Total pages in book: 64
Estimated words: 64979 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 325(@200wpm)___ 260(@250wpm)___ 217(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 64979 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 325(@200wpm)___ 260(@250wpm)___ 217(@300wpm)
Even after all this time, I was still physically attracted to him. He was as handsome as ever with his bright, piercing blue eyes that always looked like they could see into my soul. The facial hair he was sporting only made him appear more distinguished. His golden-brown hair looked darker than I remembered, but he probably didn’t spend as much time outside as he did back then.
Tristian Hawkins.
My enemy through generations of an ongoing rivalry between our families’ businesses. His family, the Hawkins and my family, the Montgomerys, were gods in our town of Lexington, Kentucky. Everyone knew who we were and how much our families despised one another.
We were the talk of the town.
Still were.
Especially after what we’d accomplished with our families’ companies since we began working for them. The media loved to compare our businesses. Constantly fueling the fire in a war that began several lifetimes ago. If it wasn’t our rivalry that people were discussing, then it was the fact that I was still single with no suitable fiancé in the wings.
Unmarried at thirty-seven wasn’t exactly fitting for the granddaughter of the great Chance Montgomery. If it were up to my grandfather, he’d die in his office, sitting on his throne where he was king.
For the last fifteen years, I’d bent over backward for my family’s business that I’d expanded into multiple successful businesses. My grandfather wanted an heir, and I jumped at the chance of inheriting his legacy. To see Tristian in my office, a place I called my second home, was a situation I never thought I’d find myself in.
What’s going on?
As I took him in, my mind raced with questions I had no answers for. I hadn’t seen Tristian in twenty years, and there he was…
Sitting right in front of me with an expression I couldn’t quite place. Although with Tristian, it wasn’t unusual to feel like I couldn’t read him. If he didn’t want me to know what he was thinking, what he was feeling, what he wanted or needed, then that was the end of it.
He was always in control of his emotions, even back then.
After what felt like forever, I finally broke the deafening silence between us.
“Well look what the cat dragged in.”
He grinned, in that shit-eating way I always hated.
“And the pussy has claws,” he drawled.
Those five words had the effect he wanted, making me remember our first encounter when I was sixteen-years-old.
“I see the boy grew up.”
He smiled. “I could say the same about the girl. She looks nothing like the Southern belle I left behind.”
I narrowed my eyes at him, once again taking in his words. “Are you here for a walk down memory lane? Because I’ll save you the trouble—I have no interest in reminiscing with you. Better yet, I have no interest in speaking to you.”
“You’re definitely going to want to hear what I have to say.”
“Then why are you wasting my time with preludes of a past that needs to stay there?”
He cocked his head to the side. “Does it, though?”
I ignored his query. “What do you want, Tristian?”
“Now that’s a loaded question if I’ve ever heard one, kitten.”
“My name is Belle, or you could just address me as Miss Montgomery. Considering you have the nerve to show up here. If my grandfather knew a Hawkins was in his building, he’d personally throw you out.”
“And if he knew a Hawkins had been in your bed? What would he do then?”
“That’s enough.”
“Kitten.” He leaned over, setting his elbows on his knees. “I’m only getting started.”
“I don’t have time to play your games.”
“I’m not the one with the games this time.”
I flinched. “What’s that supposed to mean?”
“So now you want to know?” he mocked in a condescending tone I didn’t appreciate.
“You’ve already ruined my day, so you might as well tell me what you want.”
With a predatory regard I was used to from him, he smirked. “Ruined your day, huh?”
“Tristian, you’re lucky I haven’t kicked you out of my office yet.”
“I’ll test my luck then.”
For the second time in a few short minutes, he shocked the shit out of me when he proposed…
“Marry me.”
—Tristian—
She didn’t just stumble back, she fucking flew. “Excuse me?”
“You heard me, kitten.”
“Is this a joke?” she aggressively questioned. “Another one of your little games?”
“You used to love my little games.”
“I used to love a lot of things that were bad for me.”
Despite feeling her remark in the pit of my stomach, I acted unfazed. Hiding how I truly felt was an acquired trait I'd learned at far too young of an age.
“We need to talk.”
“Obviously or why else would you be here?”
“I could think of a handful of reasons, and that’s only referring to us.”
She scoffed out a snide chuckle. “Us?”
“Would you rather I let you go in unprepared like I was?”
“Go where?” Her eyebrows pinched together. “What am I unprepared for?”