Total pages in book: 158
Estimated words: 160684 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 803(@200wpm)___ 643(@250wpm)___ 536(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 160684 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 803(@200wpm)___ 643(@250wpm)___ 536(@300wpm)
“What? What changes? And why wouldn’t I insist on living there? I have nowhere else to live.”
“Sure, you do,” Steele continued. “Eventually, you’ll move in with us. Sooner rather than later, I’m thinking.”
29
Was this a dream?
It had to be, right? Because Steele had not just said what she thought he’d said.
Eventually, you’ll move in with us.
That had her more than a bit freaked out.
This was nuts.
More nuts than her usual nuts. Which was saying something.
“She’s gone silent. That’s not a good sign,” Grady said.
“We need to get her out of her head.”
Huh?
“I’m not in my head.”
“Baby, you’re totally in your head,” Steele replied. “Perhaps, you should have ridden in the back with her. Kept her from overthinking.”
“How would he have done that?” she asked curiously. Because she’d tried a lot of things. None of them worked.
“Well, I’d do it by kissing you,” Steele said. “Not sure what Grady would do.”
She couldn’t breathe. Was he . . . was he serious?
She barely noticed him parking in front of a diner.
“I’m not . . . I don’t understand what’s happening,” she whispered.
“I’m just going to lay it out there as we both like honesty,” Steele said.
“All right.” She braced herself.
“We both want you, Effie.”
That . . . that was it?
They wanted to have sex with her?
There was no denying she wanted that too. But more than she wanted sex with them, she needed her job.
“I . . . I can’t.”
Grady turned to look at her. “This isn’t a good place for this conversation.”
Steele grunted. Was that a yes or a no grunt?
“You don’t want us both?” Grady asked in a tight voice. She wasn’t sure exactly what he was thinking. But she was still too busy reeling from what they’d said. It shouldn’t be a complete surprise. She’d often wondered if Steele wanted her. But she hadn’t thought he’d bring it up. And she hadn’t been sure that Grady felt the same.
What about their rule about fucking employees?
Did that mean she was fired?
“This is . . . I can’t even think . . .” Crap.
“This really comes as such a surprise?” Steele asked.
She shook her head. “Not exactly. You don’t act like ordinary bosses. You call me baby and Twinkletoes. And you care about me. And help me. But I didn’t think . . . you’ve got that rule about sleeping with your employees. Does that mean I’m fired?”
“No, Effie,” Grady said firmly. “That’s not what this is about.”
“We don’t want to fuck you, baby.”
“I don’t understand,” she whispered.
“So much for blunt and to the point,” Grady said dryly.
“What we are trying to say is that we want more with you, Effie,” Steele told her. “We don’t want a quick fuck. Baby, we want you. All of you.”
They wanted her.
Wanted her.
“Both of you?” she managed to ask. She forced herself to look at them both as they turned to her.
“I want you, Effie,” Steele said. “I want you in my bed. But more than that, I want the right to protect and take care of you, to nurture your dreams. Hug you when you’re down and discipline you when you break your rules. I haven’t felt this way about a woman. Ever. I . . . I lost my sister a long time ago and she was my world. She and Grady. After that, I decided I never wanted to be with anyone that I might risk losing. But you’re in my head. You’ve snuck your way through my barriers. And now . . . I don’t see my life without you in it.”
“But we barely know each other.” She licked her dry lips.
“That’s why we’re going to date. That’s why we decided to take things slow. To get to know each other. But I think we’ve gone too slow. I want the right to take care of you. And I need people to know you’re ours. So you have our protection. I also want to spank that delicious ass of yours, and taste your mouth whenever I feel like it. Along with other parts of you.”
Holy. Crap.
Steele was raw, powerful sexuality. Way too much man for her. But Lord help her because she didn’t have the power to say no to him.
That could be an issue. But only if he took advantage of her inability to turn him down. Which she was sure he wouldn’t.
“You want to get to know me?”
“Yep.”
“Because you want to fuck me and spank my ass?”
“Among other things.” His lips twitched. “I was fucking bored with life, baby. Going through the routine without feeling much. In fact, the only thing that’s really kept me going is Grady. Until you came into our life. You make me smile. Best part of my day is going in to see you, eating whatever you’ve baked, and seeing your smile light up the room. And I’m a greedy fucking bastard. Always have been. Because I want more of that. I want your light to be the first thing I see when I wake up and the last thing when I go to sleep at night.”