Total pages in book: 57
Estimated words: 54886 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 274(@200wpm)___ 220(@250wpm)___ 183(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 54886 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 274(@200wpm)___ 220(@250wpm)___ 183(@300wpm)
I had noticed him before AJ disappeared. He was sitting alone, staring at the crowds. There was something about his expression. A sorrow I felt deep in my bones as if it were my own. He was incredibly good-looking, even as serious and stern as he appeared to be. Everything about him was dark. He was dressed in jeans, a navy shirt, and a black leather jacket. He had black Doc Martens on his large feet. His rich brown hair was brushed off his forehead, and his eyes were so dark they were almost black. When he rose to his feet, reacting to my calling out what he thought was his name, I noticed how tall he was. When he stepped in to help, I couldn’t help staring at his wide shoulders, slim waist, and long legs. I expected to see coldness when our eyes met, but instead, I saw only compassion and worry.
When he held my hand, I noticed how large it was compared to my own. When he closed his palm around mine, he engulfed me.
Much like when he held me close and kissed me.
Earlier, he’d been unexpectedly kind. He was obviously used to taking charge, the way he had taken us to breakfast, then driven us home. I had tried to tamp down my attraction to him, knowing it was a lost cause. When he confessed to feeling the same pull toward me, I was shocked. But after he left, I really didn’t think I would see him again. I assumed he would come to his senses and realize he was simply reacting to helping a woman and had gotten carried away. I had googled him, and I knew he was wealthy. That he had been named Philanthropist of the Year three times in a row. I read a lot of articles about the good he did in the community. The pictures I found showed him at various functions. Always alone. He was dressed in a suit in every picture, looking polished and distant, always slightly to the side as if he didn’t want to be there. I zoomed in, wondering if anyone ever noticed the sadness in his eyes. It was the same sadness I had glimpsed earlier. I was certain of it.
Then I shook my head, knowing he existed in a different world than I did, and I had no idea if he was sad or simply bored at one of the seemingly frequent events he attended.
I googled a little more, looking at the wealthy people he associated with. Faces I recognized from society columns. Newspaper articles. There were even a few pictures of him taken with the BAM group. They were huge in real estate, and their buildings were highly sought after. And although he was smiling in the pictures, I still saw the same distance in his expression. A man alone in a crowd.
I hadn’t expected him to show up at my door tonight.
And I hadn’t expected to feel this passion. Or long for his mouth on mine again.
I shut my eyes and scrubbed my face.
I needed to get a grip. Fast.
ASHER
She entered the room quietly, her posture saying it all. I stepped closer. “I apologize.”
“You’re sorry you kissed me?”
I ran a hand through my hair. “I should say yes. Assure you I got carried away and it won’t happen again, but I’d be lying. I want to kiss you more, Rosie. Talk to you. Ask you a thousand questions and listen to your answers. Tell you anything you want to know about me.”
She blinked, once again caught off guard.
“I don’t understand.”
I moved in front of her, capturing her hands in mine and lifting them to my mouth, kissing the knuckles. “You’re so shocked someone would be interested in you.”
“Well, that, and it’s so…so—”
I cut her off. “Fast?”
She nodded.
“I know. But it feels right, doesn’t it?”
“We’re so different.”
I frowned, not liking that statement. I knew what she meant. Our lives were polar opposites. Financially, we were yin and yang. Our worlds were two different places. Yet that didn’t matter at all to me. I didn’t want her thinking that way about us. I wanted her seeing the positives.
I wanted to make her laugh and smile, not look sad and pensive.
“You mean the penis thing? That I have one and you don’t? The difference works well in this application, Rosie. Trust me on this.”
Her eyes widened, and then it happened. She began to laugh—the same light, girly sound as earlier. Her frown faded, her tension disappeared, and she was gorgeous. She slapped my chest in pretend outrage.
“You’re awful.”
“Awful good,” I assured her, lifting her hand to my mouth again and kissing it.
We shared some more amusement, and I pulled her into my arms, unable to resist touching her any longer.
“Opposites attract, Rosie. God knows I’m attracted to you.”