Total pages in book: 96
Estimated words: 91622 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 458(@200wpm)___ 366(@250wpm)___ 305(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 91622 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 458(@200wpm)___ 366(@250wpm)___ 305(@300wpm)
He bracketed her, one knee on either side of her, as he poised his erection at her damp, pulsing entrance.
Erin looked up at him, afraid everything she felt for him showed in her eyes. Not wanting to lose him because she was becoming emotionally invested when that wasn’t what he wanted, she drew on bad-girl Erin as she met his gaze. “Fuck me, Cole.”
His eyes darkened to a stormy black, and with a strangled groan, he plunged hard and deep. Erin cried out, taking all of him, feeling all of him as he laid claim to her with a punishing rhythm that somehow felt so very right. Her body, which had been sated seconds before, came alive once more, taking a fast climb to an inevitable end that arrived in an explosion that encompassed everything that was Erin. She held nothing back—couldn’t—as he demanded and took all of her with him when he came.
* * *
Cole stood in Erin’s kitchen cooking breakfast. A mundane task he’d begun to enjoy because she appreciated and liked his food so damn much. Another thing he wasn’t used to. Doing things for someone else on a daily basis. Giving and receiving approval for little things. Someone else coming to expect things from him.
And him learning to rely on things from another human being. Erin had begun to do his laundry, something he’d tried unsuccessfully to prevent. She was doing hers anyway, and since she came home from work and had a routine she followed, he’d started to let her scoop up his towels and things along with her own. She left him the newspaper to read because she only scanned the comics and “Dear Abby,” a weird choice for such a bright woman, but it amused him to watch her small smiles as she read while she devoured his food.
Little things that he’d miss when he was gone. None of which meant he wanted this psycho to continue to toy with her life. The very thought made his blood boil. Nobody wanted to catch this bastard more than he did, but her brothers were at a standstill.
To top things off, he’d gotten a couple of voicemail messages from his boss, asking when he’d be ready to go back under. Normally the answer was yesterday, but no way would he leave Erin alone when she was being stalked. And with the baby on the way, he admitted to needing time to get his head on straight. Not that he’d tell his superiors any such thing. He wanted space, and after the years he’d put in, he was entitled.
He’d just served them both and was about to call Erin when the doorbell rang. Knowing she’d learned not to answer, he felt for his weapon and headed to see who was there at ten o’clock on a Sunday morning.
A look outside and he froze.
“Who is it?” Erin asked from the top of the stairs.
“Jed.” Cole didn’t turn around.
“Oh. Umm, I’ll let you handle it,” she said, and he sensed rather than saw her head back to her room. He appreciated the privacy since nothing about this visit could possibly be good.
Cole opened the door and faced his old man.
“You took your sweet time letting me in.”
“Good morning to you too. What brings you by? Want to see Erin?” he asked, on the slight chance he could avoid the inevitable confrontation.
He shook his head. “I had breakfast with Ella and Simon. ’Course I knew you were here playing bodyguard. Despite it all, I figured you’d take decent care of Erin, but damn it all, couldn’t you keep it in your pants?”
Cole grabbed his father by his good arm and pulled him inside. In a public condo unit, he didn’t need Erin’s older neighbor coming outside and getting an earful.
“None of this is any of your business,” he said, shutting the door behind Jed.
His father ran his good hand through his hair. The cast had been removed on his other arm, leaving him with just a sling. “You feeling okay?” Cole asked him.
“What do you mean, it’s none of my business? She’s the daughter of my best friend, the former police chief of this town. Not to mention an assistant DA.”
“Still don’t see where it’s your business,” Cole said, then mentally counted to ten to calm his temper. “Do you think I planned this? And before you ask, of course I used protection, so don’t go there.”
“You’re still a goddamned moron. Who do you think you are, touching a girl like her?”
Cole set his jaw. “She’s a woman, Dad. It was mutual.”
“She’s a damned nice woman,” Jed barked at him. “You should have known better than to lay a hand on her. You’re just going to hurt her when you leave her high and dry.”
“That’s between Cole and me, don’t you think?” Erin walked down the stairs, dressed for a day at his cousin Nick’s cabin on the lake. “Sorry, Cole, but I couldn’t help overhearing, and there’s no way I’m going to let him pin all this on you.”