Total pages in book: 65
Estimated words: 61563 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 308(@200wpm)___ 246(@250wpm)___ 205(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 61563 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 308(@200wpm)___ 246(@250wpm)___ 205(@300wpm)
She rocks herself against me and gives me a smoldering look. It’s one I don’t get often, one full of confidence and determination. But damn, when she does give it to me, it drives me wild. If anything, this woman knows what she wants and with the tension gone between us, she wants me.
“You need your exercise, Mr. Thatcher.” She drops her voice low and slides the straps to her silk nightgown off her creamy shoulders, exposing her breasts. They’re small but fit perfectly in my hand.
With a groan and another rock of her hips, my dick stirs in my pants and I sit back on the sofa, thrusting my hips once and making her gasp as she reaches out to steady herself by clinging to me.
My hands wrap around her small waist as she kisses my jaw. I don’t know when it happened, but my control has waned with Jules. I love it.
This is such a fucking mess. A beautiful mess.
Julia
Happy is relative.
An emotion in time.
Guilt waits in shadows,
Makes you pay for your crime.
When push comes to shove,
And the two have to meet.
You’ll be judged, never loved.
It’s all bittersweet.
I breathe in the steam of the hot coffee in my hands. It’s the most amazing smell this early in the morning. That or Mason’s pillow. I don’t know what it is about the masculine way he smells that drives me crazy. Each morning I pull his pillow out from under him and take it as his alarm goes off.
I can’t stop the smile that spreads across my face remembering this morning how he flipped me over and “punished” me for it. Maybe things are moving along too fast, but for the first time in a long time, I’m happy. Genuinely happy.
“Stop smiling like that,” Maddie playfully scolds from across the table as she blows on her latte. She lifts the cup to her lips and eyes me before taking a sip. The smile doesn’t fade; her next comment only makes it grow larger. “You’re making me jealous.”
“That is the power of sex,” Sue says as she takes her seat across from me. Her coffee is in a to-go cup in her hand, so I imagine she’ll be leaving shortly. She sets her bag on the floor and slips onto the stool easily. “It’s about time you girls caught on and decided to get some.” A coy smile lifts up the corners of her lips as she adds, “Well, except for Kat since she’s married.”
Maddie laughs into her cup and Kat gives Sue a cold look for a moment then shrugs. “He’s good at what he does,” Kat says but we all know there have been some complaints recently in that department. Not the bedroom per se but the lack of anything happening in the bedroom.
Whenever Kat looks at me, it takes me down from this high. She represents what I once had and what I should really be striving for. She has a loving husband, a stable and growing career. Children are in her future. I know they’ll get over this hump. She loves him and he loves her. Every marriage goes through ups and downs. That’s what everyone told me when Jace and I were working out our problems.
I set the cup down on the table and try to stop being … whatever it is that’s come over me.
“Is it different?” Maddie asks me as she crumples the wrapper from Kat’s straw. She has both hands on it, balling up the small white paper into a perfect circle. “Like since you were only with Jace before this new guy?” she adds and then peers up at me. Gauging my reaction.
The mention of his name ... It still affects me. I think it always will. Maddie has horrible timing, though.
“At first.” I take a sip of coffee and try not to let the overthinking and insecurity rule this conversation. Baby steps. “It felt like I was cheating on him,” I croak out, my chest feeling tight. “But that was in the beginning and it’s been a few weeks now, so …”
“Cheating?” Sue’s reaction is complete with a huff. “Um no, that’s what he did to you,” Sue says with a firm voice that grabs my attention. She rests a hand on my forearm. “Moving on is not cheating … But you know you two …” she trails off then purses her lips with her eyes on me as if she doesn’t know if she should say what’s on her mind.
“Say it.” My voice is strong as I speak. I just want to get it out there, like ripping off a bandage. Even if it hurts, I need to hear it. I didn’t expect her next statement, though.
“I worry about you and Mason.” It’s like being thrown into ice water. I thought she had something to say about Jace. She didn’t really care for him. She didn’t hide it either. I wasn’t prepared for her to talk about Mason, though. “It doesn’t have anything to do with Jace.” She waves her hand through the air as if to thoroughly drive home that message and then continues. “You know I never liked Jace much, especially after he hurt you.” Cheating. After cheating on me. That’s what she means. We’d only ever been with each other, so he said he’d been curious and he swore it was a mistake. I forgave him. We moved past that together. Sue never did but it wasn’t her marriage and it wasn’t her decision.