Total pages in book: 96
Estimated words: 91357 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 457(@200wpm)___ 365(@250wpm)___ 305(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 91357 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 457(@200wpm)___ 365(@250wpm)___ 305(@300wpm)
* * *
Sam couldn’t mistake her desire, not when she smelled so sweet, and she was so pliant in his arms. Her breasts filled his palms, each just slightly larger than his hand, and when she arched into him, the pebbled points of her nipples pricked his skin. His cock throbbed against his jeans, but he ignored his own needs, content to test just how sensitive she was and enjoy fulfilling her wants.
He brushed his thumbs over the lace fabric of her bra, turning her nipples into even firmer darts, and she gripped his hair harder, a clear signal not to stop. He couldn’t if he wanted to. He was lost in this woman, like nothing he’d ever experienced. He didn’t want to break the kiss. Hell, as much as he wanted to thrust inside her hot, willing body, he could kiss her like this forever.
And he would have, had her phone not rung, interrupting the moment.
He groaned and stepped back, his forehead still touching hers.
“Go ahead. Get it,” he said, silently cursing whoever was on the other end.
With a disappointed sigh, she headed for the other room where her phone was, leaving him feeling the loss. He shook his head, knowing how crazy that sounded. Still, he was enjoying everything about Nicole—and the fact that she was moving in next door meant all systems were go between them.
He heard her steps as she came back to the kitchen.
As she entered the room, he glanced at her, noticing she was paler than before and a lot less relaxed.
“What’s wrong?”
“I . . .”
Nerves pricked at his skin. “Just say it,” he told her, recognizing that her hesitation meant nothing good.
“Macy called. I had a visitor at her restaurant. Someone looking for me here in Serendipity.”
Sam narrowed his gaze. “Okay . . . I’m sure you told people at home where you were going, so why would a visitor be a surprise?”
“Umm, there’s two parts to that answer,” she said without meeting his gaze. “One, I told my parents where I was going, but there’s a good chance they didn’t actually hear me. They aren’t interested in anything more than me staying home and not messing up their plans.”
“What sort of plans?” he asked, suddenly edgy.
She bit down on her lower lip. The same lower lip he’d been suckling on minutes before. “I was engaged.”
The word echoed around the room and slammed into his brain.
“I broke it off before I left Manhattan and moved here to start over,” she said, her words coming out in a rush.
Only one word stood out in Sam’s mind. “Engaged,” he repeated.
“Was engaged.”
“So there’s an ex-fiancé out there,” he said, and as he spoke, he realized just who was in town, causing her to panic. “And he’s the one who’s here.”
She nodded, eyes wide. “But it’s over between us. I’ve told him it’s over. I haven’t been taking his calls because I don’t want to give him the wrong impression. So I have no idea why he’d come.” She rubbed her hands together, her panic and nervousness obvious.
These were weird reactions, if he thought about it, but he couldn’t understand why she’d be so flustered beyond having to confess to an awkward omission. Then again, what did he know about the relationship between her and her ex-fiancé? He’d learned long ago not to think he knew people—Sam had set up one of his best friends with who he thought was a stand-up guy, only to find out once they were married that he was nothing of the sort.
Sam rubbed a hand over his face, exhaustion and frustration suddenly claiming him. He couldn’t believe this night had done such a one-eighty.
But he only had one focus, one part of this story that involved him. “If the guy was your fiancé, chances are he had good reason to have the impression that you loved him,” he said with bite because he’d been in that ex’s shoes, and he knew what it felt like to have a woman break things off.
In Sam’s case, left at the altar was an accurate statement, so he understood being blindsided. He didn’t want to feel bad for the guy, who was probably here to try to talk Nicole into coming back to him. But hadn’t he done the same thing? Right after Jenna ended things, he’d tried to get her to remember the good times and the plans they’d made. He’d tried to understand when she’d changed her mind—and why he’d been too blind to see it. To this day, he didn’t have a clue.
“I thought I loved him,” Nicole said, interrupting Sam’s mental trip into the past. “And then I realized I didn’t,” she continued.
He swallowed hard, wondering just how easily she’d walked away from her ex. And how fickle would she become with him after a while? He shifted uncomfortably, this whole situation too sudden and way too close to his past. It had him questioning his judgment regarding Nicole, and he needed time to think.