“Clayton, what’s the meaning of this?” my father bellows the moment he enters the foyer, surprising me.
“What would you be talking about?” I reply, completely unfazed.
“The embarrassment of it all,” my father huffs in indignation.
Sidney stiffens at my side. I give her fingers a gentle squeeze before releasing her hand to wrap my arm around her waist. I pull her to my side and watch my father’s expression the entire time.
He eyes Sidney with those sharp blue eyes. My father has aged well. If he would stop stressing about what my brothers and I are doing with our lives, he may fare even better.
Yet, he’s still a handsome man. My brothers and I look like a mix of him and our mother. I get my eyes from my mother, my hair from my father’s side.