Total pages in book: 224
Estimated words: 215705 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 1079(@200wpm)___ 863(@250wpm)___ 719(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 215705 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 1079(@200wpm)___ 863(@250wpm)___ 719(@300wpm)
A few minutes later, we arrive in a whirlwind of press and Walker Security and Connie greets me at the elevators. “All is well here. How are you?”
“I’ll be better once Reid is here and the press is gone.”
“I hear you, honey. Reid is waiting for you in his office.”
“Reid’s here?”
“He is.” She glances over at me. “You’re worried about him?”
“Yes. That press release was brutal.”
She laughs. “So is he. He’s fine. He actually seems better than fine.”
Hearing this is good, but I just want to know firsthand that my future husband really is great. I step up my pace, hurrying through the offices and all but run for Reid’s door. The minute I open it and step inside, he’s there, pulling me to him, his hand on the back of my head, his mouth closing down over mine. I moan with the lick of his tongue and there’s no time to even ask questions. He wasn’t kidding when he said he wanted me naked and on his desk. Only he doesn’t actually get me naked.
Before I can barely think, he’s yanking my skirt up and I’m pressed against the door with my leg at his hip and he’s pressing inside me. “Oh God,” I pant out, as he drives into me in a fast, hard thrust of his seriously hard cock. I forget where we are.
There is just this burning, ripe need between us and it doesn’t take long to sate. He pumps and I arch and we’re one big ball of angsty need that this door isn’t solving. He lifts me and carries me to his desk and then I’m on top of it, and he’s on top of me. A few long, hard pumps from there and we’re both shuddering into release, collapsing on top of his desk.
Reid’s intercom buzzes about the moment we come back to the present, and he calls out, “What?”
I laugh and Connie snaps, “Stop being cranky. Cranky gets you nowhere. Gabe wants to come in. Can I let him in?”
“Yeah,” Gabe says. “Gabe wants to come in.”
My eyes go wide with panic and Reid lifts me off the desk. “Give us a minute, Gabe. Jesus.”
I scramble to put myself together and once I’m reasonably presentable, I turn to Reid. “What happened?”
He pulls me to him and kisses me. “We fucked on the desk. I thought that was pretty obvious.”
“Reid!”
He laughs, and the deep rumble of masculine perfection is a balm to my soul. “Elijah is refocusing on Tabitha and Mick. We’re all good. I’ll explain everything to you and Gabe at the same time.” He walks across the room and opens the door.
Gabe enters the office and looks between us. “Jesus is right. Both of you need to get the lipstick back on her lips before the press conference. It’s all over both of your faces and for the record, Reid, I need more than a minute to finish.” He looks at me. “Sorry, Carrie. He’ll get better I’m sure.”
It’s in that moment that Cat walks in the door. “Reid, damn it. Why can’t you answer your phone?”
Reid, Gabe, and I all look at each other and burst into laughter, and I don’t know all that Reid will share with us all now but I know this: These people are now family, the family I’ve always wanted.
Chapter one hundred nine
Carrie
The press conference starts at noon on the dot in the lobby of the building, and no matter how completely Reid has assured us all that Elijah has been leashed, I’m terrified about some sort of bombshell. The three of us—me, Reid, and Gabe—take the podium, and as we all discussed and agreed upon, Gabe takes the microphone and announces the merger.
He goes through the financial details and data, keeping it short and sweet. “Now,” Gabe says, “if you have questions directly related to the merger—”
“Reid!” A reporter shouts. “Did you kill your girlfriend?!”
I can feel Reid stiffen next to me and I grab his arm. From there the shouts begin, one after another, all directed at Reid and the scandal. Reid squeezes my hand and then looks at Gabe, giving him a nod before kissing me and then taking the lead spot at the podium.
“Let me just cut to the chase,” Reid says in the microphone, his voice strong, unwavering. “Yes, my college girlfriend died in a shooting. Yes, I was there. Yes, she took a bullet meant for me. I knew the shooter was going to shoot the store attendant. I saw it in his eyes and felt it in his energy. I taunted him to get him to point the gun at me, giving the clerk time to call for help. The minute that happened, Kelli panicked and bravely flung herself in front of me and the shooter reacted by pulling the trigger. Kelli’s parents are now deceased, but in the days after their daughter’s death, I got to know them over the years. I stayed in touch with them and I can tell you, they wouldn’t want her used as a weapon against me or anyone.”