Total pages in book: 78
Estimated words: 77341 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 387(@200wpm)___ 309(@250wpm)___ 258(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 77341 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 387(@200wpm)___ 309(@250wpm)___ 258(@300wpm)
“Put me down!” I yell, smacking his back.
He doesn’t flinch. He doesn’t react at all.
My purse dangles from my fingertips as I try to kick my feet. He’s too strong, too determined. I simply can’t move.
“Hey, lady! Are you ready or not?” The driver sticks his head out of the window. “I’m not sitting here all night, ya know.”
“Sorry about that,” Foxx tells him. “She changed her mind.”
“Foxx, you better put me down right now …” I say through clenched teeth.
“She’s still paying a pick-up fee,” the driver shouts.
Foxx waves at him. “Sounds good. Charge her double for the inconvenience.”
“Damn you, Foxx.”
He swats my backside with a pop! “Have a good night.”
I’m not sure if he’s talking to me or the driver. Either way, the contact sends a ripple coursing the short distance from where his hand landed to my core.
My face is hot as blood pools in my head.
We spin around, my hair trailing behind us in a half circle. He carries me the short distance across the porch and then through the doorway.
His grip eases, and I slide slowly, painfully slow, down his front. My heart beats so hard that I wonder if he can feel it against his chest. He peers down at me with eyes so wild that it takes the rant right off the tip of my tongue.
I pant, unable to get my thoughts and emotions in order.
“Don’t make me do that again,” he says.
And that’s it. I’m me again.
I take a massive step back. “I think you’ve forgotten who you’re talking to, pal.”
He presses his lips together—essentially making fun of me. “Okay.”
The audacity. “What is this, Foxx? Huh? Are you trying to prove some point? Are you some kind of a masochist who enjoys thinking you emotionally dominate me?”
He recoils.
“If that’s what this is—”
“Of course, that’s not what this is. Who do you think I am?” he asks.
If I thought he actually had emotions, I might think his feelings were hurt. And if he hadn’t just hurt mine, I might also care.
“Good question. I don’t know who you are because you won’t be honest with me. You won’t let me in.” I laugh angrily. “But don’t worry. I know it’s not about me.”
He lifts his face to the ceiling and groans.
My breathing is so quick, so hot, that I have to work to control it. Losing my temper isn’t going to help anything. It won’t find me a way out of here.
I take a long, paced influx of air and exhale evenly.
It doesn’t help.
“The way I see it, we have a few problems here,” I say, dropping my bag to the floor.
He dips his chin until we’re eye to eye.
“You don’t actually want me around,” I say, biting back the bitterness of the words. Instead of spewing them, I use them to fuel my rage—the rage flooding me so completely that my hands shake. “But then you volunteer—actually, you demand to have me here, although I have other options.”
He rolls his tongue around his lips.
“Then you get me here and proceed to fuck with me,” I say, instinctively moving toward him. “You screw with my head like it’s some kind of deluded game to you.”
“It’s not, Bianca.”
“You tell me to take care of myself, and when I try to do that—when I try to get away from you—you hold me hostage.”
He stiffens. “That’s not what this is.”
“The hell that’s not what this is.” I glare at him. “But why? Why don’t you just let me leave? If you care so much about Jason—because you obviously don’t care about me—then let me call someone else. I’ll call Troy or Renn or Ford Landry or Calvin—oof.”
His mouth crashes against mine.
My knees buckle. He slides his arm around the small of my back and hauls me into him where I melt.
Anger and frustration—the force of denial and restraint snaps and flows into the way his lips press against mine.
His hands cup my cheeks, and he holds me still like there’s a chance in hell I’m going to pull away.
I can’t pull away. I can’t believe this is happening. I can’t do anything but stand in place while he deepens the kiss … and then breaks it.
Everything breaks.
His eyes search mine as I wobble on my feet. He drops his hands slowly, watching me carefully as I back up.
Oh my God.
Flames lick outwards from my core. Explosions rattle off in my head. I struggle to breathe and to remember how we got here. To Foxx kissing me.
Oh. My. God.
I touch my lips with my fingertips, composing myself as quickly as possible. As fast as I get myself together, he slips away from me.
“What was that?” I ask, almost afraid to hear the answer. A part of me expects another bullshit response, and I don’t know how I’ll react if he pulls a stunt like that again.