Total pages in book: 44
Estimated words: 41351 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 207(@200wpm)___ 165(@250wpm)___ 138(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 41351 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 207(@200wpm)___ 165(@250wpm)___ 138(@300wpm)
“Still playing the victim, I see. Stop with the histrionics and let’s go inside. If you’d like me to leave after I say what I need to say, then I’ll leave with no argument.”
“Or I can call the police and have you removed for trespassing. That wouldn’t look so good with the bar association would it?”
“You could try to call the police but do you think you can get your phone out and dial the number before I close the space between us and give you what you’re solely begging for?”
Riley clutched her throat, not bothering to pretend she didn’t know what he was talking about. It was embarrassing to still be so physically attracted to a man who had shattered her heart into a million pieces, but it was beyond mortifying to realize he knew it too. "Please go,” she whispered.
Ethan took a step forward. “Why Riley? Because you know I’m right?”
She took a step back. “Don’t.”
“Don’t what? Point out the obvious? Look, you’re being ridiculous. Let’s go inside and talk. I’ll keep my hands to myself if that’s what you’re worried about.”
“I’d rather you just leave but you won’t will you?”
“Not until I tell you my proposition.”
She sighed. It was no wonder he was so successful in his career. Through his sheer force of will and determination, Ethan Boudreaux was not the kind of man who easily took no for an answer. “Okay, but don’t make yourself too comfortable,” she grumbled as she managed to slide past him without any physical contact.
Unsteady fingers trembled as she attempted to unlock her door. Thankfully he didn’t reach out to take the keys from her to open it himself. When they were inside, she flipped on the lights and entered the security code to the house.
Ethan glanced around, his hazel gaze seeming to miss nothing. “Nice place you got here.”
Riley shrugged. “I like it.” This was the first home she’d owned on her own and she was proud of it. She’d been able to purchase it under market value because it had been a fixer upper. There was still some work that needed to be done but she’d taken care of the major issues.
“This house is very feminine. Very you.”
“Thanks. But I’m sure you didn’t come here to discuss the state of my house. Here, let me take your coat. You might as well have a seat.” She held out her hand.
“Thank you.” He shrugged out of his coat to reveal his toned body, encased in a dark v-neck sweater and a pair of black slacks.
She caught herself from licking her lips. The man had no right to look so goddamn sexy. Wordlessly, she took his coat and placed it on the rack by the door and then slid out of her own jacket. She took her time returning to where Ethan now sat with his both arms draped across the couch and he seemed quite at home. Riley took a seat on the edge of the love seat that was adjacent to where he sat.
“So, what is this so-called proposal you have for me?”
Ethan leaned forward and locked his gaze with hers. Riley quickly looked down into her lap where her hands were tightly folded. She was scared if she stared in his eyes for too long, she’d do or say something stupid.
“I think the two of us would benefit if we resume a sexual relationship with each other.”
“Ethan, I don’t think that would be a—wait what?” She’d been so prepared to shut him down no matter what he’d proposed that it didn’t register what he’d said at first. Riley wasn’t sure what she’d been expecting but it certainly hadn’t been this.
His lips tilted into a cocky grin. “I’m sure you heard me the first time. Before you tune me out completely, just listen. We may have had a lot of problems in our marriage but sex wasn’t one of them. We were dynamite together. When I saw you at the engagement party I felt the spark. And I think you could as well. The sexual tension between us is as strong as ever. I see no reason why the two of us shouldn’t engage in something we both want, particularly when it would ease the awkwardness of being in the wedding party together.”
Riley tried to wrap her head around this so-called proposition. Had Ethan lost it or had she? She held her hands in front of her. “Hold up. In what world do you live in that you’d think it’s okay to even suggest I’d resume any kind of relationship with you, let alone a sexual one? And what about that brunette who was clinging to you like a second skin. Don’t you think she’d mind?”
“Andrea has nothing to do with this. But since you brought her up, she and I are colleagues who have shared a few meals together. Nothing more, nothing less.”