Total pages in book: 87
Estimated words: 82798 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 414(@200wpm)___ 331(@250wpm)___ 276(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 82798 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 414(@200wpm)___ 331(@250wpm)___ 276(@300wpm)
“I’m gonna need a name, darling,” he said as his eyes locked back on mine.
My face felt warm, and I knew I was blushing. Sure, I’d had boys flirt with me before, but they weren’t like this. This was not a boy.
“Aspen,” I told him.
He reached out and took a strand of my hair, twirling it around his finger before letting it fall back to my shoulder. “Please tell me this is natural,” he said huskily.
I swallowed hard. “Uh, my hair?” I asked, confused.
He smirked. “Yes.”
I laughed nervously then. “Since birth.”
“Tell me how a sweet thing like you ended up at Kitty’s.”
“She’s my sister,” I told him.
I left out that Kitty wouldn’t let me live alone any longer. I had tried it after Gran passed away two months ago. When I ended up in the hospital, Irish had moved me into her house.
He leaned closer to me, and I hoped that the funny way my heart was feeling was safe.
“You planning on working at Devil’s? Because if you are, I need your schedule.”
Devil’s Lair was the strip club my sister worked at.
I was probably the color of my auburn hair. My fair skin hid nothing.
I shook my head. “No, I’m, uh, not a dancer.”
“I think that breaks my heart.” He reached out and ran the pad of his thumb along my jaw. “This might be the prettiest fucking face I’ve ever seen.”
It felt like fate was making up for all the things I’d missed in life with this one singular encounter.
“Thank you,” I whispered.
“LEVI!” a male voice called out. “We staying or not?”
He looked back over his shoulder. “Give me a minute,” he shouted.
Levi. I liked that name. It fit him.
“Two questions,” he said, turning back to me. “How old are you, Aspen?”
“Twenty.”
A wicked grin touched his lips. “Legal. That just made my night. I need your number, sweetheart.”
My stomach felt as if a flight of butterflies had been let loose.
“My phone number?” I asked, thinking I was misunderstanding him.
He ran his knuckles down my bare arm. “Please.”
Okay, think. This man was here to see my sister. Did I give him my number? What if she liked him? God, who was I kidding? She had to like him. Any woman alive would like him.
I bit my lip hard, then let it go. “You came here to see Iri—Kitty,” I said. “I can’t—I mean, I don’t think it would be right for me to give you my number.”
He winced. “Fuck, baby. That’s painful.” His knuckles ran back up my arm. “I can talk to Kitty. She’d understand. We just had some fun. No attachments.”
I knew all about my sister’s fun. Irish didn’t do relationships. She was a free spirit. I envied her as much as I loved her.
“Have you, uh … I mean, you have slept with her before.”
His knuckles went back down my arm. “No, sweetheart, we never slept.”
The gleam in his eyes made me shiver. I was aware they hadn’t slept, and he knew that wasn’t what I’d meant. Just like I knew I’d never feel right about giving him my number.
“I can’t do that to her. I’m sorry,” I said softly.
He winced. With the hand he’d been caressing me with, he took my hand and brought it to his lips as his eyes stayed locked with mine. “You broke my heart,” he said.
“LEVI!” the other man called out.
He sighed and let my hand go, then dropped his other arm from the door and stepped back. “Lock up tight. And, Aspen, don’t open the door for a stranger again. Promise me that.”
I nodded my head, and he winked at me before turning to walk away. Unable to help myself, I watched him as he made his way back to his motorcycle. Closing the door before he turned and caught me, I let out a loud sigh. That man was going to star in my fantasies for a very long time.
I locked up and glanced out the window as the motorcycles drove off. Irish had the best life.
I had begged her to let me go back to Gran’s house when I got out of the hospital. She had refused and informed me all my things had been moved here. I knew she blamed herself for letting me live there alone after Gran passed away, but truthfully, it had been my fault. The moment I had started feeling bad, I should have gone to the doctor. I knew better. The result had been pneumonia, and with my heart condition, that’d meant hospitalization.
Irish’s life was one I could never experience, but being on the sidelines and watching it would be more fun than I’d ever had. Especially if men like that one showed up at the door.
Smiling, I went upstairs to brush my teeth and get into bed.
Two
Levi
Picking up my glass, I took a drink while watching the current dancer onstage. She was one of Kye’s favorites and the reason he had wanted to come tonight. The guy had a thing for big tits, and although those were a bought set, he liked them. I swore he could spend for-fucking-ever sucking on a pair. I was starting to think he’d been nursed too damn long as a child.