Total pages in book: 12
Estimated words: 11816 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 59(@200wpm)___ 47(@250wpm)___ 39(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 11816 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 59(@200wpm)___ 47(@250wpm)___ 39(@300wpm)
“So, what are you saying?”
“I’m saying you’ve been dating all this time, and he hasn’t married you or even asked. That’s huge.”
“W-we’re young. It’s only been three years. That doesn’t mean anything.”
“Not for Pax. We may be young, but mentally, he’s light years ahead of us. He would have proposed by now, Elle. He’d marry you in grad school and knock you up the moment he started making a livable salary.” I felt a tear slip down my cheek as I shook my head in denial and took a step back. The rage in Nick’s eyes when he saw my refusal to believe him had reached a tipping point. “For fuck’s sake, Elle, he has his kids’ names picked out already! Has he even told you what they are?”
No.
He’d never even mentioned kids to me.
I always assumed he didn’t want them or simply wasn’t ready for them. I’d have asked him for my peace of mind, but I was a coward and afraid to know the answer.
Maybe I’d always known.
“Baby,” Nick began when he saw the crushed look on my face. He took a step toward me, but I backed away and wrapped my arms around myself.
“You’re an asshole,” I whispered with my gaze on the floor.
“I’m sorry,” he said, making me look up. “This is not—” He swallowed. “This is not what I intended. I didn’t mean for it to go this way.”
“For what to go what way?” I pushed through my teeth. Suddenly, I remembered his words from last night. How he’d risked everything to have me and how I’d picked the wrong brother. My gaze narrowed. “You planned this. You gave me the wrong key on purpose.”
“Yes.”
I hadn’t expected that—his brutal honesty. “How could you?” I yelled once I recovered. “I thought you were my friend!”
He stormed toward me and cornered me against the desk. “Maybe I don’t want to be your friend,” he barked. “Maybe I’m sick of pretending that I don’t love you and watching you be with my brother. No more, Elle. You’re mine.”
As soon as he finished speaking, I grabbed the heavy lamp on the desk and slammed it over his head. Realizing what I’d done, I stared in shock as he crumpled to the floor, and when I saw the blood on his temple, my heart stopped.
I quickly dropped down next to him to check his pulse.
I sighed with relief once I realized he was breathing and shot to my feet before darting over to the safe. I tried a few different combinations, including the code to his phone, which he’d given me freely one day when I jokingly demanded it.
I paused and then, with hesitant fingers, typed in 0-6-2-4.
When the green light flashed and the locked disengaged, butterflies took flight in my belly.
My birthday.
He’d chosen my birthday.
Swallowing down the emotion that burst free, I grabbed my clothes before quickly dressing. Against my will, I stopped when I reached the door and couldn’t help the lingering backward look I took before coming to my senses and darting out.
The room door slammed shut behind me as I looked left and then right down the hall. I had no idea which room was Paxton’s or even Felicity, for that matter.
Felicity!
Grabbing my phone from my back pocket, I quickly dialed Fel. When it rang once before going to voicemail, my heart skipped a beat in my chest.
No.
No.
Refusing to believe what my paranoia was telling me, I shoved my phone into my pocket before rushing toward the elevators. I’d start in the lobby before checking the slopes. Paxton was a huge ski fanatic, so I wouldn’t be surprised if he were already there.
I stabbed the elevator button again and again, and just as it finally dinged its arrival, I heard a door opening down the hall. Daring a look over my shoulder, I squealed when I saw it was Nick stumbling from his room, holding his bleeding head, and still very much shirtless.
Shit!
“Elle!” he shouted when he spotted me.
The elevator doors began to open, and I darted through them before hurriedly pressing the lobby button and then the close button over and over.
“Elle, wait!”
“Eat shit!” I shouted back as he ran toward me. Come on, you bastard. Close, goddammit!
Finally, the elevator complied and slid closed just as Nick reached it.
The last thing I saw was the desperation in his eyes and his fist punching the doors when they shut. Sighing my relief, I rested my head against the wall and closed my eyes.
How did I get here?
When the elevator reached the lobby, I stepped out and looked around. When I didn’t immediately spot Paxton or Felicity, I headed over to the front desk.
“Good morning,” the chipper receptionist greeted me. “How may I help you?”
Ritzy hotel or not, I was glad the lady was skilled enough to keep her welcoming composure even though I looked like hell.