Total pages in book: 47
Estimated words: 46717 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 234(@200wpm)___ 187(@250wpm)___ 156(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 46717 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 234(@200wpm)___ 187(@250wpm)___ 156(@300wpm)
Lila is sitting in her computer chair. She spins when we enter, smiling up at me.
“Hello, Hayden.”
I feel Graham watching me. I know it’s not specific to me, but this aura he has when a man is talking to Lila. I’ve seen it many times over the years, ever since Lila shot up at fourteen and started getting more attention.
Now, she has what people would call ‘model looks,’ I suppose, though I’m incapable of seeing her as anything other than my friend’s daughter.
It’s an instinct on Graham’s part. He can’t help it.
But the idea is insane. I almost laugh as we walk down the hallway toward Hallie’s room, thinking of ever doing anything with one of Graham’s daughters.
The notion is so ridiculous I’d believe in frozen hells and airborne hogs far easier.
Graham knocks on Hallie’s door, giving me an eye roll.
“She might have her headphones on. She’s started a video-editing career. I don’t know if I mentioned that. Freelance.”
“You did,” I say, nodding. “You said she’s doing well.”
“Amazingly,” Graham said. “It’s slow at the beginning, of course, but she’s putting the work in. Clearly.”
He laughs as he knocks again, louder this time.
“Coming,” Hallie calls.
Her voice is pretty much as I remember it, but the rest of her….
When she opens the door, I’m left to gawk as something surreal happens to me.
I try to work out this feeling, this sudden fiery surge of hunger. I’m burning up, my balls feeling like they’re swelling, the world flipping over and over as I study her.
“Hello, Hayden,” she says, her voice wavering a little.
Is she really that shy?
She’s got her arms crossed over her middle as if protecting herself, but all it does is push up her round, gorgeous breasts in her hoodie, outlining their shape. Her smooth brown hair is so soft looking I almost reach out to touch it.
She’s short and curvy, making me obsessed, needing to possess her….
Now.
I almost roar.
Fuck.
Graham’s standing right there, no idea how difficult it is for me just to speak. Hallie’s wearing PJ shorts that display her luscious thighs. I can’t stop myself from thinking about burying my hands in them, massaging her, making her whimper as I get closer and closer to….
Nothing, because I can’t think that.
“Hello,” I say after a pause that goes on way too long.
She stares at me, her cheeks turning an innocent shade of red.
Is this really the same woman I saw last time?
She wasn’t a woman then.
She was seventeen, braces on her teeth, so dorky, shy, and childlike. But now – only two years later – she looks more sassy and tempting than shy. Her legs are gorgeous. Her entire body is.
And her eyes.
I don’t understand what happens when we look at each other, but it’s like she knows. She can sense it.
She can feel how hungry I am to kiss her, knows I would be kissing her right now if her dad wasn’t standing right here. It would be a betrayal, and she knows that too.
“Well…,” Graham laughs a little awkwardly. “Shall we get that drink?”
“Sure,” I say, turning away with an effort, every instinct in my body roaring at me to claim her, my woman, my Hallie.
It’s weird to think I was almost laughing about just this a couple of minutes ago.
There’s nothing funny now.
I can’t even try to make a joke out of this.
I want Hallie. I need Hallie.
Hallie is mine.
CHAPTER THREE
Hallie
“What do you mean…a look?” Lila asks softly.
It’s almost midnight. Dad and Hayden are still in the yard, talking and laughing. I can’t hear their specific words, but I can make out the sense of the conversation.
I know they’re reminiscing, sharing stories about old times.
It should make me smile to hear dad so happy.
“I’m a terrible daughter,” I murmur.
“Stay on the subject,” Lila says, leaning forward and tossing her hair. “You said you and Hayden shared a look.”
“I know what I said,” I snap.
Lila grins, raising her hands. “Hey, I’m just trying to….”
“I know.” I reach over from the chair to the bed, where she’s sitting, and touch her hand. “I didn’t mean to snap. It’s just…I don’t know. He was staring at me like he never has before. He was really staring at me. For a second, I thought….”
“That he wanted you,” Lila says gently.
I swivel in the chair, looking out the window. My laptop is open on the desk, showing a still image of a man on rollerblades. It’s the latest video I’m helping to edit.
“I know it sounds stupid.” I stare out at the front yard, the quiet street, and the stars. “But I really believed it.”
“Believed, so past tense?” Lila probes.
I keep my back turned, feeling my cheeks blaze as I relive that moment. Those intense blue eyes aimed at me, just like I’ve fantasized, his fingers twitching at his sides like he wanted some use for his hands, the huskiness in his voice when he said hello.