Total pages in book: 165
Estimated words: 154925 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 775(@200wpm)___ 620(@250wpm)___ 516(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 154925 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 775(@200wpm)___ 620(@250wpm)___ 516(@300wpm)
That was not what he’d expected. “But we want each other.”
Her head shook, the purple tresses gently caressing her face. “No. I don’t think we do. Not really. I think you want a me that doesn’t exist since you don’t know me at all. Or you want someone who won’t give you a hard time. If I had to bet, I would say one of the bad things that happened to you was a woman, probably one who was the exact opposite of me, and that’s why you think it would be nice to spend time with me. She was likely a confident, take-charge kind of lady, and now you want a sub. A real sub. You might not have Master rights at Sanctum, but I’m sure you’re aware of the lifestyle. Do you think you’re the first top who decided I would be easier than his cast-iron ex? She probably wasn’t, by the way. She was probably just a normal woman who knew how to ask for the things she wanted.”
“You have no idea who she was.” The words came out harsher than he’d intended.
She pointed his way. “I knew it.”
He’d fumbled this. He’d seen a way in, a way he could have her and not feel like a shitbag when he left. “My ex isn’t a part of this, but you should understand that she wasn’t some sweet but assertive woman who meant well and I couldn’t handle her being smarter than me. That wasn’t the way it was.”
“I’m a placeholder for her, Kyle. She hurt you and you want to hurt her back so you’re going after someone who’s her exact opposite.”
“I can’t hurt her. She’s already dead, baby.” Yes, there was the shitbag who lived inside him now, the toxic one who likely would have ripped the woman in front of him apart even though he wanted to protect her.
Her eyes went soft. “Then I’m sorry, but it doesn’t change things. I would still be a placeholder for the woman you could love. I know there are women who would try to heal you, but I happen to know that never works. You have to heal yourself. Thanks for offering me a ride, but I’ll be okay.”
He’d utterly mishandled this, but then he wasn’t sure what this was anymore. She’d said she wanted to go to bed with him. He’d offered and given her his parameters. “Do you require an offer of marriage from the men you sleep with?”
Her eyes narrowed. “No, but I don’t sleep with men I don’t have any possibility of a future with. Ask the lawyer.”
“I am not like him.” He huffed out of pure frustration. “I am not stalking you. I offered you what I have to give.”
“And I turned you down because it’s not enough for me,” she countered. “Am I obligated to say yes because you asked? Because that does sound like the guy I just ran away from.”
“I didn’t mean to.” Damn it. He used to be good at this. He used to be good at charming his way into a woman’s bed. Years before he’d screwed up the world so brutally, he’d been that guy women slept with and then continued to hang out with.
She let a long moment pass. “It’s okay. How about we agree to be people who work together and nothing more.”
“Or we could be friends.” He should take the out she was offering with gratitude. Drake would call him any day now, and he would be out of here. He wouldn’t have to see her again with her big, gorgeous eyes and those lips he thought about way too much. With her saucy mouth that made him laugh even when she wasn’t talking to him because he stopped and listened.
“I don’t know that we’re going to be friends, Kyle. We don’t have much in common. That’s another reason it’s best you don’t come home with me.”
“Hey, you doing okay?” a deep voice asked.
Jamal was walking up the ramp they were on, his keys in hand.
Kyle took a deep breath because he liked the man and didn’t want to be the next dude he had to warn off tonight. “I was thinking someone should drive Mae home and make sure she gets in okay, but it’s late and I’m not sure the trains are still running. I don’t want to get stuck.”
“I’ll follow her.” Jamal moved in, standing next to MaeBe. He was at least a foot and a couple of inches taller than she was, taller than Kyle himself. “And you call me if you even halfway feel like something’s off. I don’t think that guy’s going to come after you. He seemed to understand what Sean and I were telling him. But if he’s going to try something it’ll be in the next couple of weeks.”