Total pages in book: 77
Estimated words: 77452 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 387(@200wpm)___ 310(@250wpm)___ 258(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 77452 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 387(@200wpm)___ 310(@250wpm)___ 258(@300wpm)
Brett chuckles. It’s like a raspy growl that I can feel as well as hear. “What about the others?”
“What others?” I say with as much innocence as I can muster.
He squeezes my hand. “I’m not making any promises, Ariel.”
“Did I ask for any?”
“You’re so young. So innocent.”
“I’m far from innocent, Brett.”
“You know how to kiss, for sure.” He stops, turns toward me, and pushes a lock of hair off my forehead. “But I don’t want you to get hurt.”
I let out a light scoff. “I know the rules. I know the odds. I’m just happy to be here.”
That much is true. But my God, this man… He’s magnificent with his golden hair and light-brown stubble. His searing blue eyes that somehow look even bluer in the moonlight. And his body—six feet three inches of bronze muscle.
So much for not getting starry-eyed.
“I’d like to take you somewhere,” he says. “But it’s late now. We have a big day tomorrow.”
Sadness wells in me. Is he saying the evening is over? He said he wanted to get to know me.
“I’m not even sure what time it is,” I reply.
He chuckles again. “I’m not either. The number one rule for tonight was no phones. No distractions.”
“You have to follow Evangeline’s rules too?”
“Evangeline didn’t make these rules, Ariel. She made suggestions, of course, but the guys and I had the final say.”
“Oh. Yeah, that makes sense.”
It’s definitely time for me to stop saying stupid things. Of course the men made the rules. They’re the ones paying out of their asses for this.
“Anyway,” Brett continues, “I should probably do the responsible thing and take you safely back to the mansion.”
I look to the sky, admire the brightness and abundance of the stars. “I’m responsible every day at home, Brett. I work. I pay my bills. I help my mother out when she needs me. Frankly, it feels pretty nice not to be responsible for once.”
He smiles, and my heart nearly melts into a puddle. “I hear you. I work all the time to keep my company at the top of its game. I’m responsible not only to myself but to my thousands of employees. Maybe you’re right, Ariel. Maybe I don’t need to be responsible tonight.”
I return his smile. My hands itch to reach toward him, to touch him, to slide down his neck, unbutton that shirt, and caress his sculpted chest.
“Here’s to irresponsibility!” He sweeps me into his arms, holding me as if I weighed no more than a small child.
“Brett!” I laugh. “What are you doing?”
“Being irresponsible. I’m going to find a private place, and then I’m going to lay you down, part those pretty legs of yours, and see if your other lips are as sexy as the ones I just kissed.”
My heart thumps like a hummingbird’s wings on a summer morning. Did he really just say he’s going to eat me? My heartbeat takes over my body, especially between my legs.
Th-thump, th-thump, th-thump.
“Are you wet for me?” His deep voice sears into my soul.
“Do you want me to be?”
“God, yes.” He inhales. “You are. I smell you, Ariel. I smell you mingled with the sea breeze, the salty ocean, the lush palm trees. And wildflowers. You smell like wildflowers.”
“That’s my body spray,” I say on a breath.
“It’s sweet and sassy, just like you are.” He inhales again. “I’m going to make you come tonight, Ariel. I’m going to make you come so hard and so many times that you’ll be begging me to stop.”
I swallow. My nipples are hard and ready, and as he carries me, the jostling pushes them against the soft fabric of my dress. God…
His lips. His full, firm lips. I want them on my nipples. I want them between my legs.
With everything in me, I want what he’s offering.
I may only have tonight…but that will have to be enough.
A moment later, he stops. “This is a good place. A nice even surface of sand.” He lays me gently down.
He stands above me, and he unbuttons his shirt. I’ve seen his chest before. I’ve pressed against it on the dance floor and I’ve sat next to it in the hot tub.
But it’s still a magnificent masterpiece, and I feel like it’s being unveiled for the first time.
I can’t help but suck in a breath. My heart is still going nuts like Mama’s old hound dog chasing a scent.
I’m here. Lying on soft sand, the ocean breeze drifting over me.
And Brett Dawson… He takes his shirt off, kneels on the sand, and lifts my behind, placing the shirt underneath me as he lifts my dress to my waist.
I lose a piece of my fluttering heart then, a piece I know I’ll never get back, no matter how this turns out for me. His shirt… He’s making sure I don’t get sand anywhere.