Total pages in book: 75
Estimated words: 75519 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 378(@200wpm)___ 302(@250wpm)___ 252(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 75519 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 378(@200wpm)___ 302(@250wpm)___ 252(@300wpm)
Without wavering, he confessed, “Because I made sure of it.”
My heart dropped to the floor. I didn’t say a word. I couldn’t. Frozen in the place I stood.
“I already told you you’re like my little sister.”
I winced, incapable of hiding it.
“Does that bother you?”
“No.”
“You sure?”
“Positive.”
He grinned. Mindful I was lying.
I watched as his fingers reached for my hair and swept it behind my ear. Almost immediately, there was a huge shift in the air. Our eyes locked in a way they never had before.
My heart raced.
Sweat pooled at my temples.
Little by little, my resolve to keep him at arm’s length was getting tested.
“What’s wrong, Paige? Do I make you nervous?”
I shook my head despite the obviousness of his effect on me.
It all happened in a flash, although it felt like it played out in slow motion. The adrenaline pumping wildly through my veins was a feeling I’d never forget.
“Do you ever think about the fact I met you before Cade?”
It was crazy he chose to ask that question when I was just recalling the memory of that day.
Instead of answering, I challenged, “Do you?”
“More than I should admit to you.”
“What does that mean?”
“It means I need to stay away from you, but how am I going to do that with my brother living with me?”
“You’re the one who offered.”
“I know.”
Question after question tore through my mind at a rapid speed with no end in sight. There was so much I wanted to ask, to express, to confess…
I couldn’t. Cade would hate me.
He wouldn’t stand for it.
Not for one second.
Surprising me yet again, Adrian coaxed, “You want to know my dirty little secret, Paige?”
My head nodded on its own accord. As if I was simply his puppet. He controlled my strings.
My emotions.
My heart.
I desperately wanted to be loyal to Cade.
My chest ached from the concern about what was happening between us. It felt like I was cheating on my best friend with none other than his own flesh in blood.
I swallowed hard, dangling on the edge until Adrian snapped the cord by his admission, “I’m the reason they stay away from you, and I’ll continue to be the cause of why stay away from you.”
I sucked in a breath.
The back of his fingers caressed my cheek. “The summer before you entered high school, I made sure everyone knew your cherry was off-limits.”
This moment was the first time I started to think that maybe our past encounters weren’t merely a figment of my imagination. That thought only intensified as he began backing away from me uttering three words.
Those three little words had the power to change everything between us in a way I was never prepared for.
My strings fell at my feet when he professed…
“Especially, to me.”
Four
Adrian
Now: One week later
“Holy shit!” Paige shouted as her hand flew to her heart. “How the hell did you get into my apartment?”
I hadn’t seen her since the party, not for lack of trying.
Setting down the file I was holding, I informed, “I own the building.”
She jerked back. “Since when?”
“For the last two years.”
“How did I not know this?”
“I’m a silent partner.”
“Of course, I would move into the complex you own.” Instantlyfurious, she slammed the door behind her. “That still doesn’t give you the right to break into my apartment! I could have you arrested!”
“If you would answer my calls, texts, or emails then I wouldn’t have broken into your home. This is the consequence of your stubbornness.”
“Oh, so this is my fault? It shouldn’t surprise me that you’re still not taking any accountability for the bullshit you put me through.”
“Paige,” I stressed in a stern tone. “I’m not here to talk about the past. I’m only here to discuss our future.”
“I already told you I’m not working for you. What other future do we need to discuss other than that, Adrian?”
Leaning forward, I didn’t hesitate in stating, “The one where you’re moving in with me.”
She didn’t just jerk back, she stumbled, hitting her body against the door. Never expecting me to declare that to her.
“You can’t be serious.”
As soon as I learned about her current situation, I drove straight to her apartment. There was no doubt in my mind about what I had to do. I was there for one reason and one reason alone, to get her ass out of this place and into mine.
The expression on her face reminded me of all the times I’d pissed her off throughout the years, making my cock twitch. I wasn’t leaving here without her. Hostile takeovers were my forte. She didn’t stand a chance against me. This wasn’t a fight I’d lose. No matter how mad she’d be, I’d drag her out of here kicking and screaming if I had to.
Nodding to the chair beside me in her dining room, I ordered, “Take a seat, Cherry.”
“Oh, no! You do not get to trespass into my home and then bark orders at me, Adrian. Who the fuck do you think you are?”