Total pages in book: 53
Estimated words: 48680 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 243(@200wpm)___ 195(@250wpm)___ 162(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 48680 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 243(@200wpm)___ 195(@250wpm)___ 162(@300wpm)
His smirk deepens. “No, but judging by your reaction, I’m right, and you did google me.”
“I didn’t follow you anywhere, though. And I certainly didn’t barge into your life, Pierce Pinewood,” I snap.
“Why are you angry?” He spreads his hands, almost like a gesture of surrender. “I wanted to see you, Bonnie. I haven’t heard from you in days. I can’t stop thinking about you. I needed to find you.”
My heart does that jumping toward my throat thing again, and I realize that it’s because I’m glad to see him, too. As mad as I am that he followed me, that he barged into my life and found Gram and probably realizes why I’m so desperate for money now, my body has other thoughts. There’s a dizzying, rushing sensation pouring through me right now, a happy flutter in my stomach and a buzz between my eyes. I’m happy he’s here.
Damn traitor body.
I shake my head to clear it. “You shouldn’t have just shown up here. I was going to call you when I was ready.”
He smirks. “You mean when you’re ready for me to fuck you? You always seem ready for that.”
I cross my arms. “And you never do, so what’s the problem? Have you suddenly decided you want to fuck me after all?”
He steps closer to me, and it’s suddenly harder to breathe now that we’re chest-to-chest, his ice-blue eyes locked on mine. “I always want you, Bonnie.” His breath ghosts across my cheeks. “I can’t stop thinking about how I’m going to tear up that tight little pussy of yours.” His finger trails over my hipbone, and I shiver. Then he steps away from me. “But not until you tell me what’s bothering you. Why you dodged my calls.”
I groan aloud and stomp up the hallway. “You’re impossible.” I reach for a doorknob.
He catches my wrist. “Tell me what’s wrong, and I’ll give you what you want. I’ll fuck you right now.”
“Here?” I roll my eyes.
“They have supply closets,” he points out.
“Ugh.” I shove open the door into the gardens. There won’t be anyone outside at this hour, with the sun setting and the chilly fall evening setting in. Sure enough, it’s deserted out here, just me and him and the little gazebo where Gram and I come in the summer and watch the dragonflies hop around the pond beside it. The pond is quiet now, the fountains already shut off for the impending winter.
We walk through them in silence for a long moment. He’s clearly waiting for me to answer, to explain. I don’t even know how to start.
“Look. It’s not that I’m not . . .” I stammer to a halt. Damn him. He’s just waiting, watching me with that impenetrable, unreadable poker face of his. “I’m happy to see you,” I snarl, and he actually cracks a small smile, probably because I look mad as hell. I am, I remind myself. “I just . . . I can’t believe you would invade my privacy like this. There’s a reason I never told you about my life, and it’s because—”
Suddenly, he’s right next to me. He lifts a hand to rest his finger on my lips, gently. I’d be even madder, but there’s something serious and quiet in his eyes. An understanding. “Is that all?” He looks almost . . . relieved, somehow.
“All?” I fling my arms wide. “Yeah, I should think this is enough, don’t you?”
“I understand your situation, Bonnie,” he says, and his voice is deep and sincere. “I connected the dots. I know why you went on that website. Why you need the money. Or,
well . . .” He shrugs. “Why you needed it, anyway.”
I blink in confusion. “I don’t understand.”
“I spoke to the front desk before I came to meet you,” he says. “I paid off your grandmother’s balance in full. I also paid upfront for her care for the next twenty years, should she need it for that long. Hopefully, of course, she will recover enough to move home, though. I also added a clause for a home nurse, if that turns out to be the case.”
I gape up at him. My ears ring. I know he’s speaking English, but the words won’t make sense in my brain. “You what?”
“It’s done, Bonnie. You have what you need.”
I’m still gaping at him when he turns to walk out of the garden. Oh hell no. I chase after him and grab his arm, spinning him around to face me. “Why?” I demand. My eyes sting again, not from nostalgia this time, but from a whole rush of other emotions. Relief that Gram is cared for, confusion about how this happened, anger at him for barging in, but a rush of gratitude that he did, that he forced his way past my stupid walls. “Why did you do this?” I blink hard to stave off the tears. “Why help me, why do all of this for me, give up so much for nothing?”