Total pages in book: 85
Estimated words: 84952 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 425(@200wpm)___ 340(@250wpm)___ 283(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 84952 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 425(@200wpm)___ 340(@250wpm)___ 283(@300wpm)
Three
Hollis
The blond-haired beauty who appeared out of thin air bends subtly toward me. And then, as if she’s as surprised as I am by her proposal, she grins.
“We start now,” she says.
There’s an inherent playfulness to her tone, a definite levity in her words that appeals to me. But it’s the slight edge hidden beneath the sweet lilt of her voice that has me curious.
And curiosity killed the cat.
I nibble on my lip as I study her.
She has straight hair the color of corn silk in the summer in Indiana. Her eyes are the greenest green, just like the turf on a football field before a game. A constellation of freckles are sprinkled across her nose that turns up slightly at the end, completing a compelling and sexy as hell picture in front of me.
This girl is no vixen. There’s too much innocence about her for that. But she’s not naïve either. She assesses me too carefully for that to be true.
“How exactly do we play this?” I ask, rolling my tongue around the inside of my mouth. “Any rules I should know?”
She glances over her shoulder but quickly turns back to me. “Could you just … I don’t know, pretend you’re really into me?”
“Absolutely.”
“Great.” She licks her lips as her gaze drops to my lips. “That’s it. Just act like you like me, I guess.”
Is she for fucking real?
As the question slips through my mind, she looks over her shoulder again. My eyes follow hers and land on a complete douchebag coming our way.
Suddenly, this is a route I understand.
Douchebag’s hand wraps around another woman’s waist. Her eyes dart between my new girlfriend and Douchebag.
My insides twist.
I have no idea who this guy is, but I don’t like him. Not just because he’s dressed like a tool or from the way he blatantly ignores me. Rude, sure, but I don’t care. What’s he to me? Not shit on my shoe.
You can always tell a guy’s true nature by the women around him. By all accounts, this one is a dick.
I walk around the chair separating me from my new girlfriend.
“Want me to knock him out?” I ask.
Her eyes widen. “What? No! Why would you do that?”
“I haven’t been in a fight for a long time, and he looks like he could use a good ass-whippin’.”
Her jaw drops. “I don’t … No. We’re not …” Her face flushes, and she does everything in her power to remain unaffected by me. “No punching. Okay?”
“The thought of that turned you on a little, didn’t it?”
The color in her cheeks deepen. She squirms, her whole body moving like it can’t handle the energy contained in her tight little body.
“It did,” I tease. “Huh. Good to know.”
Her gorgeous lips part. Before she can say anything, Douchebag, his girl, and about five-hundred bottles of men’s cologne join us.
He looks at my new girlfriend as though I don’t exist.
"I wanted to check on you before I left,” he says. “It felt like the right thing to do, considering your situation.”
Sure, it did, asshole.
My girl’s eyes narrow so subtly that I’m not sure if anyone notices it but me. “Hello, Sebastian.”
“We were just talking about you,” I say, moving to stand directly behind my co-conspirator. I place both hands around her, lacing my fingers at her stomach and tugging her into me.
My blood heats as I invade her personal space. She smells like flowers and the ocean—a sweet, airy scent that feels like a cold drink of water on a hot day. The gray fabric wrapped around the deep curves of her body is soft against my skin.
She looks up at me and smiles. It’s not the smile she used with Sebastian and not the one she flashed at me earlier. This one is simultaneously more shy and more mischievous. It’s a juxtaposition that lights my libido on fire.
Game on.
“I can’t wait to take this dress off you later,” I whisper loud enough for Sebastian to hear.
Her jaw hangs open as a giggle of disbelief escapes from it.
“Don’t act all innocent,” I tease her. “I have the texts you sent me earlier, you dirty girl.”
She twists in my arms and slaps at my chest. I clasp her wrist and hold it to my body. Her breath stalls in her chest as I lean down. I smile as my lips near her skin. Her body relaxes into mine as I grin.
A soft breath whispers into the air as I grow closer … and kiss her on the forehead.
She blows out the rest in a gush. Her eyes narrow as she looks up at me—partially amused and partially annoyed.
I grin. “Later, beautiful.”
She exhales every drop of oxygen in her body as she tries to keep the irritation out of her chuckle.
“I’d like you to meet Catherine,” Sebastian says in a voice a couple of octaves louder than necessary. “Catharine, this is Larissa.”