Total pages in book: 73
Estimated words: 68247 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 341(@200wpm)___ 273(@250wpm)___ 227(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 68247 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 341(@200wpm)___ 273(@250wpm)___ 227(@300wpm)
“We need to talk.”
Apparently she didn’t have the same effect on him, and she fought through the haze of desire to regain her wits. “We do. I want to know what you and my brother discussed behind my back.”
“I already told you.”
She frowned. “That was what Tyler had to say. You’re the one who wanted a minute with him. So . . . spill.”
“That was just guy shit. We needed to get some facts straight, and we did.”
“Such as?” If he wasn’t going to jump her bones the way her body wanted, she intended to force honest answers from him.
“Such as the fact that I’m back in your life, and I’m not going anywhere, so he’d better get used to it and stop giving you a hard time about me.”
“Oh.” That statement shocked her.
The notion that Grey would take that kind of stand with Tyler took her off guard. If her brothers thought he’d made promises, they’d be even more pissed off when the inevitable happened and he left again. She bit down on her lip. Somehow she’d have to explain to the overprotective men in her family that she’d known the end result with Grey. No matter what he claimed or believed now.
She blew out a calming breath.
“Oh? That’s all you have to say?”
She couldn’t help the grin that lifted her lips. “I’m impressed that you’d take Tyler on.”
He rubbed his nose against hers. “I already told you, anything for you, Very.”
She melted inside and accepted that this was worth the pain and difficulty his star status would cause her. She slipped her hands around his waist, and suddenly his hard cock was nestled between her thighs. Warmth and need became a tangible thing. His breathing grew rougher, and her hips began to circle against him in a dance she couldn’t control.
He let out a harsh groan that reverberated inside her, and her eyes fluttered closed as she swayed into him.
“Now I need an answer,” he said.
She didn’t know how he managed to think clearly when her panties were so wet, her sex so needy, she could barely bring herself to care that Ella was right in the next room.
Which meant whatever he wanted to know was more important to him than lifting her shirt, ripping off her shorts and panties, and thrusting inside her.
That cooled off her libido. “About what?” she asked, though now that her brain was back in control, she had a feeling she already knew.
He led her to the couch and resettled her where they’d been before, except he pulled her onto his lap. Instead of desire, nerves settled inside her.
“What did Tyler mean, asking if you had a panic attack getting past the photographers?”
She swallowed hard. She’d never admitted the truth to him back in high school because she’d been mortified by her weakness. She tried to pretend the problem didn’t exist, and if she took daily medication and life stayed on a fairly even keel, it didn’t. She’d tried going off the medication once before, only to have intermittent attacks occur and a low level of anxiety exist as her constant friend. Hence she’d gone back on daily maintenance medication.
She’d gotten past the embarrassment and stigma of having a generalized anxiety disorder . . . except now she was faced with telling Grey. A man who got up onstage in front of hundreds of thousands and had no such issues. She didn’t know if he understood them . . . or wanted to.
He ran his hand over her back. “You can tell me anything.”
“Can I?” she asked, the thoughtless words coming out.
“What’s that supposed to mean?” he asked, hurt in his voice and in his stricken expression.
She sighed. “I’m sorry. It’s just . . .”
Grey shook his head. “No apologies necessary. I want you to talk to me, so start at the beginning. When did you have your first panic attack?”
Avery nodded. “When I left the hospital after the bone marrow donation.”
As Grey listened, she explained how the reporters had been lying in wait to question her and her mother when she’d walked out of the building.
“It was awful. Like today, except worse because I was just nine. They surrounded us like a pack of jackals and asked my mother the most embarrassing questions.”
Having been on the receiving end of such questions, Grey could imagine.
“My mother held me tight against her and tried to lead me to the car, but they were so close. The bright lights, the shouting. I tried to keep it together but . . . I passed out.” Even now, her cheeks flushed, and it killed Grey to think she was embarrassed to tell him.
“They’re uncaring animals. Even children aren’t off-limits. I hate that you went through that.” He continued stroking her back, hoping he could both soothe her and keep her talking. “What happened after that?”