Total pages in book: 95
Estimated words: 88879 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 444(@200wpm)___ 356(@250wpm)___ 296(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 88879 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 444(@200wpm)___ 356(@250wpm)___ 296(@300wpm)
“Fuck off,” I cry.
To my great surprise, he backs away. He lets me go, and finally, for what seems like the first time in forever, I am able to catch my breath, my chest rising and falling as I fight to steady myself.
“Okay,” he says, his tone surprisingly calm. “If that’s what you really want, then I’ll leave.”
I am shocked as I watch him turn around, picking up his phone and checkbook from the table. With another look at me, he begins to walk towards the door. Just as he reaches the door, I find myself unable to move out of his way, my body refusing to let him pass.
He watches me without a word, and then he smiles. I absolutely loathe that infuriating smile of his. Everything would be so much better if he just didn’t smile. It feels like he’s mocking me, enjoying every moment of this, and it makes my skin crawl.
“What’s the matter?” he asks, “Don’t you want me to leave.”
I don’t budge. Summoning all the strength I have left, I manage to look up and meet his eyes, my own blazing with a determination I didn’t know I had.
“My father’s debt,” I remind tightly.
“You’ll both have to figure out a way to settle that,” he responds, his tone so detached and callous it makes me shiver.
Desperation claws at me as I consider my options once again, my mind racing as I weigh the consequences of each choice. There’s no easy way out of this, and no matter which choice I take, it’s going to be painful. But I have to choose. I have to take control of the situation in whatever way I can. For the first time in my life, I consider something I never thought I would. I square my shoulders, and taking a deep breath, I make my choice. The words escape my lips before I can stop them.
“I’ll go with option two, but can I kiss you first?”
His eyebrows lift with surprise, probably feigned. But he’s mocking me, for sure, enjoying every single bit of my abject humiliation, and I hate him so much that it feels like my entire body is trembling with the intensity of my loathing. I shut my eyes for a moment, gathering myself before reopening them to look directly into his.
His eyes are a rare bright green, mesmerizing, but by approaching me this way, by manipulating me in such a cruel manner, there will never be any space in my heart for him. I will hate him until the day I die, and even beyond that.
“Why?” he asks.
“Allowing someone I just met to do such an intimate thing to me is not normal.” I bite out, my voice sharp and filled with disgust.
“But hitting them across the face is?” he counters.
I cast my eyes to the grimy concrete floor. Shit. I did do that. I lost my head and just reacted instinctively. At that moment, I suddenly feel the full weight of my situation. It’s not good, but I have to admit, at least to myself, that I did escalate things. The situation was already tricky, but I went ahead and made it a hundred times worse.
“Sorry about that,” I say, hearing the resignation creep into my tone.
He frowns, and for the first time, seems genuinely angry with me. “Platitudes and apologies? From you? No thanks.”
Chapter Nineteen
IVAN
"Just fucking do what you want and get it over with," she flares up.
That’s better. I don’t want a pitiful heroine in a tragedy. I want a fighting, kicking Irish spitfire. Part of me wants to just take her right there and show her that all of her high and mighty protestations are blatant lies. She wants it as much as I do, but she just wants the raw lust hidden behind romantic nonsense, bouquets of red roses, boxes of chocolates, and kisses. She is a pain in the ass, but I will play her little games for now. Eventually, I will lay bare her hypocrisy. I will show her the torrent of lust raging deep inside me and her. I don’t want to kiss her, I want to fucking devour her.
A kiss she wants. A kiss she will get.
My hand curves around the back of her tiny waist as I swoop down on her mouth. Softly... because she wants romance. But as I register the taste of her, a frisson of pure desire, like a bolt of electricity, runs through my whole body. The intensity shocks me. I freeze and pull away, but as I do, I see the same shock mirrored in her eyes, I understand that whatever this is, it’s one hundred percent mutual.
For a few seconds, neither of us moves. Strange thoughts enter my mind. It’s just a kiss. She’s beautiful. Her father is outside. She has been baking. I can smell vanilla. This place is too dirty for her. Then my brain short circuits… and I wrap my arms around her body and crush it against mine. Her soft warmth seeps into me.