Total pages in book: 102
Estimated words: 100225 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 501(@200wpm)___ 401(@250wpm)___ 334(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 100225 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 501(@200wpm)___ 401(@250wpm)___ 334(@300wpm)
“Morning, Gorgeous.”
“I thought I told you I didn’t like that nickname.”
“You did, but it suits you.”
Slamming my eyelid closed again, I silently wish I could disappear. I know I can’t, but it’s a hope. As I’m silently praying that I turn invisible, it hits me. I open my eyes again to stare at Dom and deliver death rays. “I thought I told you to stay on your side.”
For a minute, he looks shocked as hell. He probably thought I wouldn’t call him on his bullshit. Well, he’d be wrong. I’m not going to let him walk all over me. He needs to think again if he has it in his head that I’m going to be like every other female and just fall at his feet.
“Baby, you’re the one on my side,” he murmurs, his eyes crinkled in humor.
“The hell I am!”
His arms go around me and he holds me closer. I automatically melt into him. Then I find my brain and force my body to go rigid as I try to pull away from him. Unfortunately, he doesn’t let me. “Don’t leave, Thea. I want you exactly where you are.”
“I…” I look around and feel my face heat as I realize he’s telling the truth. Three-quarters of this huge bed is now empty. I’ve somehow crowded him to the edge of his side, my body so wrapped around him I’m practically lying on top of his hard body.
Oh, God. How did this happen?
“Let me go, Dom,” I urge in a barely there hiss. I tightly shut my eyes—yet again—feeling humiliated.
“Not on your life. I’ve been dreaming about this since our dinner together, woman. Now that you’re in my arms, I don’t want you to leave them.”
Say what? “Um…”
“I won’t ask for anything, Thea. I promise. Right now, I just want to hold you. Give that to me, please. I know you think you know who I am, and that’s fair. The thing is, I’m not that same man anymore. Now, I’m a man asking you to give me a chance.”
“A chance for what, Dom? A relationship could never work between us.”
“You don’t know that, Thea. Hell, we don’t even know what we are together. Maybe we’ll just be friends. Maybe we’ll be the best of friends—”
“Maybe we’ll hate one another and never recover from it,” I snap.
He just smirks at me. “It could happen, I suppose. The point is there’s something between us and neither of us has tried to explore it. I want to. Don’t you?”
“I have no idea what you’re talking about. I think you’re insane.”
“You’re afraid.”
“I—”
“Gorgeous, don’t deny it. I see the fear in your eyes.”
“Well, of course I am! You and I can barely stay in a room together. What happens when all this explodes and there is a rift that can’t be fixed? You and I share a family, Dom.”
“You’re the bravest woman I know, Thea. I really need you to tap into that now, because I think we could find something spectacular between us.”
“I’m not ready for—”
“I’m not asking for anything other than time to see what’s here.”
“Last night proved I have bad luck with men. It’d be insane for me to—”
“So, maybe it means you need to go off script. I don’t think you can get anymore off script than the two of us.”
“You have all the answers, don’t you?” I laugh.
“Only when it concerns something real important.”
“Careful, Dom. You keep pushing and I’m going to think you’re begging here,” I mock, enjoying this conversation way too much.
“I’m not above it right now, Thea. To be honest, I’m wondering what my odds are in getting you to spend the day with me.”
I cock an eyebrow up in surprise, unable to hide my reaction. I shouldn’t even talk about this with Dom. I should get out of this bed and run far, far away. The words of denial are on the tip of my tongue. I may have even gotten them out if I hadn’t looked into his eyes. There’s a look in them I never expected to see from him—at least not when it comes to me. The look can be summed up in one word. Want.
Dom wants me.
Somewhere deep down the teenage me is squealing in joy. What’s even more worrying is the way my heart speeds up and my body becomes flushed and eager. I unearth feelings I thought were dead and buried in some pit of hell that I covered up after being heartbroken.
“What do you have in mind?” I hear myself asking, and I want to slap the hell out of me.
“That’s a surprise. You just have to be brave enough to try it.”
“Fine, but you only have today. It’s up to you to earn more of my time,” I challenge. I expected him to balk, but he just laughed.