Total pages in book: 135
Estimated words: 135536 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 678(@200wpm)___ 542(@250wpm)___ 452(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 135536 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 678(@200wpm)___ 542(@250wpm)___ 452(@300wpm)
And to think I’d almost taken them as Romeo’s subliminal message to get a job.
Those arctic-grays swung up from his screen, surprise and…was it delight? coloring them.
“I wasn’t talking about sex.”
“Oh.”
“But good to know I didn’t scar you for life after this afternoon.”
The look he gave me told me he knew I’d faked those tears, did not find it amusing, and would punish me later for it.
Hopefully, in the bedroom. Over his knees. As I wore the school girl uniform that I’d purchased in anticipation of this exact scenario.
I brushed his judgment off. Returning the hardcover, I parked my butt on the edge of his desk. “Okay. What do you have for me?”
He leaned back in his chair, gripped my outer thigh through my sweatpants, and ran his rough palm up my hip until he clutched my waist.
“Since I was foolish enough to buy your tears today, I donated two buildings in our family name. One to Georgetown and the other to Johns Hopkins.”
I blinked, not yet comprehending. “Are you going to turn them into libraries for me? Seems a bit extreme to rob so many students of their degree—”
“You can now take your pick at which university you’d like to complete your college degree.” His upturned chin told me he thought he’d done me a favor.
I, on the other hand, wanted to slap him silly.
What a horrid thing to do.
Didn’t he know me at all?
Maybe I’d gone overboard on giving him hell for plucking me midway through my degree.
Misinterpreting the surprise on my face for awe and gratitude, a wolfish smirk tugged at his delicious mouth. “I will take my thank you in the form of dick sucking, although I am partial to eating you out on the kitchen counter, too.”
I flung my hands in the air, groaning. “How could you do that to me?”
That wiped the smile off his face.
“You dropped out of Emory,” he pointed out, as if the detail had escaped me.
“Yes.” I stubbed an accusing finger into his chest. “And that was literally the only thing I looked forward to when you took me as a wife.”
“You don’t want a college degree?” The mask of indifference returned to his eyes.
“Of course not.” I shook my head. “Do you know anyone worth their salt who has one?”
He stared at me in a way that suggested I’d spoken in an entirely different language.
I sighed, listing the greatest minds of our generation, all degree-free. “Steve Jobs, Mark Zuckerberg, Bill Gates, Jack Dorsey—”
“Shortbread.” He frowned. “I don’t think you’re at risk of depriving the world of a budding tech genius. In fact, when your phone freezes, you smash it against a hard surface instead of restarting it. I’ve seen you do it. Multiple times. You know nothing of technology and social media. Plus, virtually all of those people dropped out of Ivy League schools, which they did not require entire building donations to get accepted into.”
“Are you saying I’m stupid?” I added an insulted lilt to my voice, mainly to veer him off the topic of my unfinished college degree.
“No. You’ve proven to be incredibly smart.”
“Then, what’s the problem?”
“I won’t be married to an uneducated woman.”
“You should’ve thought about that before kidnapping one.” I began moving things around—pens, stapler, paperweight—just to leave my mark on this usually untouched room.
Now that I thought about it, it could use some artwork. A splash of color, perhaps?
“You will finish your degree.” He clasped my wrist, gently drawing me from further messing up his workspace. “And that’s that.”
“Or else what?” I slid from his desk, straddling him in his chair now. I wrapped my arms around his shoulders, peering into his face. “You’re going to kick me out to the Hamptons? To Chapel Falls?”
We both knew I wasn’t going anywhere.
I didn’t know why or how, exactly, this had become a silent agreement between us, but I think in some messed-up, completely unhealthy way, whatever was brewing inside this mansion was better than the reality we both had lived before.
He grabbed my ass, grinding me against his erection.
His jaw muscles jumped, eyes hooding. “Fuck it. I’ll buy you a degree.”
“I’ll burn it,” I countered. “I want people to know I’m self-taught.”
“At what? Sitting on the couch and licking Oreo cream?” His hard length parted my slit through our clothes, colliding with my clit. “At least become the chairwoman of a non-profit.”
I shook my head. “I’ll continue giving to charity behind the scenes.”
He examined me, perplexed. “Why?”
“Because I don’t need to impress anyone, and neither do you.” I leaned down to kiss him. He caught my lips in his, drawing me into a deep, tongue-filled kiss. “Now, should I get naked?”
“Certainly.” He pushed me off him, returning his attention to his work. “But only because what you’re wearing is an eyesore. I’m busy.”
Even though he low-key threw me out of his study, I was actually quite happy when I swaggered my way outside. This was our first non-toxic interaction.