Total pages in book: 70
Estimated words: 64704 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 324(@200wpm)___ 259(@250wpm)___ 216(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 64704 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 324(@200wpm)___ 259(@250wpm)___ 216(@300wpm)
I was beyond full within a few hours, but we weren’t even through half of the vendors. Brick walked me around the park and bought a Frisbee off one of the kids. We played and laughed and built up an appetite.
He was patient when the lines got long, and never once lost his temper or demanded anything from anyone. It was more surprising that the outing itself, this rich man who didn’t expect the world to grovel at his feet because of it, but waiting patiently with everyone else.
I was so in love with him.
The sun was dipping over the horizon when we finally headed back to the car. I was so full and tired. Brick pulled me across his lap and held me as the driver headed home. “Did you have fun?” he whispered in my ear.
“More fun than I’ve had in a long time,” I admitted, snuggling into his neck. “Did you have fun?”
He was quiet for a minute, and I listened to the sound of his beating heart. He stroked my hair gently. “More fun than I’ve had in a long time,” he echoed.
“Does this mean that you’ll play hooky more often?”
His chest rumbled with laughter. “If it means days like this, then yes.”
“Brick?” Opening my eyes, I stared at him. I thought about this warm man before me and the sterile home we were heading back to. “Why don’t you have any pictures up? Of family or friends?”
His body immediately stiffened, but he didn’t release me. “I don’t have any family, and I don’t need to put up pictures of my friends. I don’t have many, and I see them when I want to.”
“I’m sorry,” I whispered. “I know what it’s like to not have your family around anymore.”
Brick regarded me closely. “Are you asking for a specific reason, Daisy? Digging into my past and hoping to find a reason to explain the way that I am?”
He had that look in his eye. The look that threatened to run. Reaching up, I stroked his cheek to soothe him. “I’m not digging, Brick. I’m just asking a question. And I don’t need a reason to explain why you are the way that you are.”
“Why not?”
“You think that you’re a bad person, don’t you? I see it in your eyes when you’re with me, but you’re not and you don’t need to be explained.” My heart ached when I thought about how he saw himself.
“I bought you, Daisy.”
“What you did was strange and a little degrading, but you didn’t mean for it to be. You saw something that you wanted, and you bought it. But you never kept me locked up like a prisoner or a slave, Brick. I could have walked away at any time. Still could. I don’t feel trapped with you, Brick. For the first time in forever, I actually feel free. A person isn’t just defined by the things that he does. Sometimes, he’s also defined by the changes that he’s made.” I smiled, leaning up to kiss him.
“You see the good in everything, don’t you, Daisy?”
“I see the good in you.”
The car pulled up to the penthouse. I moved to get off Brick’s lap, but he held me close. “I’ve got you, Daisy.”
To my surprise, he lifted me easily and carried me from the car to the elevator. His warmth enveloped me and I closed my eyes. When was the last time that I’d felt this safe? In just the span of a few weeks, he’d gone from the stranger that had terrified me to the man who carried me when I was too tired to walk.
In his room, he slowly lowered me to the bed and undressed me. His touch was sensual but not erotic. It brushed lovingly over my skin as he pulled the coverlet up and over me. Soon, he slid in next to me. His erection pressed against my body, but he just wrapped me in his arms, and soon, I fell into a deep and peaceful sleep.
* * *
Brick only left me once that weekend to go to work. He had a conference call that he had to take in his office, and he promised that he wouldn’t be gone for more than a couple of hours. I took that opportunity to take a shower. We’d screwed ourselves silly that morning, and I desperately needed to bathe.
My phone rang as I toweled off. Thinking that it might be Brick, I hurried to answer it.
“Daisy. You’ve been too busy to call your boyfriend back,” Ralph said in a nasally voice. My heart dropped in my stomach. Why hadn’t I looked at the caller ID? His voicemails were getting more and more nauseating and I’d avoided returning any of his calls.
“Ralph, I’m not supposed to be talking to you,” I said, and took a deep breath. “You know that. You want your money, don’t you?”