Total pages in book: 20
Estimated words: 18990 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 95(@200wpm)___ 76(@250wpm)___ 63(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 18990 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 95(@200wpm)___ 76(@250wpm)___ 63(@300wpm)
“It was a shitty move and I’m a dick. You think I’m happy, Michael? You think I wanted to feel the way I do about your daughter? You think I haven’t been walking around every day for two years, hating myself?”
I don’t give a damn what kind of hell he’s been in. He shouldn’t have touched her. “You’re done. Don’t bother coming into work tomorrow. Don’t reach out to me and you sure as hell better avoid Atlas.”
I don’t wait for him to acknowledge my words as I storm from the room, rage fueling my every step.
8
KATIE
I can’t find Michael at the party, so I drift from the event room to look for him and that’s when I spot Atlas in the yellow chair. She’s talking on her phone and judging from the sound, she’s crying.
I only catch part of the conversation but enough that I can put the pieces together. She finally had a moment with Eric, but Michael is angry at them.
I can’t blame him for feeling betrayed.
When Michael appears to comfort his daughter, he doesn’t notice anything but her pain. I see the way it hurts him, twisting his expression into one of helpless rage.
But I also know the moment Atlas makes her decision. She’ll need help. At least, if she plans to get to Eric in time, so I disappear outside.
As soon as she leaves the fancy hotel, I greet her with a smile and the keys to the limo.
“We’ll get there in time,” I reassure Atlas, hoping my words are true.
Michael might be angry with me later, but they’re in love. He’ll come around. He’ll have to if the determination on his daughter’s face was anything to go by.
“Why do you put up with him?” Atlas asks as we speed along the interstate.
I frown, unsure of what to do with the question. Michael has so many amazing qualities. But he locked everyone out, even his daughter, after his wife’s death. “He’s not a bad guy. There’s a side of him that most people, including you, don’t get to see.”
“Is he Batman?”
I giggle at the idea of Michael in black leather. “That would make me Robin and I do not look good in a leotard.”
Once we arrive, Atlas seems so nervous and uncertain that I lean over and give her a quick hug. “Good luck. I’ll be waiting for you.”
Even after helping Atlas get her man, I make it back to the party with only minutes to spare before midnight. I think of Michael’s words. Let me please you again.
I hurry up to the VIP room, imagining that he’s already waiting for me on the bed. Naked. Stroking himself off.
He’ll demand I please him for keeping him waiting so long. I’ll sink to my knees and take him in my mouth, swirling my tongue around until he’s completely satisfied.
But when I get to the hotel room, Michael isn’t there.
I fight a wave of disappointment and check the clock. But I’m the one that’s early.
I’ve just decided to strike a provocative pose when I hear a phone ring. The noise is muffled. It takes me a moment to realize it’s coming from inside Michael’s briefcase on the desk.
Since he does business with people around the globe, I rush to the case and quickly enter his lock code.
I answer his ringing phone but it’s only a wrong number.
I end the call and go to put his phone back when a search term in his history catches my eye. It’s my pen name.
“No,” I whisper the denial as I collapse on the bed. It can’t be what I think it is. Please don’t let this be true.
I page through his phone and quickly realize that Michael has every installment of my book series. He knows about the stories. He knows my fantasies. He knows…what a loser I am.
I press my fingers to my lips and will myself not to cry. How could I have been so stupid?
Michael doesn’t want me. He wanted Kitty from the books. Once again, I’ve managed to come in second place and this time it wasn’t even to my mom. It was to a character I created.
The hotel door opens and Michael slips inside the room. He gives me a tight smile that doesn’t hide the tension from finding out about Atlas and Eric.
I hold up his phone, where my book cover is on the screen. “Was this just pity sex?” It kills me to ask the question. But it’s the only logical explanation.
“Of course not.” Understanding crosses his face when he glances at the device.
I shake my head, unable to believe him. Why can’t he just admit it? I wouldn’t blame him for it. “You thought you were getting a porn star and instead you got stuck with the geeky little virgin.”
He frowns. “I told you what I see when I look at you. I worshipped your body over and over again.”