Total pages in book: 47
Estimated words: 46599 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 233(@200wpm)___ 186(@250wpm)___ 155(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 46599 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 233(@200wpm)___ 186(@250wpm)___ 155(@300wpm)
But then I see her eyes go wide as though she has no clue what I’m talking about. She looks around the hallway, her face dropping.
“Oh, Jesus. I didn’t even think of that. Our first kiss was in Alex’s apartment. What the heck are we doing?”
Our first kiss. I like the sound of that, but I don’t tell her, can’t tell her considering the circumstances. It will only drive the guilt deeper.
Plus, curiosity is twisting through me.
“What were you going to say, then?” I ask.
She glances over her shoulder at the door. “I should go. Mom and Dad are waiting.”
I remember what she said about returning in two months. The time has never felt so long. My stomach sinks at the mere thought of it.
Reaching forward, I touch her flushed cheeks, directing her gaze to me. Her hair is down, messy around her shoulders, making me want to run my hands through it. But that will lead to more kissing, to more touching, and she clearly has something she needs to say.
“Tell me, Becca,” I say firmly.
She swallows. “It’s just… your hand, what you were doing. What you were going to do.”
“Yeah?” I say. “You don’t want me to?”
She laughs quietly, shaking her head. Her hand flies up to press against mine, pushing with pressure. It’s as though she doesn’t want me to release my hold on her face.
“It’s not that. Of course, I want you to. It’s just…even if Mom and Dad weren’t waiting, there are obstacles.”
“The two months,” I mutter.
“No, Ben,” she says sassily, letting her hand drop. “Please, just let me finish. Or maybe I don’t need to tell you.”
“You do,” I snarl. “I can tell how badly you need to. So do it, Becca. Tell me. Now.”
She tilts her head, her eyes all vivacious. She looks ready for a fight.
“You’re pretty bossy, you know that?”
I smirk. “If you’re trying to sound like you don’t like it, you’re doing a bad job.”
She flushes again, the sweetest sight, her cheeks turning the most adorable and compelling shade of red.
“Stop pretending you can read me,” she murmurs, but then she laughs in the cutest way. “Okay, maybe you can a little because you’re right. I do kind of like it. I can’t believe it’s happening….”
“Why?”
She looks at me as though I just asked the most basic question imaginable.
“Because you’re you and I’m….”
I step forward. It’s like a reflex.
When I sense she’s going to speak negatively about her appearance, my instincts kick in, and suddenly I’ve got my hand on her hip, pulling her close, pushing our bodies together so she can feel just how hungry she makes me.
“You’re beautiful, sexy, funny, intelligent. You’re you, Becca, and I don’t want to hear you putting yourself down again.”
“This is too crazy,” she whispers. “It’s like a freaking dream….”
“A dream?” I ask.
“Come true,” she says, pushing the words out as though she finds it difficult. “I had a crush on you, Ben. For a long time. For years.”
I shrug. “I didn’t know. But it doesn’t matter. All I care about is the now.”
She gasps. “I thought you’d be more shocked.”
“It’s not that I’m shocked. Or not shocked. I just don’t care.”
“You don’t think I’m a weirdo creep for…for fantasizing about you for so long?” Her cheeks have turned red, a deeper shade this time. “Because a lot of people would.”
I grip her other hip, trapping her like the predator she makes me, then lean down and push my lips against hers again.
As we kiss, something unfair happens.
My best man speech returns to me in snippets.
“Alex is the best friend a person could ask for…always loyal, always has my back…and he knows I’ve always got his. I know he’ll do the right thing because he always does….”
I do my best to push it away, to focus on the feel of Becca’s lips, on her breasts pressing against me.
I try to forget Becca – my woman – is Alex’s sister.
I try to forget we’re in Alex’s apartment.
Becca lets out a shaking breath as she steps away. “My phone just vibrated. I bet it’s Mom and Dad.”
“Is that what you were going to tell me?” I ask. “About the crush?”
Her eyes widen. She nods, as though she’s going to lie, but then the nod becomes a shaking of her head halfway through.
“No,” she says after a pause. “But I have to go.”
“You clearly wanted to tell me,” I say fiercely. “I won’t force you. But….”
“I’m a virgin, Ben.”
She turns before I have a chance to say anything.
Before I can respond – before I can even start to respond – she’s stalking down the hallway. I open my mouth to call after her, but she’s moving too quickly.
The door slams.
I snap into action, striding to the door, throwing it open to find her already in the elevator. She’s hammering the button like she thinks I’m going to chase her and hurt her in some way.