Total pages in book: 48
Estimated words: 44167 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 221(@200wpm)___ 177(@250wpm)___ 147(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 44167 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 221(@200wpm)___ 177(@250wpm)___ 147(@300wpm)
I pull into the driveway at home, and I know it’s no good. Damnit, no, I won’t let this derail things. It’s a hiccup, and nothing more. It has to be her. I’ve waited so long for someone to come into my life, and now I have her, I’m not letting her go. Not the perfect woman for me. It has to be Candy.
She will be mine. I need to have her, and I need to have her now. I can’t wait, not for the kind of years to pass before it might be easier for Lexie to accept. It has to be now. She will be mine. This is just a complication that we have to solve, but we’re going to solve it.
I didn’t become one of the foremost art gallery owners and dealers in this state by sitting down and rolling over when things don’t go my way. I will figure out a way to make this work. Even if it means there might be some temporary upset, I know that we will find a way to make it happen. I have to have her.
I send her another message before I even get out of the car. I don’t know if she’s read the first, or how she feels, but I need her to know that I’m still in this. I’m not walking away just because it might get awkward. I want her so bad, nothing is going to stop me from making her mine.
I’ll call you soon, I write to her. I still want to see you again.
I just hope that message, simple enough as it is, is enough to keep the fire of this thing we have between us burning.
Chapter Fifteen
Candy
Finn’s hands are on my body. He kisses my mouth, hot and needy, and his lips are greedy for me, pushing me down onto the bed. I feel his body looming over mine as he kisses me over and over, his hands moving over my waist and up to my breasts, filling me with heat. His hands dip down lower, lower, over my hips and around, over the top of my legs, down until –
Until I wake up, panting and hot, finding myself twisted up in the sheets of my bed.
I groan and cover my face, trying to hide against the sunlight. It’s morning already, and I’m still wracked with confusion about Finn.
I didn’t know he was my roommate’s Dad. And now I do know, it changes everything. Or at least, it should. But here I am, having sexy dreams about him. If nothing else, it proves that I am definitely not over the idea of being with him – however much a betrayal of my best friend it may be.
And if I can’t get him out of my head, I wonder if he feels the same. His message last night said that he still wanted to see me again, but I didn’t reply – I was too conflicted. And I have to know more about this situation if I’m going to make any kind of decision.
I don’t want to have this kind of big conversation over the phone. And even though I know he’s probably working, I can’t wait, either. It’s too much. It’s filling up my head.
“Oh, are you going out?” Alex asks, coming out of the bathroom with her makeup bag. “I thought we could do some studying together today.”
“Sorry,” I tell her, rushing towards the door. The less time I give her to ask me questions, the better. “I’ve just got something I have to do. I’ll be back later!”
I shut the door to our room behind me as quickly as I can, then practically run down the hall, trying to get out of here before she can catch up.
I take the bus over to the gallery – even though I have a license, I left my car at home with my parents, so my little brother could use it. I figured I wasn’t going to need to get around town too much. Until now, I’d been right – but having a boyfriend with a job downtown might complicate that.
A boyfriend. A shiver runs down my spine at that thought. I want it. But I’m still not convinced that I should.
I rush down the street and into the gallery with barely a thought; it’s only when I get inside and see a young woman with her hair cut into a sharp black bob, dressed in an Andy Warhol print, that I realize Finn might not even be here. Even though he’s the owner, of course, he has employees. Why didn’t I think of that?
“Can I help you?” the woman asks, in a supercilious tone. Looking down at myself, I know why. I’m wearing a simple shirt and jeans, nothing complicated for my day off – and also nothing too expensive-looking. She can probably tell just by looking at me that I don’t belong here.