Total pages in book: 110
Estimated words: 107557 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 538(@200wpm)___ 430(@250wpm)___ 359(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 107557 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 538(@200wpm)___ 430(@250wpm)___ 359(@300wpm)
Yeah.
He should be embarrassed.
But fuck him, he wasn’t. Because he, Antonio Alvarez, was the lucky bastard climbing the stairway to heaven.
Once he reached the second floor of the three-story brick building, he stepped over to the railing and glanced down at the badly lit, totally unsafe parking lot.
He was actually a little worried about leaving his baby unattended. His Hellcat was parked in a visitor spot across the lot, but he had taken note of the vehicle parked in the stall assigned to her unit. Sapphire’s newer bright yellow Toyota Supra was a hell of a lot nicer than he expected when compared to where she lived. If she had faith her vehicle would be there when the sun rose, then he guessed he had to, as well.
He wasn’t even aware Toyota made that model anymore. And he had no fucking idea how the hell she drove that sports car in bad weather. Southwest Pennsylvania certainly got its share of snowstorms every winter that dumped not just inches, but sometimes feet of that white, miserable shit.
When he retired, he was picking up and moving his warm-blooded Venezuelan ass somewhere tropical. No snow, no sleet, no freezing rain.
Maybe even back to his parents’ birthplace.
He stopped at her apartment, located at the very end of the building, and even in the terrible lighting, he could see the paint peeling from the dented and rusting metal door. Before he could lift his fist to knock, the door was flung open.
Standing in front of him, just inside that door, was Sapphire in a royal blue silk robe cinched tightly at her narrow waist and clinging to all of her luscious curves.
Without waiting for her invite, he pressed past her and she closed the door behind him. When she turned, his head twitched when he got a good look at her face in the light.
Every time he’d seen her, her makeup had been on point. But after she got home, she must have showered off the stench of The Peach Pit and now stood there with a face scrubbed clean. She almost looked like a different person. Especially with her long dark hair—sans the extensions she had in earlier—pulled up high and tight in a ponytail.
She went from the sultry seductress he was with a few hours ago at the club to the girl next door.
Almost.
She was still sexy as fuck au natural and wearing a robe that covered more than the dresses she wore at The Peach Pit.
“Are you okay?”
“Mmm hmm.” He was still processing what he was seeing.
“Why do you look shell-shocked?”
“Umm.” Not shell-shocked but amazed and impressed with her natural beauty. But he wasn’t sure if saying that would be an insult.
Bottom line, he came here to get laid, not get his ass kicked out the door.
“What? Am I scaring you or something?”
He huffed out a, “Hardly.”
“Then let’s hear it,” she demanded.
“You look…” He had to word this carefully.
“Rez…”
“Goddamn gorgeous.” That was careful enough. Also, so damn true.
Her mouth twisted. “Thank you?”
For fuck’s sake, he was going to fuck this up by saying the wrong thing and then be standing outside looking in with his dick in his hand instead of inside her.
“Don’t get me wrong. I’m not saying you don’t look gorgeous when you’re all made up for work. You look like fire, Phire.” He snorted at his own word play. “But even when you were dressed casually over at Mel and Finn’s house, you still had your face all done up. Lipstick, fake eyelashes, your hair. All of it. Now…”
“Now?”
“Now I don’t know which look I like better.”
“Do you have to choose?”
“I guess not. Can we drop this so I don’t fuck up, which I tend to do, and then you decide you don’t want to have sex with me because I’m too much of an asshole?”
“Nothing you have said would make me think you’re an asshole.” She lifted one eyebrow. “So far.”
“That’s what I’m saying. I’m in the clear right now. I’d like to keep it that way.”
She shook her head and laughed softly. Jesus fuck, even her laugh was husky and made his balls pull up tight.
When she turned back to the door to engage the deadbolt, he practically shoved her out of the way to take a better look at it. “Your screws are loose.”
“Pardon me?” she squeaked.
He pointed at the lock. “The deadbolt. Not you. Have your landlord fix that.”
She sighed. “He isn’t fixing shit. One reason these apartments are cheap is because nothing gets fixed.”
Also, because they didn’t seem safe. The exterior wasn’t well lit. He hadn’t noticed any security cameras outside, either. The section of Rockvale where her complex was located was only a step above where the Blue Avengers clubhouse was. And that wasn’t saying much since The Plant was in an abandoned industrial section.