Total pages in book: 26
Estimated words: 24912 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 125(@200wpm)___ 100(@250wpm)___ 83(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 24912 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 125(@200wpm)___ 100(@250wpm)___ 83(@300wpm)
No. I’m just being paranoid now.
“I should go,” I tell him. “I don’t want to inconvenience you–”
“You’re not an inconvenience, Layla. And let’s be honest–you don’t want to go back to that apartment alone tonight. All alone. Not after what happened.”
Yup. He can definitely read my mind.
“Well…maybe I’m a little scared…” I admit. “But I don’t want to impose on you.”
It’s crazy the effect he’s having on me from just a few feet away. He’s like an anchor and I’m a boat lost on the wild seas and ferocious winds of an ocean storm. The rest of the world is just dull, ambient noise, and his voice is a drill that goes straight into my heart.
“You’re not imposing, sweetheart,” he replies. This time I’m not seeing things; he definitely steps closer to me. So close I can smell him again. “You take the bedroom. I’ll take the couch.”
Are you sure you don’t want to take the bedroom with me?
That’s what I want to say, but of course I’m too afraid to.
I’m actually overwhelmed by the emotions whirling through me like a twister: jealousy, lust, excitement, embarrassment.
I actually do want to stay here with Taylor, and that’s a big difference from how I was feeling about basically being forced to go out with George earlier this evening.
Taylor leans in, and I brace myself. Is he going to kiss me?
My eyes move to his lips, and I start to shake.
“And don’t worry, little girl.” His Texan accent woos me as it washes over me like a warm breeze. “I won’t try anything while you’re asleep.”
With that, he sets his bowl down and goes to the bedroom to get it ready for me.
You can if you want, I think. I wouldn’t mind.
3
LAYLA
I wake up with Taylor’s scent deeply embedded in my nose and lungs.
I smile and take an enormous breath, giggling as I bury my face in the sheets he’s been sleeping in until last night. I can’t remember the last time I slept so well–and after an attempted kidnapping.
Safe.
That’s how I feel.
Protected.
With a contented sigh, I roll over and am greeted with the smell of bacon seeping in from the other room. I swing my feet out of bed and find a huge pair of sweatpants and an enormous T-shirt set out on the side table, presumably for me.
They’re both massive on me, which has me laughing as I open the door and find Taylor hard at work in the kitchen. He looks up from a pan and smiles as I enter.
“Hey there, darling. Sleep well?”
My heart flutters at his greeting.
Darling…
I nod, stretching my arms by my sides, then twirl in place, causing the shirt I’m wearing to spin like a dress. “Like my new fashion?”
“I’m a fan.” He smiles. Yeah, we’re actually flirting this time. No question. And it feels so natural. Taylor has me feeling so at ease that I’m not even nervous. I’m in his huge sweats and enormous tee and have a bad case of bed-head, but I’m totally relaxed. I don’t feel the need to try to impress him. I only met him last night, and I already feel like we’ve been dating for years.
“Hungry?” he asks. “I’ve got bacon, scrambled eggs, toast, strawberry jam, several types of tea: mint, jasmine, English breakfast–”
“I’m sorry–what?” My mouth hangs open as I watch him scoop eggs onto plates. Is this guy screwing with me?
“What?”
“Do you read minds?” I ask.
Taylor laughs and tongs the bacon from the frying pan. “Not last time I checked, no. Why?”
I move right up to his side, trying not to lose myself in his delicious scent.
“Because you’re making the exact meal I eat pretty much every morning.”
Taylor smirks as he grabs the toast from the toaster. “Am I now?”
“Scrambled eggs, bacon, two slices of toast with strawberry jam and English breakfast tea.”
“Well, I’m a fan too. I guess we’ve got some things in common, sweetheart.”
I’m about to lose it. My ovaries are screaming again.
Breed me, big man. Breed me.
“That must be it…” I mutter.
“How else could I know?” he asks. “I’m an actual mind-reader?”
I smile and offer to take the plates to the table, but Taylor insists. He then goes back for the tea and cups and also a carton of orange juice “just in case.”
I watch his strong neck move as he eats and try to calm my bouncing leg as shameful thoughts invade my mind. I do my best, but after a minute or two, I can’t help myself.
“So where’d you learn to be a gentleman like this?” I ask. “Trained by your ex?”
Taylor chuckles and quickly shakes his head. “Only thing that filly taught me was how to run for my life.”
I can’t help but laugh, but then I remember her photo from last night, and a pang of jealousy stabs me in my stomach.