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)
Finally, it all ends, leaving me to lean back and pant. My chest is heaving, my whole world feeling brighter, almost sparkly, for a few blissful moments.
Hayden looks down at me with the same sense of belonging, a subtle smirk on his captivating lips.
Then, from upstairs, a floorboard creaks.
Hayden steps away as though he’s finally waking up, as though just now understanding the implications of what we’ve done.
I hop down from the counter, my heart pounding.
Hayden and I stand completely still as the footsteps walk across the hall upstairs and then into a room, closing a door.
A little while later – we’re just standing here, guilty, frozen – the mystery person flushes and returns to their room.
No, not mystery person.
Mom and dad have an ensuite, so it must’ve been Lila.
Hayden takes a few steps away from me as though he doesn’t trust himself being close to me. I watch him, not exactly sure what this emotion is, gripping me, like fight-or-flight but all at once.
Not fight or run… no, this is both.
I want to sprint as far away from here as fast as I possibly can, and I want to leap at Hayden again, jump into his arms and wrap my legs around him, kiss him, and feel wanted.
My core gives a sore, aching pulse as though telling me I need more.
More of him.
He shakes his head slowly as though in disbelief.
“I didn’t mean to do that,” he says softly.
I look at the ceiling, waiting for another creaking noise. This one will come from dad.
He’s heard us. He’s running down the stairs.
But that’s just my mind sending phantoms at me, making me believe it’s all going to come crashing down before it even begins.
“Why did you?” I ask, my voice even quieter than his.
He smirks, his eyes fixed on me, holding me in place. It’s the sort of attention I’ve always dreamed he’d aim my way, like nobody else exists. No other woman matters.
Just me, just us.
“I couldn’t help myself,” he says gruffly, taking a few steps closer, then stopping.
His mouth is tight, his temples pulsing. It’s like it takes every shred of effort he has not to leap at me, to kiss me again. My lips tingle in anticipation.
I wonder what he’d say if I told him about my wedding fantasy, the one I’ve had countless times, walking down the aisle toward him, a smile on his face, looking handsome and muscular, and mine in his suit.
He’d laugh, run, or maybe both.
But what is this?
Does he just want me for sex?
I swallow, pushing the notion aside. I can’t even think about telling him the truth, especially since it seems this is the end.
It’s the way he’s looking at me.
“We can’t talk about this now,” he says quietly. “Not properly. And if I stay here….”
He clenches his fist, looking me up and down, his mouth tight like he can’t believe how badly he wants me.
“What?” I whisper.
“You know what,” he growls. “We’ll do that again. And more.”
His hand rises to his chest, to the place I bit.
“The way you moaned when you were biting me….”
A shiver touches me, making me shift from side to side as I try to tell myself this is a trick, a mean joke on his part. I shouldn’t get my hopes up.
But I don’t believe it.
Hayden wouldn’t do that, especially not to his best friend’s daughter.
“Not here,” he says, voice tight. “I’ll give you my cell number. My personal one. We can talk that way.”
He walks to the corner, where the landline is, and quickly scrawls on the notepad.
When he hands me the piece of paper, our fingers touch. A gunshot of lust fires through me, up my arm, all through my body, making my heart beat fiercer.
“When should I call?” I ask.
He turns for the door, walking quickly. It’s like he doesn’t trust himself otherwise.
I know the feeling.
“Tomorrow,” he says. “And Hallie….”
“Yeah?”
He looks over his shoulder, his mouth tight. “I’m not saying I regret it. I don’t. But we can’t do anything like that again until….”
“We won’t,” I cut in quickly.
I don’t want to hear it, can’t hear it, but I know what he was going to say.
Until we’ve told your father.
He nods, and I get the sense he knows why I couldn’t let him say it. It’s the same reason he looks so pissed all over again.
He knows we could absolutely wreck dad.
He knows we’ve made a mistake.
And, just like me, he wants to do it again.
I’m sure of it.
Once he’s left the room, I cradle the phone number to my chest.
Tomorrow.
It feels special, despite the guilt, despite the shame.
It feels really, really special.
CHAPTER SIX
Hayden
“How’d you sleep?” Graham asks when I walk into the kitchen.
Morning sunlight filters in. Graham’s smiling widely, no idea what happened in this very room last night.
No idea about my hand between his daughter’s legs…or the fact that, when I went to bed, all I did was think about her.