Total pages in book: 124
Estimated words: 116046 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 580(@200wpm)___ 464(@250wpm)___ 387(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 116046 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 580(@200wpm)___ 464(@250wpm)___ 387(@300wpm)
Rolling onto my back, I stretched out, my body exhausted but my mind hyper clear. I was having one of those moments when I just seemed…aware of everything in an almost omnipotent way, and I had a moment of lucidity as I examined my life. Was I going to school, busting my ass, and doing it all on my own because it was something I wanted, or was I chasing my mother’s dream?
Did I push men away because of her influence?
My mom encouraged me to play the field, not marry young like she had. She’d given birth to my sister when she was only nineteen and newly married, so she’d never really had a chance to party and be wild. When I’d go home to visit, she wanted to hear all about my love life, like I was some episode of Sex and the City for her. I think it made her feel young to gossip with me and Hannah about life at college, and I’m sad to admit I often embellished my dates so she wouldn’t be disappointed I wasn’t out living it up. Between work and school, I really had no time for a relationship and I wanted more than just sex.
I wanted love.
My heart sped up as I realized the truth I’d hidden from myself, buried deep long ago. My childhood dreams resurfaced, ones that used to make me fall asleep with a smile on my face as a kid when I thought about my future. I need someone to love, someone to have a family with, someone who would protect me and keep me safe. I wanted someone like my grandfather, a strong and honorable man who fought to bring his family to America, to start his own furniture store and give my grandmother everything she ever wanted. From her stories, it was obvious he’d loved her with everything he had. I used to daydream about what it would be like to have that kind of devotion.
All my life, I’d avoided men who put off an arrogant alpha male vibe, but after being at the mercy of a monster, I craved the safety of being in a powerful man’s arms. I wanted the kind of man who would keep me safe, no matter what, because I was his. The bitter truth was, I wasn’t strong enough to take care of myself.
I was weak, small, and alone.
Before I could drive myself out of my mind with useless worry, there came a soft knock from my door.
Thinking it was Mark, I pulled up the covers to my chin to hide my scantily clad body and said, “Come in.”
Only it wasn’t my new roomie who entered my new bedroom, but a very tired looking Ramón.
“What the hell are you doing here?” I hissed even as my greedy eyes drank him in.
Dressed in a very nice dark brown suit that must have been tailored to his large frame, he gave off an elegant air, despite the way he’d loosened his tie and opened a button on his collar. He’d also taken his hair down, and it momentarily swayed forward to cover one side of his face as he bent to remove his gleaming black leather shoes. The breadth of his shoulders made me internally swoon, and I admired how big his hands were as he pulled off his black dress socks.
Looking up at me through the fringe of his hair he grinned. “I told you I’d be here for breakfast.”
I blinked at him, stunned by his presumption. “People normally eat breakfast in the kitchen, after sunrise.”
He winked roguishly at me, like some dirty pirate out of the bodice rippers I read as a teenager. “Most people do, but if you’d like, I can make an exception and eat you for breakfast in bed.”
Oh shit, my pussy clenched so hard I had to bite back a moan at the thought of that big, hulking man kneeling between my thighs.
“Get the hell out of my room!”
“Nope.”
I threw a pillow at his head, and he merely laughed as he batted it away. “Calm down, mami. I know you’re not ready for that…yet.”
Shrugging off his jacket, he reached for his belt and I yelled, “You keep those pants on!”
“I am.” He waggled his eyebrows at me, his expression suddenly playful. “I was just taking my belt off because it’s uncomfortable as fuck to sleep with one on.”
“Sleep? What in the ever-loving fuck are you talking about? You put your clothes back on right now, mister.”
“Why do I like it when you yell at me? Normally, I wouldn’t take that kind of disrespect from anyone, but with you? It turns me on.”
“You’re insane.”
“Only for you.”
His eyes never left me as he unbuttoned his shirt before shrugging it off and revealing the tight, white tank he wore beneath. I’d felt his body intimately, but seeing all that muscle and power up close wasn’t helping me keep my wits about me. He was so built, but not lean enough to make the veins on his arms stand out. He had a huge barrel chest with a deep dip between his solid pectorals that I wanted to lick. A smattering of dark hair covered his chest, dusting over a large chest tattoo. It was a skull surrounded by roses and tribal art, with the name Cordova beneath it. Sexy. I wondered how silky his chest hair would feel beneath my fingers. Against the ultra-floral backdrop of the room, he seemed out of place, a dangerous shadow on a sunny day.