Total pages in book: 71
Estimated words: 68354 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 342(@200wpm)___ 273(@250wpm)___ 228(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 68354 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 342(@200wpm)___ 273(@250wpm)___ 228(@300wpm)
“So that’s it.”
“And you work at Verge because…”
Leaning forward, she lowers her voice. “I work at Verge because I like the people there. I… have never scened with anyone, and I don’t plan to. I don’t even want to.”
Oh, but the way her cheeks pink tell another story.
I nod but can’t help smirking a little. I try to hide it, but she notices.
“Don’t laugh at me,” she says through gritted teeth. “Please. That was a… momentary lapse in judgment, and I regret it.”
I don’t respond at first, just tap my knee. Suggesting. When her eyes travel to my hand on my knee, she flushes a deeper shade of pink and looks away. God, I’m an asshole, but I can’t help teasing her.
“I… I don’t want to make a mistake that could cost me custody,” she blurts out. “Ever.”
“Bailey’s how old again?” I ask.
“Fourteen,” she says. “Not long and she’ll be an adult herself.”
“And Ben?”
“Ten.”
I inhale deeply and let the breath out slowly, drumming my fingers on my lap while I look out the window, before I turn to her. “That’s a lot on your plate, Cora.”
Let me take some of that off for you.
No. No way.
“It is, but I do fine,” she says.
“Do you?” I wonder. Reaching for her chin, I turn her gaze to mine. I like the soft feel of her skin beneath my fingers. The way she looks at me with slightly parted lips, unaccustomed to the tender gesture. “When was the last time you ate a decent meal, Cora?”
Swallowing, she tries to look away, but a sharp pull on her chin keeps her gaze locked on mine.
“I don’t need to eat much,” she says. “I’m too chubby as it is.”
A growl rises in my chest. “Don’t you ever fucking say a thing like that to me again. If you were mine, I’d turn you over my knee for a comment like that.”
With her chin held vulnerable in my grasp, the way she swallows is clear. “I’m not yours,” she whispers.
Not yet.
“Answer the question.”
Sighing, she finally whispers. “It’s been a very long time. But I get by.”
I’ll feed her tonight, then let her go.
As soon as the thought crosses my mind, I release her chin. She’s not a stray dog I found on the street who can eat my table scraps and scamper into the night.
Christ.
Why do I want the one thing I can’t have?
We pull up to the school and I wave my hand. “Go,” I tell her. “Be as quick as you can. I’m assuming you have a shift at Verge tonight?”
“Yes.”
“Then make it quick if we’re getting food before you go.”
But she doesn’t move. She stares at me until I snap my fingers and point to the door.
“Don’t try me, woman.” I’m out of patience, but what she doesn’t know is that I’m mad at myself, not her.
Without another word, she’s gone.
When the door shuts, I groan.
What the fuck am I doing?
Five
Cora
I should not be taking handouts from him.
I should not.
But how can I let my pride get in the way of keeping me from what I really need? I screwed up tonight. I promised Bailey I would go and meet every one of her teachers.
I tell myself to stop thinking about the fact that he’s waiting for me.
To stop thinking about the fact that after I’m finished here, he’s buying me dinner. My stomach aches with hunger. I’ve had nothing but a bowl of oatmeal since eight o’clock this morning, and it was plain, so it didn’t even taste good.
I need to stop thinking how he made my pulse race with just the reminder of how he took me over his lap.
God. I’m getting in too deep, and I don’t even know his name.
All eyes are on me as I step out of his massive black car that looks like it belongs in the rich part of town, instead of the high school.
“Well, well, well,” someone mutters, but when I turn to see who it is, they’re already gone.
I’m half angry at myself for letting him take me, and half shocked at my luck. What did I do to deserve a man like him taking care of me?
But the better question is… what will he expect in return?
I go to get my phone out of my bag when I remember my phone is broken, and I haven’t had the time or money to replace it since that night a week ago.
Has it been so long?
Instead, I take the crumpled piece of paper out of my pocket with Bailey’s schedule on it, and glance at the time on the huge round clock on the wall. It wasn’t so long ago I went to this very school myself, and I know this place like the back of my hand.
I go to her first class, and though the young English teacher looks surprised when she sees me, she has nothing but good things to say about Bailey. The second class goes much the same as the first, but when I get to the third, freshman Biology, I find the door locked. I stand back and look at the number on the door.