Total pages in book: 62
Estimated words: 61082 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 305(@200wpm)___ 244(@250wpm)___ 204(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 61082 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 305(@200wpm)___ 244(@250wpm)___ 204(@300wpm)
We can’t work.
This thing between us is just sex.
We have great sex.
Let’s leave it at that.
I scrunch my nose up at his messages, immediately annoyed. What kind of message is that last one?
I reply back.
Leave it at that?
He responds right away.
Yes. I like to bend you over and fuck you so hard that you even forget your own name. That’s our relationship.
I forget your name with my vibrator.
Ha, take that, smart-ass.
Again, he replies almost instantly.
But you don’t because you’re still thinking of me.
I put the phone down, not wanting to delve into it with him anymore.
The week by goes quickly as I start to shop around for locations to set up a new bookstore. I miss my little shop so much. It was my happy place.
Bianca has access to a privileged school, which Jerome has already been accepted into. And with my free time when he starts next week, I want to work again.
I’m eager to fill a store full of novels with love and adventures as crazy as mine, maybe some even more deadly. We all love a thrilling dark romance.
Sweet, fantasy, comedy. I’m down for anything, really.
It’s why I opened my shop in the first place. I’ve always loved books. But when I lived with Scott and was basically a prisoner in his house, I fell deeply in love with the pages and then would have to come back to reality.
Reality sometimes sucks ass.
“Adora, I have to head out. Joey is here.” I’m lying on my bed in my room when Bianca pops her head in. Jerome is doing a trial day today to see if he likes the school. So I’ve been lazing around, reading, and daydreaming.
Scott sometimes enters my head, but I try to get rid of him quickly. One thing I know is that he’s scared of the Rossi family. But when Scott wants something, he finds a way. And that part frightens me the most.
That fear has only been made worse by not having Jerome around me all the time.
What if one day I’m picking him up from school, and he isn’t there?
What if Scott gets to him? Or one of his men?
I have spiraled about this countless times, even after confirming with the school that he would only be released to Bianca or me.
“You okay, or do you need me to stay?” she asks.
“Mother, she will be fine,” Joey states.
“Will I?” I ask him as he comes into view from behind his mother. She kisses him on the cheek before she offers me a wave and walks off. He stands there, waiting for the front door to shut before he makes a move, just a small step into my room.
“Why are you here?” I’m the first to speak.
“Have you spoken to your sister?” he asks.
“No. How is she?”
“I wouldn’t know because I kicked her out.” I sit on the bed, ready to tear his throat out before he continues, “Sent her to a hotel, which is paid up for a month, and told her after that she is on her own. Time for you to stop coddling her.”
“I do no such thing,” I argue with a huff.
“Well, I’m sure when she’s out of money, you’ll hear from her,” he says, shrugging. Joey glances around the room before his eyes connect with mine again. “Will you take a walk with me?”
“Should I?” I ask, my brow quirking all on its own. “I mean, your girlfriend wouldn’t care, would she?”
“I don’t have a girlfriend. I have a non-wife.”
“Hmm…” I stand and reach for a cardigan as it’s starting to get a little chilly, and I hate the cold. “Where are going?”
“Friends, remember?”
“Who fuck,” I add in as I approach him.
“Yes, about that…” He moves fast, his hand gripping my neck before his lips slam onto mine. I let him kiss me, and it’s perfect.
How did he learn to kiss like that? How does he know how to kiss me in a way that all I hear, feel, and breathe is him?
I hate that he consumes me.
But I also revel in it.
Reluctantly, I push him, and he steps back, his lips red and swollen. I bet mine look the same.
“Should we go?” I go to push past him, but he doesn’t move, and I can’t slip by him because he is standing in the doorway.
“Why did it have to be you?” he asks. This man knows just what to say to have my heart beating only for him and crumbling to pieces in the same breath. His hand lifts and brushes back a stray piece of hair that fell across my face. “I wish it were anyone but you. It would have made this whole process of moving on easier.” Gripping my hand, he gives it a small squeeze before we start walking.
He doesn’t let go until we reach the busy sidewalk. When he finally releases me, he slides his hands into his pockets and looks straight ahead.