Total pages in book: 89
Estimated words: 84401 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 422(@200wpm)___ 338(@250wpm)___ 281(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 84401 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 422(@200wpm)___ 338(@250wpm)___ 281(@300wpm)
Xavier frowned. “You and I have far more in common.”
He said it matter-of-factly, but it wreaked havoc on my insides.
“We do,” I agreed. “We’re like brother and sister without the bickering.”
Xavier gave me a disbelieving look.
“Okay. With more bickering.”
“I don’t see you as a sister, trust me, Evie,” Xavier muttered.
I paused with an avocado fry against my lips. It slipped to the side, smearing the corner of my mouth with dip. I stared at Xavier. Blink. Blink. He reached out and brushed the stain away and my lips in the process, then put his finger in his mouth with a look in his eyes I had never seen directed at me. Blink. Blink. Ovary-explosion-in-process.
He drew his eyes back to the TV and turned the movie back on, as if I could still focus on an alien going rampage after what just happened. Xavier didn’t share my troubles, obviously, because he leaned back against the sofa, cool as a cucumber, low-carb beer perched on his muscled stomach, and stared intently at the screen.
I put the avocado fry back into its box and took a deep gulp of cold beer, trying to make sense of his words and actions, but as usual drawing a complete blank. Deciding to play it cool and get a grip on my hormones, I relaxed against the backrest, and focused on the movie. Sometime close to the end, Xavier stretched his arms out to both sides of him as he often did, but this time the presence of his muscled biceps so close to my shoulder blades was the additional distraction I really didn’t need.
I glanced down at myself, making sure I didn’t sport a muffin top over my skirt, then shifted slightly so my legs looked leaner.
“Everything all right?” Xavier asked curiously.
“Sure,” I said, and finally accepted that no matter what position I adopted it wouldn’t make me look like the size-zero models Xavier usually took to his bed.
When the closing credits rolled down the screen, I considered faking exhaustion and leaving quickly, but then Xavier spoke up.
“My mother tried to get into a women’s shelter with us when I was a kid,” he murmured.
I turned to him, caught off guard by this admission. “Because of your father?”
He had never mentioned him, but it had become apparent that the man was a dark presence in his family’s life.
Xavier nodded. I didn’t push him. It was obvious that he wasn’t going to divulge more information for now. For some reason I wanted to stroke his chin, feel the stubble there, and press a kiss to his cheek to show him I appreciated that he allowed me to see this side of him.
“Only Marc knows I’m helping shelters,” he continued in the same detached voice.
I bit my lip and touched his shoulder. “Thank you for letting me be part of this. It means a lot to me.”
He nodded, twisting his body away from the screen and toward me. His arm on the backrest shifted and his fingertips lightly grazed my bare shoulder. I wasn’t sure if he did it on purpose, but he definitely didn’t pull them away. I exhaled, shivering, my body exploding with heat under the soft touch.
Xavier leaned forward, bringing us even closer. He cupped my face, eyes locked on mine, his fingers sliding into my hair. I held my breath, and then his lips were on mine, softly, questioningly.
And I responded to his kiss, my body coming alive with a rush of adrenaline and longing. I moved closer, gripped his shirt, needing to feel his heat and strength. I’d wanted this for so long, still wanted it after that first taste on the truck bed.
Xavier’s kiss became less restrained, demanding, all-consuming.
His hands roamed my back and sides, stroking and tugging, and I had trouble keeping up, even as my own hands tore at his clothes. I had never felt like this, never longed for someone with such abandon.
Xavier’s hand slipped under my tank top, and before I could clamp up with worry, he cupped my breast through my bra. He groaned against my mouth and I kissed him even harder, trying to match his eagerness and skill. Good Lord. That man.
“This is a bad idea,” I whispered between kisses as I slid my hands under his shirt and over Xavier’s stomach, feeling the hard lines, the soft hairs. His skin constricted under my touch.
“It is,” he agreed before his mouth latched down on my throat, finding a point that I could feel right between my thighs. His fingers cupped my nipple, and he gave the smallest twirl that had me moaning wantonly into his mouth. I didn’t know my breasts were this sensitive, much less that I could make these sounds.
He pulled back and removed his shirt, and I was done for. I knew it then. His lips reclaimed my mouth and his finger my nipple. I pressed my thighs together, needing friction. His eyes flashed up to my burning face. “I want you,” he rasped.