Total pages in book: 93
Estimated words: 92474 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 462(@200wpm)___ 370(@250wpm)___ 308(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 92474 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 462(@200wpm)___ 370(@250wpm)___ 308(@300wpm)
“How do I make you nervous?”
“I just . . . I . . .”
“Do you think I’d hurt you?” His fingers brushed lightly up and down her leg.
Killing her. He was killing her.
This was insane. She could feel her nipples tightening, her clit throbbing. It was slightly embarrassing how easily she was getting turned on. He was touching her leg, for goodness sake. That shouldn’t be sexy.
Only, he was moving his hand around to her inner thigh. Her legs were pressed firmly together. Should she part them? Did that seem like an invitation? Shoot. What did he want from her?
She really wished men came with instruction manuals. It would make her life a lot easier.
“Gracen?”
What? Oh, crap. He’d asked her a question. What was it, though? Damned if she knew.
“Are you listening?” He moved his fingers lower, toward her knee.
“I’m trying. But you can’t expect me to think when you’re touching me.”
“I’m distracting you?” He moved his hand away. Reaching out, she grabbed hold of his wrist.
“Wait, no! Don’t stop.”
Oh, Lord, what was she doing?
“I mean, I . . . you don’t have to stop unless you want to stop, that is. Whatever it is you want to do is fine with me.”
“Hey, you’re all right,” he said soothingly, placing his arm over the back of her chair.
She heaved out a breath. “I am?”
“You are.” He brushed a finger down her cheek then placed it under her chin, turning her face to his. “Do you think I’d hurt you, Gracen?”
“No, like I told you before, I feel safe around you.”
“Good.” His voice was filled with satisfaction. “You like my touch.”
“Yes, I just . . .”
“You just what?”
“Don’t exactly know what you want from me, and I don’t want to make a wrong move. I just . . . sometimes I wish I knew what to do. And I don’t want you to think that I’m interested in your money.”
He hummed. “No one has ever offered to treat me. Trust me, I know you’re not here for my money. I might not even have any. This could all be on credit. I could be horribly in debt.”
Somehow she didn’t think that was the case.
He ran a finger down her cheek, then closed his eyes as though in pain. “Christ, I shouldn’t be doing this.”
“Why not?”
“Because I can’t have you, Gracen. You deserve far better than me.”
She narrowed her gaze at him. “That sounds like a cop-out. Like, when you break up with someone and you tell them it’s not you, it’s me. Argh, I hate when people do that.”
“Someone did that to you?” he asked in a gravelly voice.
She was too far in her own memories to hear the warning in his voice.
“Yeah, my last boyfriend said that. Of course, he also told me that I didn’t give him enough affection, but I was also too needy. I mean . . . how can I do both of those things, right? Asshole.”
“What’s his name?”
Finally, she was aware of the danger permeating the air. She glanced over to find him staring down at her intently.
“Why?”
“I want to know.”
She shook her head. “No. Nope.”
He leaned in, and she realized he still had his hand around the back of her neck. Maybe it should have felt threatening, but it didn’t.
It felt possessive.
And she wanted him to possess her. Own her.
Oh, hell. She was so out of her depth here.
“Don’t say no to me.”
“What do you want from me?”
“Everything. I want fucking everything.”
Her heart raced.
“But you’re such an innocent, Gracen. You live in the sunshine while I’m down in the filthy dark. I shouldn’t drag you down with me.”
“Yeah? Who says I won’t pull you up with me?”
“I’m stuck where I am, baby.”
“Nobody is ever stuck, Victor. They’ve just got to want to move.”
“If I said I wanted to stay where I am?” he asked.
She got the feeling the question wasn’t a casual one.
“What if this is me and I can’t change?” he asked. “Won’t change.”
How could she answer that when she didn’t know exactly who he was? It just highlighted how little she knew about him.
He dropped his hold on her, then turned to pick up the menu again.
“I don’t know you well enough to answer that,” she finally said. “But I want to get to know you better. You . . . I like you, Victor.”
“Like you said, you don’t know me.”
“But I want to. And I have some idea about the important parts. You’re protective. You’re watchful, observant, sometimes kind.”
“I’m never kind.” There was almost a twinkle in his eyes as though she amused him.
“You’re stubborn and have some very set ideas about things like whether I get to take a turn paying—”
“Never happening.”
“And you seem to think I’m incapable of getting into a vehicle on my own—”
“You’re too short.”
“Plus, you can’t tell the difference between a pirate impression and a sailor—”