Total pages in book: 53
Estimated words: 51131 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 256(@200wpm)___ 205(@250wpm)___ 170(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 51131 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 256(@200wpm)___ 205(@250wpm)___ 170(@300wpm)
He shakes his head.
“You sent my daughter a fraudulent email to lure me here under false pretenses? I’m no expert, but you are—isn’t that a crime?”
He smiles faintly. “I didn’t send her a fraudulent email. Parker knows where you are. She knows you’re with me. She helped me set it up.”
That throws me for a loop. “What—Why would she do that?”
Feigning—but is he, really?—smugness, he says, “I guess you were miserable without me.”
I roll my eyes. “Ugh, I was not.”
He moves closer, reaching out and grabbing my waist so he can pull me in. “No?” he murmurs, dipping his head and kissing me. “I was pretty miserable without you.”
I can’t resist kissing him back, but I pull away before he can pull me under and obliterate my senses completely. “I told you I didn’t want to see you again.”
“You did, but it was a lie. Anyway, you owed me the rest of that date, and I’m not a man who lets his debts go uncollected.”
I pull away from his embrace with some effort. “Hayden, I’m serious. We talked about this. You saw what Landon did…”
“My son is not dangerous,” he says seriously. “I know he did an idiotic thing and scared you half to death. I understand that, and I’m very sorry. The truth is…” His jaw locks, and he looks out at the water. Whatever he was going to say, he doesn’t finish. He looks back at me and says, “He knows that he can’t pull a stunt like that again. He’s out if he does.”
“Out?”
“Of the house. Of his trust fund. Everything he holds dear is gone if he comes after Parker again.”
“Oh,” I murmur, surprised to hear that.
“He’s grounded and not allowed to hang out with his bonehead friends for a while. I have his car keys, and he’s effectively under house arrest for the remainder of the summer, so I promise you don’t have to worry about Parker.”
Easier said than done.
“Parker is worried about you,” he says.
“Because I’m wasting away with want for you?” I ask sarcastically.
He cracks a smile. “No. Because you’ve put your life on hold for her, and she doesn’t want you to wake up one day when she’s off at college and realize you’re all alone and you don’t want to be. Now, I’m not saying I’m your destiny. I don’t want to argue with you about the kids or the impossibility of our future together. I just want to enjoy the rest of the date you promised me. That’s all.”
I’m not sure I believe him, but I’m not sure I have much of a choice, either.
I bite down on my bottom lip, glancing back at the dock one last time.
“For the record, this feels a lot like kidnapping,” I tell him.
He takes my hand and pulls me up the stairs. “That’s a good note. Do you not like dates that include kidnapping?”
“They’re not my favorite,” I inform him.
“I’ll keep that in mind for future reference.” He looks back at me over his shoulder. “See? We’re getting to know each other better already.”
I shake my head at him but fail to bite back a smile completely.
If asked, I would have definitely said no to this “makeup date,” but I can’t deny I feel a little happier now that I’m here.
When we get to the top deck, he hauls me past the hot tub and around the dinner table. I notice this table is set for two, but he moves me past it to what I can only possibly describe as a bed. I guess it’s a lounge area, but it has pillows everywhere and a soft-looking blanket draped across the bottom. It may as well be a bed, just one out in the open beneath a canopy of stars.
Well, it will be set beneath a canopy of stars soon.
The sun hasn’t set just yet, and I realize that’s why he brought me up here.
Two yellow and orange drinks wait for us when we settle in, and a cold bottle of water for me.
“My two drinks,” I say, smiling.
“When it comes to beverages, you like to keep your options open. I remembered.”
I can’t help grinning as I drop to my butt on the comfy lounge area. “You did.” I grab the glass nearest my water and take a sip. “Mm, that’s delicious.”
“I’m glad you’re finding the sustenance at this meeting satisfactory.”
I scoff. “Meeting.”
“It is. A strategy meeting,” he stresses.
“Mm-hmm. And what, pray tell, are we strategizing?”
Hayden reaches forward and grabs his drink, then leans back against the pillows and takes his time looking me over. “Currently, I’m strategizing how best to remove your panties. Conventionally, with my hands? Maybe I should tear them off with my teeth instead.”
“That is not the strategy meeting I signed up for.”
I lean over and put my drink up on a ledge so I don’t melt all the slushy ice with my body heat. As I do, Hayden grabs me and tugs me over closer to him.