Total pages in book: 73
Estimated words: 69777 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 349(@200wpm)___ 279(@250wpm)___ 233(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 69777 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 349(@200wpm)___ 279(@250wpm)___ 233(@300wpm)
The lump in my throat as he wrapped his hands around my upper arms felt like it might choke me. He was the one person I wanted to wrap me up and tell me it was going to be okay, but he was the cause of my turmoil.
“Did she ride with you?”
He looked at me as if I’d asked him to eat shit. “Fuck no,” he replied with a disgusted look on his face. He slid a knuckle under my chin. “Baby, as much as I like it when you’re jealous, I don’t like you thinking I would give any other woman my attention. You got it all. I’m not sure what else I can do to prove that to you.”
I was going to end up a sobbing mess. I believed him about Lula Mae and lunch. He looked too sincere. But the other things. My phone. The cameras. Sunday lunch … not taking me there. Was there truth to all that? My gut said there was, and I had to find out what was a lie and what was the truth.
“Why don’t you go to Maeme’s for Sunday lunch?” I asked him.
He looked thrown off. “What?”
“You heard me.”
“I haven’t thought about it. Since you’ve been here, I prefer spending Sunday with you. I don’t like having to share you.”
Okay, that could be the real reason. He seemed like he meant it. I wasn’t a human lie detector though.
“Whatever Lula Mae said to you, it was a lie. She’s got some shit in her head that we had a love match when we were fucking kids. I’ve been real damn clear with her that was not the case. I am not interested in her, and I never will be. She’s not been told no before in her life, and she’s trying to get to you now. I’ll make sure it doesn’t happen again. I’ll figure out a way to get her ass back to Louisiana.”
God, how I wanted to believe him. He was right about Lula Mae being after him. And I was sure she had told me what she did to send me running so he’d be free. But that didn’t mean everything she’d said was a lie. I had to know.
“Come back to the stables with me. Let’s go ride down to the lake,” he said, brushing his thumb over my cheek as he held my face.
He wanted to distract me with sex.
I shook my head. “Not today. Tell Noor I’m sorry.”
He shook his head. “Can’t do that. If you’re not going, I’m staying with you.”
If he was here, I couldn’t look for cameras.
“You don’t have to do that. You’ve got things to do.”
“You come first, and you’re the only thing I want to do.”
He lowered his mouth and brushed a kiss over my lips before nipping at my bottom lip, then flicking his tongue over it. My mouth opened under his, unable to stop from giving in to him. His hands ran down my arms, then covered my butt as he pulled me flush against him. The hard ridge of his erection pressed into my stomach, and I clung to his arms.
“Come take a shower with me,” he said against my lips.
I should tell him no. While he showered, I could look for any sign of a camera. But staring into his eyes and seeing the hunger there. The urgency that made me feel wanted. I was afraid of what would happen if I found that some of the things Lula Mae had said were true. Having him now, like this, I wanted to hold on to it just a little longer.
Storm didn’t leave again until the next morning. He’d been attentive, sweet, and he’d even talked about what it was he did for work. As in the businesses he did in fact own. They were backed by the family, but the Kingstons ran them. A lot of it was commercial real estate and a couple of shady things that he’d joked were legal for them. I’d been able to keep the other stuff pushed back and just enjoy being with him.
Now that he was gone to a meeting he and his father had about a shopping mall they were buying, I was left here with only Dovie, who was upstairs. I walked into the living room, and dread pooled in my stomach as I thought about the possibility I would find something. Would he know if I did? I mean, did he watch the cameras from his phone?
Dovie’s footsteps on the stairs stopped me from moving forward, and the relief that I could put it off for a little longer was probably not good. I was afraid of the truth. She was frowning as she walked toward me with her phone in her hand.
She held it out to me.