Total pages in book: 141
Estimated words: 129980 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 650(@200wpm)___ 520(@250wpm)___ 433(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 129980 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 650(@200wpm)___ 520(@250wpm)___ 433(@300wpm)
“No. I have no other family. Janine and the children were everything to me.” She twisted her fingers together in her lap to keep her hands from shaking. She didn’t like thinking about that time in her life, let alone talking about it.
“I can understand why you wouldn’t want to disclose your past to just anyone. It must hurt to talk about it.” He dropped one large hand over her hands, stilling them. “Do you have nightmares?”
Azelie pressed her lips together, debating whether she wanted to answer that question. He was a man filled with confidence. She felt she appeared weak beside him. She wasn’t weak. That was an illusion. Others took her quiet nature for weakness, not strength. She believed there was strength in silence. In getting others to talk while she listened—and remembered. She had an excellent memory. Too good. It was impossible for her to forget the smallest detail of the night her brother-in-law had murdered her family.
“Zelie?”
Again, his voice was velvet soft, but when he looked at her, there was the merest hint of disappointment in his eyes. She detested disappointing him. It made no sense that she seemed to need to please him.
“Yes, I have nightmares.”
“Often?”
She bit her lower lip and then forced herself to answer. “Yes.”
“Every night?” he pressed as he turned into the parking lot of the Waterfront Restaurant.
The Waterfront building was located at Pier 7. Renovated from an old longshoremen’s bar, the building dated back to 1894. It was very San Francisco with its old beams and wood.
The valet parking allowed Andrii to open the car door and help Azelie out. The restaurant had spectacular views of the bay, Bay Bridge, and Treasure Island. The atmosphere inside the restaurant was old, eclectic and comfortable. They were seated immediately at a table for two in a more secluded location with a stunning view of the water.
Andrii helped her out of the coat, although a part of her wanted to cling to it. The only thing that made giving up the warmth and comfort of the coat worth it was seeing the way his gaze drifted over her. The way his expression changed, softening the hard edges yet carving sensual lines deeper. The way his eyes heated with desire and what she identified as pride in her.
Andrii handed her beloved coat to the host as he held out her chair for her. She sat carefully. The dress was shorter than she had ever worn before, and when she sat, the tops of the garters showed. It looked sexy, but she wasn’t certain if she liked the way several men in the restaurant looked at her so openly. She wasn’t used to male attention.
Nothing escaped Andrii’s watchful gaze. He noticed her trembling hand as she picked up the menu. Immediately, he placed his hand over hers. “What is it?”
It took a moment to decide whether to answer honestly. He waited for her, not attempting to hurry her. “I’m not used to so many men looking at me the way they are.” The admission came out low and a little unsteady. Again, she maintained eye contact, waiting for his reaction.
“You’re a beautiful woman, Zelie. Men are going to look, and they’re bound to have reactions to the sight of your body. How could they not? It shouldn’t bother you. It’s natural. I’m pleased to be the man escorting you.”
She resisted the urge to pull at the hem of her dress, but she did look down at the plunging neckline to assure herself that her nipples weren’t on display.
As always, Andrii seemed to know what she was concerned about. “Your tits are gorgeous, Solnyshkuh. I love the curve of them and your dress frames them expertly. If there was a malfunction and one slipped out, I would have the pleasure of tucking it back in for you.”
His voice slid over her skin like the brush of velvet. Instantly, she was hyperaware of him, her body reacting to the suggestion of him physically touching her. Every nerve ending leapt to life. Her nipples hardened into twin peaks of desire, feeling hot, like twin flames. A knot of sheer lust formed in her stomach. Her sex fluttered. Clenched.
“You’re with me, Zelie,” he reminded her, his voice gentle. “Trust me to look after you. I am the one that asked you to wear the dress for me, and you did. It’s my pleasure and honor to protect you. You wore it because I asked you to, didn’t you? It isn’t your usual manner of dressing.”
Azelie pressed her lips together and nodded. “I did wear it for you,” she admitted. “I like pleasing you.”
“Does it give you pleasure to please me?” he asked.
A shiver of something far too close to desire went down her spine. It was a strange, intimate conversation to be having with a man—especially one she barely knew. On the other hand, she felt as if they were progressing toward something beyond what she may have imagined.