Total pages in book: 107
Estimated words: 98418 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 492(@200wpm)___ 394(@250wpm)___ 328(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 98418 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 492(@200wpm)___ 394(@250wpm)___ 328(@300wpm)
"He's being quiet because he's terrified of you. He knows we're not close with our parents and that your opinion is the only one that matters to me. That's a lot of pressure on him. Plus, you're not exactly the kind of person who puts people at ease. Especially if they don't know you, I guess you're kind of intimidating." She giggles.
"And why is that funny?"
"Because it's you, I’d never see you that way. You're soft as shit really." She wraps her arms around my waist and squeezes me in a hug. I muss her hair.
"Thanks." I laugh. "Don't tell anyone though, I've got a reputation to uphold you know."
Chapter 20 – Lilly
Theo and I leave Cat's house fairly late. I thought both her and Brad were really lovely, despite Theo's best interest to make the poor guy uncomfortable.
"You know, you could have been nicer to him." I say once we're in the car.
He flashes me an innocent smile that doesn't wash in the slightest. "I have to make sure he's good enough for my baby sister." He shrugs.
"I'm pretty sure you're sister's old enough to work that out for herself." I roll my eyes.
"Yeah, but men are arseholes and Cat's young and naive. I don't want to see her fucked over." He says sincerely.
I stare at him in the darkness of the car. "You two seem really close." I whisper.
"We are. Like I said, our mother was never around much. We only had each other. William and I were always competitive, so we weren't that close, but Cat's always been everything to me." The tenderness in his voice makes my chest squeeze. He sounds so much like Harry.
"Me and my brother are exactly the same." I say. "He pretty much raised me."
"You don’t talk about your family much." He says softly. Oh shit.
"I told you, my dad died in a car accident and my Mother's, well I wish she was dead, put it that way." I try to keep my tone short, unopen to questioning. “Harry’s my best friend, my brother…my saviour.” I whisper.
"So you don’t see your mother or talk to her?"
"No. I hate her." I'm curt, but I don't want to talk about that woman.
“Lilly…” He rubs his hand over his face. “I don’t want to pry, but something’s been bugging me for a while.” Oh god, where is this going? “Do you remember that night at Allure when I pulled you into that alley and you had a panic attack?”
I don’t answer him, only nod. “And then again after the Rosemary Trust function, and then that nightmare.” I sigh. Yep, this is not going to go well.
He turns away from me and looks straight out the windscreen. “What happened to you?” He whispers.
“I…” What can I tell him? Shit think Lilly, think. “I told you before, I have a bad past.”
He focuses on me again. “You never tell me anything about you.” He’s trying to be careful but I can sense his under lying frustration.
“I’ve told you everything about me. I just haven’t told you about my past, because that’s exactly what it is, the past. It doesn’t define me.” I don’t want him to feel hurt by this, but my sordid past is not something that I want to taint my present and my future. I take his hand. “Just trust me when I say you’re better off not knowing. Please?”
He studies me for a long time. His fingers brush my cheek and I can just make out his pained expression. I turn and kiss his palm. “Okay.” He whispers.
"Thank you." I whisper. He nods, but says nothing.
We go back to Theo's house. As soon as we get in I decide to take a shower.
Theo unzips my dress and places a soft kiss between my shoulder blades. "I just need to send an email. I'll be back in a minute."
"Okay" I respond as I step out of my dress.
The water in the shower is scalding hot, just how I like it. It burns my skin pleasantly, bringing it almost to the point of pain, but not quite. I wash my hair with Theo's shampoo, the distinctive citrus scent always reminds me of him. My eyes are closed, rinsing the shampoo away when his warm body slides up against mine.
He brushes his fingers across my cheek before kissing me softly, almost delicately. His touch is soft and careful. I grip the back of his neck and press my lips to his hard, his response is not the usual fire I’m used to.
I sigh. “Theo, don’t treat me like I’m breakable.” I growl. I kiss him again, running my tongue across his lip. His hands wind into my hair as he kisses me back fiercely. He releases my lips and takes one of my nipples in his mouth, sucking hard. I moan at the sensation.