Total pages in book: 218
Estimated words: 209489 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 1047(@200wpm)___ 838(@250wpm)___ 698(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 209489 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 1047(@200wpm)___ 838(@250wpm)___ 698(@300wpm)
For someone so self-aware of everything from how gently he had to touch things so as not to break them, to how he listened so he didn’t pick up a thousand conversations, it was like this was something that went totally over his head.
Those incredible eyes flared that beautiful glowing purple again for a long, long moment, before a crease formed between his eyebrows.
“It’s okay. I promise,” I whispered truthfully. “I’ve been taking care of people my whole life. I can take care of myself.”
Alex’s sigh was long. His arms crossed over his chest. “You make it really hard to not like you.”
I hadn’t seen that coming.
I hadn’t seen that coming at all.
His mouth went flat. “You say whatever the hell is on your mind, and you annoy the hell out of me sometimes.”
And there we go. I blinked. “Don’t hold back.”
Alex blinked right back. “You’re stubborn as hell, Gracie, but you make it hard to not like you.”
Dammit.
Dammit.
In his own fucked-up, crabby way, he was paying me a compliment.
I don’t know what it said about me that I appreciated his brutal honesty, that I understood exactly what he meant.
And now it was me who had to try really hard not to like him, this pain in the fucking ass.
He was gorgeous, sure, but there was a hell of a lot more to a person than what lay on the outside. Butthole or not. And even though there were so many facets and mysteries to him that a lifetime of research and archaeology wouldn’t uncover, I had meant what I said to him about not changing for someone else.
I crossed my arms over my chest, telling myself that I could replay his words on a night in the future when I was all alone again. “Thank you for the apology and that compliment, but I still don’t think I should stay.”
“Why?”
“Because.”
“Because?”
“Because I don’t want to,” I told him. “Because I shouldn’t. I can figure out my life on my own.”
He narrowed his eyes right back at me, lingering there for a long, long moment. “I hurt your feelings that much?”
I wanted to tell him no, that he hadn’t, that everything was fine. That I was used to this. That he wouldn’t be the last person to ever hurt my feelings, because he wouldn’t.
But I just looked at him, knowing I couldn’t lie; he would be able to tell. “You don’t have to feel guilty about it. This wasn’t going to be long-term anyway.” Which was the truth. If I’d expected anything, it was to be in hollering distance, and that distance could be a wide one with his ears. “You don’t want me here. I didn’t want you at my house either. I understand. You’re busy, you have responsibilities. I get it.”
Something moved across his face, through those incredible eyes, and I felt him exhale again right in my own chest. “If I didn’t want you around, I would have left you at my grandmother’s house, Gracie. I don’t give my word often, and when I do, I don’t go back on it. I’m not going to start today,” he said in that steadfast way that reminded me of who he was when he put that blue cape on. More than a man, an icon. A figure that brought relief and reassurance. That told countless people things would be okay.
Which was what he was trying to do for me.
The tip of his finger tapped me in the center of the sternum, bringing me back to him and that bossy face. “I’m not going to start with you.”
There were some things in life that were too good to be true.
I’d already known how things were going to end up eventually. With me on my own, taking care of myself. I was never going to be able to live a normal life. Unless I changed my DNA, faked my own death, totally started over with a new name and social security number, I was never going to be able to be at peace. And I accepted that that was my fate. My life. Unless a miracle occurred and a whole family and their compound got wiped out. Even that wasn’t a certainty.
It fucking sucked, but it was reality.
And just as I was about to tell him that, he kept going. “I was eighteen when I agreed to help people, this planet, and over the years, I’ve been disappointed again and again and fucking again. I’ve had people throw shit at me, call me evil, tell me and my family that we’re going to be the end of the world, like we don’t do what we do to try and make sure that doesn’t happen. I’m tired of the fucking idiots, Gracie. Most days it feels like they outnumber the smart ones. But every once in a while, I’ll meet someone who reminds me of the good that people are still capable of.”