Total pages in book: 139
Estimated words: 133321 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 667(@200wpm)___ 533(@250wpm)___ 444(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 133321 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 667(@200wpm)___ 533(@250wpm)___ 444(@300wpm)
“And you know this because you looked at my HR file?”
“Yes, Mia,” he confirms. “I looked at your HR file.”
“I guess that’s fair. I googled you. I probably know more about you than you do about me now.”
“You know what I allow to be known.”
“Because nothing is real.”
His hands come down on my hips and he pulls me to him. “Be real with me, Mia, and I’ll be real with you.”
“I dare you to mean those words or not,” I amend, pulling back to look at him. “I don’t have any expectations.” It hits me that he’s made me promises but I have made him none. “If this is pizza and a fuck, then it’s pizza and a fuck and no one will ever know but you and me. That’s as real as it gets.”
He cups my face. “I can already tell you that that’s not real enough, but it’s a start.” He kisses me and once again I’m breathless.
Our lips are still lingering together when someone clears their throat and Grayson smiles. “Let’s go eat that pizza.” He takes my hand and as we walk toward the exit, one word stays in my mind: Real. It’s a word that matters to him. It’s a word that matters to me.
A few minutes later when he helps me into the chopper and we buckle up, I go back to the word “real.” There’s a real possibility I’m in over my head with this man, and yet, I can’t seem to care. The chopper door is still open, and I know only one thing with certainty: I’m not leaving and that's as real as it gets.
Chapter twenty-seven
Mia
The present
It’s not long before Eric and Davis are back at the house. Somehow Eric manages to not only contact his ex-SEAL buddy who he’s hired to help with the Ri situation, but he manages to get Adam to the Hamptons in rapid, nearly impossible, speed.
Adam turns out to be tall, good looking and in his mid-thirties, with dark, wavy hair. “Adam is an expert of disguise,” Eric says as we all gather around the kitchen island. “That’s his thing. He can get anywhere and no one will know it’s him.”
I wonder what Adam’s thing was, but I assume for a SEAL that could just be his ability to kill and protect. It’s a bit disconcerting how comforting that is right about now, but then, my gut is screaming with a warning. We’re wading in knee-deep quicksand, still moving, but there’s the very real possibility that we’re already trapped and going under but don’t know it yet. “Walker Security is a diverse, skilled group,” Adam says, pulling me back into the moment as he responds to something Grayson has asked about Adam’s employer. “Mia,” Adam says, “I need you to tell me about the dynamic between you and Ri.”
Grayson’s displeasure cuts through the air and I have no doubt every person in this house feels the blade. “He wants to fuck her for obvious reasons, but as an added plus, he’d fuck me at the same time.”
Tension curls in my belly. This isn’t a topic I enjoy sharing, but it’s necessary. “He tried to kiss me recently,” I say. “I kneed him. Hard. Really hard. He’s pretty bitter.” I go on to run through the details of Ri finding out that I’m looking for a job and the Monday meeting.
Adam listens without much input and for the most part, Eric and Davis simply take it all in as well. They’re all thoughtful, attentive, intelligent people who will all have opinions, some of which I won’t agree with and some that I will. I prepare myself for the varied opinions, but Adam guides the conversation in an unexpected direction. “We already have a female from our team ready to stay at your apartment tonight,” he says. “With Ri showing interest in you, Mia, I suggest we have me play the boyfriend, and I can hang out with our Mia double at your place.”
“No,” I say, rejecting that idea. “Ri has to think he has a chance to turn me or he’ll go at Grayson ten times harder.”
“Mia, damn it,” Grayson says, his voice low, guttural.
I turn to him, my hand on his chest. “Hear me out. He feels like I’m a weapon. Let him keep that weapon while you knock his legs out from underneath him.”
“At the risk of being pummeled,” Eric says, “I agree. We’ll watch her, Grayson. We’ll wire her. We’ll keep her with you as much as possible.”
“Just make it count,” I say, focused on Grayson. “Use me to take him out before he takes you out.”
Grayson pulls me to him, ignoring the rest of the room. “I will. You can count on it.”
He says those words so damn vehemently I want to cheer. His focus is no longer on getting me out of town. It’s on ending this, on beating Ri once and for all. I push to my toes to give Grayson a quick kiss, but he cups the back of my head and slants his mouth over mine in a sultry, hot kiss that has Eric clearing his throat. “All right then. Time for us to head to the chopper service.”