Total pages in book: 88
Estimated words: 83718 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 419(@200wpm)___ 335(@250wpm)___ 279(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 83718 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 419(@200wpm)___ 335(@250wpm)___ 279(@300wpm)
Busted. I should be fucking ashamed for acting like that, but I’m not. If she doesn’t want me, fine. But Jason isn’t good for her. “I’m just trying to protect you.”
“You had no right. None. It’s my choice who I date.”
“I know that.”
“I told you he didn’t force himself on me. I told you.” She paces the length of the kitchen, only turning back to me when she reaches the walk-in coolers. She leans against the stainless steel and threads her hands into her blond hair.
“Why are you really so pissed, Molly? Is this about him?” I ask, stalking toward her. She’s in a long-sleeve sweater-material thing that dips low in the front and shows off the swell of her breasts. The hem barely reaches the middle of her thighs. The sight of her in knee-high boots—the idea that she wore that sexy getup for him—fuels my anger as I stop in front of her. “Do you want him so damn much that you can’t stand the idea that I might get in the way? Is he that perfect?”
She drops her hands to her sides. “No, you idiot. It’s about you.” She swallows. “It’s about you thinking you need to protect me.”
I dip my head, bringing my mouth closer to hers. She gasps, but I stop when our lips are inches apart. “You know what you didn’t hear that day I was talking to Ethan? When I told him that I sometimes wish I never hired you? Do you know why I said that?”
“Because you want to protect me from my past,” she says, and I’m so close that her breath brushes across my lips. “You feel guilty that you brought me back here.”
“That’s only part of it.”
“Oh?” Her voice shakes, like she’s afraid of the worst, and I wonder, truly wonder, how she could not know the truth.
I tilt my head and graze my nose along the side of her neck. She arches, pressing her breasts into me. “I wish I hadn’t hired you because I’ve wanted you from the moment you crawled into my bed eight years ago. I wish I hadn’t hired you because if I weren’t your boss, you wouldn’t have run from me in the middle of the night. And if you had, I could have tried to win you back when you pushed me away.” I run my mouth along her neck, a breath away from touching.
Her hand goes to my chest, and when I think she might push me away, her fingers curl into my shirt. “Then . . . why?”
“You made the rules. As long as I’m your boss, I’m not allowed to touch you. I’m not allowed to seduce you.”
“Brayden . . .”
I pull back, finally meeting her wide blue eyes, praying it’s enough, praying she understands. “That’s why I wish I never hired you. Because I’m a selfish asshole when it comes to you, and I want to do all the things you told me I can’t.” I’ve crossed too many lines already, but I rub my thumb over her bottom lip, unable to resist one last touch before stepping out of her grasp. “Enjoy your date. I’ll see you at home.”
Molly
Brayden’s house is quiet when I get home, and I miss my kid. I want the comfort of our evening routine, the joy of his easy smiles. I talked to him earlier, and my mom’s bringing him home in the morning to spend a few hours with me before I have to head to work, but some primal part of me feels fractured when he’s away. And maybe I also wish he were home to give me something to focus on other than Brayden’s words tonight . . . something other than the ugly words I said to him.
Jason was gone when I returned to our booth, but when I checked my phone, I saw he’d sent me a text.
Jason: I don’t want to get between you and Jackson. If you ever figure out what you want, you know where to find me.
I hang my coat in the closet then look down the dark hall to Brayden’s room. His door is closed, but I see the sliver of light coming from under it.
“I want to do all the things you told me I can’t.”
A shiver of pleasure races up my spine at the memory of his words and the feel of his mouth so close to my neck, my lips. I want him, and he wants me.
Maybe it wouldn’t matter if we gave in. Maybe our work responsibilities are disconnected enough that it wouldn’t make a difference.
But I know Brayden’s a family man, and I don’t believe for a second that he doesn’t eventually want a wife and kids. He’ll be an amazing husband and father to someone. Thinking about it makes me wish I were in a position to gamble on that someone being me, but I know better, and that’s a risk I promised myself I’d never take with anyone—at least not until Noah is grown and out of the house. Which leaves me here, climbing up the stairs in the dark to sleep alone.