Total pages in book: 141
Estimated words: 142783 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 714(@200wpm)___ 571(@250wpm)___ 476(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 142783 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 714(@200wpm)___ 571(@250wpm)___ 476(@300wpm)
To never again feel the pain of the blade she’d driven into my back.
Right then, I shunned it all and edged up behind her. I wrapped my arms around her waist like it was the most natural thing in the world.
She leaned against me with a slight laugh, peering back at me from over her shoulder. “Prince, huh? Wow, someone sure thinks a lot of himself.”
I rocked my erection against her ass because if Aster Rose was around, that shit was going to be hard. “Give me a couple minutes, and you’ll be thinking a lot of me, too.”
She giggled again, and I held her, my face pressed to the side of her neck, her face tipped up to mine. I rocked her there for a second, just relishing in the feel of what was always supposed to be.
Her phone pinged on the counter.
She jumped a little before she reached for it and read her text.
“Who is it?”
I’d already seen it, but I held the chuckle that wanted to rumble out.
She lifted her phone, though there was a frown knitting her face.
Tessa: Coffee (okay, fine, mimosas) at O’Malley’s at noon! Half day shenanigans, baby. Your presence is required.
She pushed her phone aside like it might actually be a bomb.
“You don’t want to go?” I rumbled it at her ear. “You don’t need to worry…she’s only half insane.”
Aster almost caught onto the lightness, but I still felt the way she warred.
“What is it?” I asked, urging her closer to me.
I felt her eyes trace the message again, and her heart slugged a missing beat.
“You’re afraid you don’t belong?”
Her head shook. “No, Logan, I’m afraid to get attached.”
So yeah, my spirit soared.
I pressed my mouth to the sweet spot behind her ear, my words low when I told her, “Get attached.”
“I’m not sure that’s a good idea.”
“I think it’s a fantastic idea.”
Stepping away from her, I slung into my jacket and pressed a kiss to her cheek.
“I have to go. See you later, honey.” I sent her the biggest smirking grin I could conjure.
Choking out a laugh, she shook her head. “You’re ridiculous.”
I took her by the chin. “I’ll be whatever you want me to be, just as long as you know you are mine.”
Because it was time both of us found a way to move on from the chains that had bound us to our pasts. Time to move on from the separation. Time to move on together.
It was a little before two when I ducked out of my office and wound down the sidewalk in the direction of my favorite coffee shop that was half a block away. I inhaled a deep breath of the frozen, misty air, relaxing so I could let the jumble of numbers unwind where they were twisted in my brain as I strolled down the sidewalk.
I was fucking good at my job, but truth be told, it could be a bit of a drag, especially considering there were so many things I’d rather be doing right then.
Like exploring every inch of Aster’s body. Or hell, just looking at her would do.
Hedge funds and investments and fucking obnoxious clients freaking out if their stocks dipped even the slightest amount after I’d already made them filthy rich had started to grate.
I thrived on the high-risk.
Excelled at the hazardous.
Took chances that paid off big and had my roster stuffed with millionaires who held grandiose ambitions of becoming billionaires.
For years, I’d even delved into the shady, dipping my fingers into places I never should have let them go.
It seemed no matter how much money people had, it was never enough.
It was what had driven me for years because I didn’t see much sense in going after anything else.
Greed.
It was instinct.
It was justice.
It was taking for myself when the world had stolen what should have been mine.
And no, there wasn’t a thing wrong with being comfortable, but there was something about it now that left a bitter taste in my mouth. Or maybe it was the singe of Aster’s fingers when she’d tremble them over the word like it were inked in venom that had left me questioning everything.
The bell rang above me when I tossed open the café door, and the heavy aroma of fresh brew filled my nostrils.
My favorite times were bringing Gage here. We used to come often when I’d taken care of him in the evenings, the two of us a pair, the kid the one single pure thing I’d had in my life. It’d felt like something innocent to share. The one good thing I could give myself to, even if it’d stung.
It felt different today when I stepped inside, though, like so much had gone good, and I wasn’t quite sure what to do with it. It was funny how I always wore a smile, but for the first time in a long-damned time, this one felt real.