Total pages in book: 96
Estimated words: 93575 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 468(@200wpm)___ 374(@250wpm)___ 312(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 93575 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 468(@200wpm)___ 374(@250wpm)___ 312(@300wpm)
“You had a rough start,” I observed.
“But a good finish.”
I smiled. “Is this the finish or another beginning?”
“You mean the movie?” she whispered.
“Or something else,” I admitted. “I’m drawn to you, Mila.”
“Which Mila?”
“All of them. The sweet, shy woman. The playful girl. The clever writer. The siren in the pool.”
“I didn’t know I was all those.”
“And more, I think.” I let my fingers drift over her cheek. She smiled and leaned into my caress. I recalled what she said about needing to be touched. I lifted our entwined fingers and kissed her knuckles. “I’d like to find out.”
“How?”
“By getting to know you. Letting you get to know me. I know you feel this draw too.”
“I do, but…” She trailed off.
“But?” I prompted.
“I’m only here for a while.”
“Then we get to know each other for a while.”
She searched my eyes. “I don’t know if I can do that. I tend to get attached.”
I laughed, the sound slightly bitter. “You’ll get tired of me, Mila. Everyone does.”
She frowned. “That isn’t true.”
“It is. I’m a lot to take on.”
She was quiet, and a thought struck me. “I know you’re not married, but maybe you have a boyfriend back home? I’ve overstepped?”
She shook her head. “My last boyfriend was almost six years ago, and he thought I was far more trouble than I was worth, if I recall his words right. Before that… Well, there isn’t much to report before that.”
“First off, he was obviously an idiot.”
She smiled, although it didn’t reach her eyes. “Obviously.”
“And second, I find that hard to believe. A beautiful woman like you. Clever, smart, successful.”
She shrugged. “As you know, with fame, comes many people more interested in the by-product of success than the person behind it.”
I nodded thoughtfully. I had experienced that many times. Women were interested in being seen with me for publicity. For access to the right parties, the right people. Some were open about it. Others played a good game. I couldn’t recall ever sitting and having an honest conversation with any of them. Or enjoying their company the way I did Mila’s. It was an odd sensation.
“He used you.”
“He worked at one of the building supply businesses in town, and he knew my family. He knew what I did. Who I was. I didn’t think it mattered to him, but it was what he was really interested in. The money. The life he thought I would give him so he didn’t have to work. But he didn’t get very far. I have safeguards in place for my money. My family didn’t like him, so that was a warning sign. I fainted once, and he was embarrassed by my ‘weakness,’ as he called it. And when I refused…” She trailed off and cleared her throat. “Let’s just say, he wasn’t the person he led me to believe he was.”
“Refused?” I asked, curious. “To give him money?”
“To sleep with him.”
“You have every right to say no.”
“He didn’t think so. He thought he should be the one to relieve me of my so-called burden.”
“Sorry, I’m not following.”
Her cheeks colored, but she met my curious gaze. “My virginity.”
I was struck dumb. Mila was a virgin?
I blinked. “But you write—” I indicated the manuscript on the table. “Vividly.”
“I have a good imagination. I talk to my sister. My aunts and friends. I read.”
“Ah.” I took a sip of water.
She paused. “And I use porn sites a lot.”
I almost fell off the sofa, choking on my water. The image of Mila watching porn lodged itself in my mind. I shook my head to clear it.
She had to be pulling my leg.
“So you’ve never—” I twirled my finger “—ah, done that?”
“No.”
I swallowed, my throat suddenly thick. My pants felt constricted as well, and I shifted a little to hide that fact from Mila.
“But you’ve kissed before. I mean, you were great at it.”
She laughed at my obvious discomfort. “Yes. I’ve done other things, but I have never had actual sex. It has always felt very intimate to me. Precious, even—as corny as that sounds. I haven’t met the right person.”
I could only nod. I wanted to ask her more, discover more about her, maybe steer the conversation back to this topic, but she yawned. Wide and hard, her eyes almost watering. Internally, I shook my head. She’d had a long, difficult day. Had an episode. Been upset. She was exhausted, and here I was, wondering how to get her to talk to me more about the whole imagination and porn site thing and her virginity. Somehow, I thought it fascinating. And frankly, a total turn-on.
“I should go,” I said instead, forcing my thoughts down. “You need to rest.”
“Thank you for checking on me. You were so angry, I wasn’t sure you’d speak to me again.”
Her words stopped me. I cupped her face again. “I was worried, Mila. I couldn’t stay away.”