Total pages in book: 45
Estimated words: 41725 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 209(@200wpm)___ 167(@250wpm)___ 139(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 41725 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 209(@200wpm)___ 167(@250wpm)___ 139(@300wpm)
Carpal, metacarpal, phalanges.
The body had only two hundred and six bones, and if Brody kept being so damn unintentionally sexy, I was going to run out of them quickly.
I turned to Gwen and whispered low and fast, “Fine. If you must know, it’s fucking torture, okay? It was bad enough before the whole marriage thing, but it’s so much worse now. At least before, I knew I couldn’t touch him or stare at him for too long. There were rules. Everyone knew he was my employee. But now…” I blew out a breath. “I’ve got this ring on my finger, and I like it. The girls expect us to sit next to each other on the sofa when we watch movie night. They expect me to give Brody a hug and a cheek kiss when I get home from work, just like I do with them. People think it’s weird when I don’t stand close enough to him, like at Back to School night. He waves at me.” I ran a hand through my hair. “It’s the best-worst thing that’s ever happened to me, and I don’t know what to do about it.”
My dick was hard constantly. My skin tingled in anticipation of the slightest touch. My stomach had tied itself into a knot of sexual frustration. I wanted him so badly… and I still couldn’t have him.
“Oh, sweetheart.” Gwen shook her head. “Why don’t you just tell him how you feel and put both of you out of your misery?”
I blinked at her, horrified. “Gwen, he’s my employee. And Brody is a saint for agreeing to marry me in the first place. I’m not gonna make the situation even weirder by making unwanted sexual advances! Can you imagine?”
Her eyes widened. “Unwanted…” She shook her head firmly. “No. No, Grant, even you cannot be that oblivious. I refuse to believe it.”
“Excuse me?”
“Oh, shit,” she whispered, covering her mouth with one hand. “Or maybe you can. You really don’t know, do you? Oh, honey.”
“Gwen.” I looked around us again. “Can you stop? People are looking in our direction, and Brody’s going to come over here—”
“Yes,” she interrupted quickly. “Yes, Brody was your employee, and I understood you not wanting to abuse your position. That probably makes you a really honorable person, with integrity or whatever.” Gwen waved a hand, brushing aside honor and integrity like annoying flies. “But that’s over now. You’re not his boss; you’re his husband. There’s no power imbalance because he can leave whenever he wants and claim spousal support for a few years. It’s in the prenup you signed, correct?”
“I… I suppose, yes,” I agreed. I’d wanted to make sure he’d never regret the time he’d given up for my family, and I needed to know he’d be taken care of financially.
“Good. Then let me rock your world right now by informing you that Brody has wanted you at least as long as you’ve wanted him.”
I shook my head and sipped my iced coffee. “That’s ridiculous. I’m a decade older than he is. He likes some blue-eyed gym rat.”
“Brody Kelly worships the ground you walk on. He looks at you like he wants to have your babies.”
I choked on the coffee, nearly splattering it all over the Mountbatten golf shirt Mia had picked out for me that morning. “What?”
“He’s always been mature, Grant. And what he went through with his parents matured him even faster. That’s why you were so impressed with him in the first place. Remember?”
“But…” Brody had saved our household from chaos, and he’d been everything stable the girls had needed. I wasn’t quite sure what I’d do without him. Just thinking about him wanting me back made my skin buzz and my heart beat erratically.
“Next time he talks to you,” she hissed as Brody headed in our direction, “stop worrying about the way you’re looking at him and notice the way he checks you out.” She turned and opened her arms to wrap Brody in an enormous hug. “Brody, we were just talking about you! I was telling Grant that you’re an absolute dream, and I don’t know how Mountbatten ever ran this place without you.”
“Oh.” Brody blushed and glanced up at me before looking at Gwen. “Thank you. That’s so sweet, but I’m really not doing much. Just helping out.”
For a second, I wondered if Gwen could possibly be right, but…
God, what if she wasn’t? What if I made him feel pressured? What if I said or did something that ruined everything? I wished that I had the ability to read emotions that seemed to come so easily to people like Gwen and Brody.
Then again, if Brody was that good at reading emotions, how come he couldn’t see how I felt?
“They’re getting ready to start,” I said, pointing to Mia, who was standing in a gaggle of kids on one end of the field.