Total pages in book: 24
Estimated words: 21838 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 109(@200wpm)___ 87(@250wpm)___ 73(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 21838 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 109(@200wpm)___ 87(@250wpm)___ 73(@300wpm)
God. This is torture. The way she’s leaning, I can see straight down her loose sports bra to the smooth little globes that bounce every time she dances. Or walks. Her vanilla sugar cookie scent is wreaking havoc on my brain. In a perfect world, she would be in my lap right now. I’d slide a hand inside that bra and roll her nipples around my palm, make her purr for me. And I can’t believe I’m having these thoughts while her father is ten feet away. It’s inexcusable.
“You’re free to guess,” I say roughly. “But no winking from me, kid. The less you know, the better.”
She whines a little in her throat and I barely leash a groan. “Are you a bag man for the mafia?”
I stare back stonily.
“Come on, I had to get that one out of the way.” She twirls her ponytail around her finger. “I have far more creative guesses.”
“Let’s hear them.”
“You’re a human wrecking ball, demolishing houses with a kick of your boot.”
I have to crack a smile at that. That’s not completely out of the realm of possibility, considering I’m six-foot-five and built like a motherfucking tank. “Next.”
“You wrestle bears to entertain eccentric billionaires.”
Joe snorts from his position at the stove. “That really paints a picture.”
“What? It’s a good guess!” Her gorgeous face is lit up like Christmas, cheeks rosy. “Dad says there was no man alive who could beat you in wrestling on the ship. Maybe you had no choice but to move on to larger, fiercer animals.”
“It’s true,” Joe pipes up. “Murph never got pinned once.”
Angelica gasps and claps her hands together. “Will you show me a wrestling move, Murph? Please?” Warning bells go off in my head, loud and shrill. “If I get signed by the talent agency, I might have to move to Los Angeles and I’ll need to know how to protect myself. Give me some pointers.”
“She’s moving to Los Angeles?” I shout at Joe.
He holds up his hands. “She’s an adult now. She’s responsible enough.”
“It’s not her I’m worried about. It’s everyone else.”
Joe laughs. “Stop worrying.”
I make a harsh sound. “When you see the kinds of things I’ve seen…”
“In your job as a…” She trails off, gesturing hopefully for me to continue.
“Nice try.” I rasp a hand along my shaved head. “I don’t like this.”
“You don’t like anything,” quips Joe good-naturedly. “We’ve got ten more minutes to dinner. Go show Angelica some moves, then we’ll eat.”
This can’t be happening. This man—my best friend—is encouraging me to wrestle with his hot, eighteen-year-old daughter. Does he think I don’t have a pulse? The Pope himself would sprout wood at the sight of Angelica in those shorts. “Not tonight, I—”
“Please?” She tugs me by the elbow and I go reluctantly, because saying no to this girl goes against my very existence. All I want is for her to be safe, happy. To have everything she deserves. And she deserves a hell of a lot more than some battle-worn mercenary. “Show me something,” she cajoles, stopping in the center of the living room floor, leaving more than enough space on either side of us.
“You don’t need wrestling moves, kid. You need self-defense moves.”
“Fine.” She bounces on the balls of her feet and I have to drag my attention away from her tits. Jesus, if I wasn’t wearing a loose T-shirt, she’d be able to see my erection. I should put a stop to this now, but hell, maybe there’s a devil on my shoulder, whispering in my ear, telling me how good it would feel to hold her. To be skin to skin, her curves wedged up against me.
I grew up without a stable home life. There certainly were no hugs or affection being given out. And because I resemble a beast more than I do a man, I don’t get a lot of human contact at all. I’ve never yearned for it from anyone the way I do with Angelica…and the need is growing daily. I’m starved for the feel of her petite body against mine. Famished. She’s so sweet and feminine.
What would she feel like?
“Okay!” She stretches her right heel up to her butt. “I’ve always wanted to take self-defense classes, actually.”
“Promise me you’ll enroll in some if you…” I have to clear the misery from my throat. “If you move to LA.”
She draws a crisscross on her chest. “Swear.”
“Good girl.” I swallow hard over those two words. God, I’d give anything to say those words to Angelica while feeding her inch after inch of my cock.
Fuck it. If this is my only chance to touch her, I have to take it.
Just for a minute or two, I can pretend she’d be with an ugly fuck like me.
“I’m going to lay down on the ground,” I rasp, following through. “Now you…” I’m already breathing hard just thinking about what’s to come. “You straddle my hips. I’m going to show you how to break free of a mount hold.”