Total pages in book: 101
Estimated words: 103661 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 518(@200wpm)___ 415(@250wpm)___ 346(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 103661 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 518(@200wpm)___ 415(@250wpm)___ 346(@300wpm)
"Will you really?"
"You have sixty seconds."
She smiles. Makes a show of counting one, two, three. Rises to her tiptoes for one more kiss. Then she releases me, steps backward, turns to the door. "Until then." She disappears into the hallway.
I sit at my desk. Let the quiet flood my ears. Let the room fill.
Already, I miss her. Want her here. Want her to claim a place in my home, my space, my life.
Eve's frock flutters as she steps out of the house. The wind catches the chiffon. Blows it over her long legs.
She looks like a model. An alternative model, maybe, but still beautiful, poised, statuesque.
She nods something to her sister. Approaches the bar. Stands next to Ty.
He's living by his when in Rome credo in linen pants and a blue t-shirt.
Eve laughs at something he says.
He whispers in her ear.
She laughs again. A little louder. She leans over the bar, ordering drinks for both of them.
Two cans of hard seltzer.
She's teasing me. Teasing him.
She's here. With me.
Here.
Mine.
I want it just as badly with her dressed.
No. I want it more. More than I've wanted anything in a long, long time.
"Ian, I have to be honest. Most of your conquests… are rather dull. But Eve… I think I want her for my birthday." He holds up his drink. "What do you say? Cheers?"
"You'd like me to toast to you—"
"I don't want to fuck her. No offense, Eve," he says.
"None taken," she says.
"None?" I ask.
"I don't want to fuck you either, Ty," she says.
He presses his hand to his heart. "Eve… that hurts."
"Sorry… but I'm just not feeling it," she says.
He laughs. "It's not you. It's that I can't be Ian's sloppy seconds."
"And I'm the kind of girl who would sleep with my ex's brother?" She raises a brow.
He chuckles. "If only things were different…"
"Our cross to bear." She taps her can of seltzer against his. Laughs as she turns to me. "This is truly awful." She takes another sip of mango seltzer. "Despicable."
"Is it?" I ask.
Eve nods. Turns to me. Crosses the space between us.
"Would it be wrong? To threaten to tear this off?" Her fingers brush my shirt. "I thought you'd be less sexy out of a suit… but. Nope." She looks up at me with a smile. "It is strange. To see you in casual clothes."
"Still?" I ask.
She nods still. "Mostly it's the suit. Or nothing."
"Please, spare me these horrible details," Ty says.
"He sleeps naked." She smiles, enjoying Ty's pain.
"Boxers, sometimes." I wrap my arm around her waist. Her dress is backless. I can feel her skin against my palm. The warmth of it. The softness. "Otherwise I can't control myself."
She rises to her tiptoes. Presses her lips to mine.
She tastes like heaven. Even with the mango seltzer on her lips.
Eve pulls back with a sigh. "Mmm, gin is so much better than this."
"Take it somewhere else." Ty shakes his head in mock disgust, but he's smiling. He is happy for me. Even with his broken heart.
Eve mouths sorry. "You must know what it's like, Ty, being so irresistible."
He nods. "It is a burden."
"But you carry it so well," she says.
"She's dangerous," he says. "Be careful with her."
"I know." I offer her my gin. "We can trade."
"I can't ask you to do that." She stares at her can of seltzer. "This is…"
"Rubbish," Ty offers.
"It really is." She nods.
"Even so." My smile is easy. This is easy. I nearly forget why my brother is here.
"If you insist." She trades drinks. Takes a long sip of gin and tonic. Lets out a low sigh of pleasure.
"Jesus, what have I done?" Ty shakes his head. "I've seen Ian… interested in women before. But never like this."
"Oh?" She just barely blushes. "How is this different?"
He looks to me. Raises a brow do you really want me to tell it?
I nod. I'm not sure what he's going to say, but I don't need him sugar coating anything.
"Well, he doesn't usually bring his dates to events. And when he does… he doesn't seem as interested in conversation," he says.
"Straight to sex?" she asks.
He laughs. "More or less."
"When it's more? Or wait, would it be less?" She takes another sip. "Does he ever seem to have a mental connection?"
"Every so often. But never an emotional one. He's always… removed," Ty says.
"But not now?" she asks.
He nods. "Since his divorce."
"Oh. Right." She takes another sip. Sucks on an ice cube. Bites it in half. Chews. Swallows. "I guess we shouldn't bring it up. Is cocktail party etiquette the same in the UK? No religion, no politics, no exes?"
"I've never heard the no-exes bit," he says. "Intuitive."
She nods.
"You actually follow this?" His gaze drifts to her tattoo. "It's too bad you weren't in London last summer. One of our chain bookstores went all out for the release of Testaments."