Total pages in book: 46
Estimated words: 45371 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 227(@200wpm)___ 181(@250wpm)___ 151(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 45371 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 227(@200wpm)___ 181(@250wpm)___ 151(@300wpm)
CHAPTER EIGHT
Blake
I blink, wondering if I’ve heard her right. A hit-and-run driver? Is that what Cameron told her?
My woman speaks passionately as she goes on, gesturing with her hands. It pains me, but I have to remember that her passion has come from a lie. I’d be one sick man if I shot her down now, if I took this passion and twisted it with the truth. It’s not my place to tell her.
“I’m going to help people,” she goes on. “I just need to figure it out.”
“You need the financial freedom to pursue your dreams,” I tell her.
She meets my eye nervously, a flickering motion. She can’t know how her every gesture and little look threaten to turn me savage or to awaken other parts of me, a romantic I never knew existed.
The fire flickers against the flush in her cheeks.
“Why do I feel you’re hinting at something?”
“No hinting,” I say. “Agree to tell your dad you’re staying here willingly, and I’ll give you the freedom you need.”
“So, you’re bartering for my body, is that it?”
“I could take your sweet body any second I wanted.” I lean across the table, staring down at her parted lips, kissable and so perfect for other uses, too. “You can say you don’t want it. You can fight and rage, but we both know you’re lying.”
She stares down at the table. “I’ve never done it before. I don’t know… No, we’re not talking about this.”
I wonder if she was going to say, I don’t know what to do.
That’s simple. I’d show her the way.
“We’re bartering to keep you here. I want you here. In exchange, I’ll solve your dad’s money problems and pay you separately, enough so you can follow your dream.”
“Why?” she whispers.
“You know why,” I growl.
“What, just because you find me attractive? Is that it?”
It’s such a small way to phrase it, reducing what we share. Finding her attractive, as a description, doesn’t come close to what I feel for her.
“What else are you going to do?” I snap. “This is a good chance for you.”
“Wait a second.” She sits up with her hands clasped together. “Would you be able to help me find the hit-and-run driver? You must have connections.”
I suppress a sigh. An image of Isla flits across my mind—how she was when we found her, the argument with Cameron, and the falling-out that led to us going our separate ways. I’ll still never understand his position.
“It was a long time ago,” I say uncomfortably, not wanting to lie to Bonnie.
“There must be a chance.”
I shake my head. “It was over a decade ago. Any evidence is long gone now.”
“So I have to live my whole life knowing the person’s out there, whoever ran my mom down. I’m never going to get justice.”
You already have justice, I want to say. I made sure of that.
We say nothing for a time, eating quietly, and then she lays her cutlery down. She’s about to say something serious, but there’s a line of juice sliding down her chin. I take a napkin and reach over, dabbing it.
She laughs and shakes her head. “I’m a bit of a dork, right?”
I grin. “I wouldn’t have it any other way.”
It’s another moment, like when we laughed together before.
It’s a strange place to exist, constantly hovering between being an unchained beast and something else, something tender.
“Are you serious about your deal? You’ll help me become a private detective?”
“If you’re sure it’s the path you really want to take.”
“I used to want to be an artist,” she murmurs. “I still draw sometimes and paint, but… you’ll laugh.”
Reaching across the table, I take her hand. I hold it as gently as possible, feeling the warmth and tenderness.
“I won’t.”
“I feel like it’s my duty,” she says after a pause. “With what happened to Mom… I owe it to her to go out into the world and make it a better place.”
“You can make the world a better place with your art,” I tell her.
“You haven’t seen it. Maybe it’s crap.”
“Then draw something for me. I’ll get you some supplies and some clothes, too.”
“You’ll still finance my private detective training? It’s like I said. I owe that to Mom.”
It’s Cameron’s decision to lie to his daughter. I get that, but it’s also put her in a horrible spot. She thinks she has to ignore her art and pursue this path, all based on a lie. Isla wasn’t killed in a hit-and-run. That would’ve been mercy compared to what really happened.
“Anything you want,” I say. “As long as you stay here with me and tell your dad it’s by choice.”
She snatches her hand away. “By choice,” she repeats.
“Yes, by choice,” I say firmly. “Don’t make me punish you again. We didn’t finish last time.”
She flashes a look at me, biting her lip. This triggers a fresh awakening of desire, my balls aching as they swell, my manhood stiff, and my tip already leaking.