Total pages in book: 59
Estimated words: 55722 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 279(@200wpm)___ 223(@250wpm)___ 186(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 55722 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 279(@200wpm)___ 223(@250wpm)___ 186(@300wpm)
Edward smirks as he reaches up into the hole and I hear a noise that sounds like tightening. “What are neighbors for?”
Oh God, what a loaded question. Neighbors could be for lots of things. Especially when he’s looking wet and delicious like that. Playing the knight in shining armor role seems to come pretty naturally to him, and I can’t say that I mind.
He pulls his arm out of the hole and smiles. “That should hold the pipe. I imagine it’s probably been just a drip-by-drip leak for a while.”
“I seriously owe you one.”
He raises an eyebrow. “How am I allowed to collect?”
I laugh at the same time that my gut tightens. There are a lot of ways that I’d let him collect. “Anything within reason.”
He doesn’t hesitate. “Go on a date with me.”
My breath catches in my chest. Suddenly the reality that he’s interested in me is real. Holy shit. “You want that?”
“I do,” he takes a step closer, reaching out and tucking a strand of damp hair behind my ear. “I would very much like to get to know you, Julia Palmer.”
I’m not breathing at all. It’s completely gone. And when he leans down to kiss me, I think that I’ve gone a little crazy. I don’t even realize how cold I’ve become from the rain until I feel the fire of his lips. The first touch is soft, gentle, and then entirely not. He consumes my lips, and I let him. Edward’s hand curls around my neck lifting my face to his as he deepens the kiss, and suddenly we’re pressed up against each other.
His other arm falls around my back, and I love the sheer solid size of him, combined with his heat that burns through my clothes. This is what people mean by seeing fireworks. Pleasure shivers down my spine, and I breathe him in deeper until I have no choice but to gasp for air.
“Holy shit,” I say. The sound he makes in response is dark and full of lustful promise. “Is this what you meant?” I ask. “When you said you didn’t mind me staring?”
“Yes.”
“How long?”
He laughs softly, breath brushing my lips, and he kisses them again. “Years.”
“Fuck. Why didn’t we do this sooner?”
“It doesn’t matter. We’re doing it now. And you didn’t give me an answer.”
I tilt my fact back in order to see him. “To what?”
“Go on a date with me.”
Laughing, I press myself against him more. “I would have thought that kissing you back was your answer.”
“I like to be very clear,” he says. But he takes the opportunity to kiss me again.
“Yes,” I breathe against his lips.
“Good.” Without warning he pulls back, standing away from me so that we’re no longer touching and I’m suddenly very cold again. “I’ll see you tomorrow then.”
“You can stay,” I say.
He smirks. “We both know what happens if I do.”
“Is that so bad?” I raise an eyebrow.
Edward’s eyes go dark with the possibilities. “Believe me, it’s not. But I’d rather not have your mother burst in on us together.”
Fuck. I know that he’s right, but I wish it weren’t true. “You could stay anyway.”
“I’ll see you in the morning,” he says. “Bright and early.” Taking one last look at the ceiling to make sure it’s not leaking, he disappears out the door, and I’m left staring after him in the rain.
I don’t think I’ve ever been so happy to have my roof cave in.
5
Julia
Holy shit did that actually just happen? Did Edward Werlin just kiss me? The flock of butterflies in my stomach could be a thunderstorm like the one outside. My knees go weak and I have to lean against the wall. God, I want to go after him into the storm, but he’s right. I have no idea when my mom will be home and based on yesterday, I don’t think that she’d exactly warm to finding him in the house.
Even if he wasn’t fucking me—which is what I would prefer.
The leak is down to a drip now, so I empty the dish pan that’s still full and place an empty one beneath it. I put a fresh towel down too and do my best to make sure the floor is dry. I toss all the wet towels in the laundry and start it—God knows what is in that water—and go change my clothes before settling back on the couch. A note isn’t going to cut it when my mom walks in and finds that her ceiling has collapsed.
I turn on my show again, but I can’t focus on it, and I can’t imagine trying to fall asleep right now. All I can think about is Edward’s lips on mine. The fierce pressure of his mouth and the way I opened for him like our lips were tailor made for each other.