Total pages in book: 130
Estimated words: 123579 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 618(@200wpm)___ 494(@250wpm)___ 412(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 123579 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 618(@200wpm)___ 494(@250wpm)___ 412(@300wpm)
As soon as Trevor’s seated, he picks up right where we left off.
“I’m not pretending we aren’t together because of your misguided sense of protectiveness.” Trevor eliminates the space between us and drags me onto his lap.
“Bishop, stop.” I struggle halfheartedly because pressed against this wall of reassuring muscle and bone and warmth and care is exactly where I need to be.
“I won’t stop.” He presses a kiss into my hair, his hands rubbing soothing circles on my back. “Not until you hear me. I told you I don’t give a damn what people think or say, Sofie. You’re doing a brave thing, and I’ll be proud for people to know we’re together. That I’m standing with you.”
I lower my lashes to cover the sudden, foolish tears standing in my eyes. As much as it was his bulldozer obstinacy that got him that first date, it’s his tenderness that draws and keeps me close. I can’t help but wonder how different things could have been had I actually gone to Princeton, like originally planned. What if I had met Trevor there? Would he have helped me heal? Those first two years after Kyle, I was a wreck.
“You know, I didn’t have sex for almost two years after that night with Kyle,” I whisper into his neck, rubbing the lapel of his suit between my fingers. “I worked so hard to sort through my issues with sex after what he did. And I cried through the first few times I was with a man.”
I laugh, my voice husky with the tears that better not fall.
“Those poor guys wondering what the hell was wrong with me.” I shake my head. “I was posing in my underwear, selling fantasy, and flinched every time a man came near me in real life.”
“Sofie, darlin’, I’m so sorry.” He strokes my hair back, concern darkening his eyes.
“No, it’s okay. I just…it took so much for me to have a normal sex life. To even tolerate a man’s touch, and now my learning to enjoy sex after Kyle ruined it for me is the very thing that will make it harder for me to put him away.”
I look up, a sudden thought making me anxious.
“I’m not some nympho, Trevor. I’m a normal girl with a normal sex life. Mine is just splashed across every tabloid known to man.”
“I know that, Sof. You don’t have to…” He trails off, kissing my temple. “I know that.”
“Thank you so much for going with me.” I reach up to run my hand over his silky hair. “I couldn’t have done that without you.”
“I wanted to be there.”
He drops a quick kiss on my lips. He moves to pull away, but that one touch is all it takes to light the match. His fingers slide into my hair, palming the back of my head, holding me still to control and deepen the kiss. I lean into his shoulder, returning every stroke of his tongue slowly, then more aggressively, until we are both panting into the space we give each other to catch our breath.
Trevor looks up, catching Baker’s eyes in the mirror.
“We’re giving Baker quite the show,” he says quietly.
“Baker’s used to me,” I assure him, pulling him in for another kiss.
“Well, I’m not used to Baker.” He raises the privacy partition, smiling at Baker in the mirror before the small window is all the way up. As soon as we’re sealed in, Trevor’s back, raining kisses down my neck, stroking me through my jeans. I push against his hand, hungry for the pressure. Desperate for relief.
“What do you have for the rest of the day?” He sucks my earlobe into his mouth, the sensual suction sending a quake to my core.
“Nothing I can’t cancel to be with you.”
“Good girl.” He laughs against my neck. “You can come help me pack for South Africa.”
“Is packing a euphemism for sex?”
“Yeah, pretty much.”
“Well, let’s go home and pack, because if how you packed last night—”
“And this morning,” he whispers against my collarbone. “Don’t forget this morning.”
“God, yes, the way you packed this morning.” The memory of seeing his head moving under the covers between my legs makes me shiver. “I could use a good pack before you leave me for the next week.”
He pulls back abruptly, eyes fixed on me.
“To be clear, Sofie,” he says, his voice losing some of the heat, “I’m the only man you’re packing with. Got it?”
I lean in to kiss under his chin, pushing my fingers into his closely cropped hair.
“Are you saying we’re exclusive, Mr. Bishop?” I tease.
His eyes are sober, going darker every second he stares at me.
“I’m saying you’re mine.”
Any trace of the smile I was teasing him with fades to nothing under the claim his eyes make on me. I’ve never abided possessiveness. I’ve been my own woman too long to be anyone else’s, but the possessive heat of Trevor’s eyes burns right through any protest because I want that, too. I want to be his. Any claim he lays to me is an absolute privilege.