Total pages in book: 149
Estimated words: 146548 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 733(@200wpm)___ 586(@250wpm)___ 488(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 146548 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 733(@200wpm)___ 586(@250wpm)___ 488(@300wpm)
“That was rude.” I bite into a sickly sweet pineapple slice. “On her part, not yours.” I lick my thumb.
Maximoff eyes my smooth movements. “I can’t blame her.” He places his phone on the bar. “This is the third press release in less than two weeks.”
“It’s her job,” I point out, and I skim his taut muscles. “Regretting this trip?” I don’t want him to wish we stayed back. I’d love nothing more than for Maximoff to take pleasure in every moment of this vacation.
No one else is in our private villa. We arrived five days earlier than the rest of his family, and the plan is to meet up with them later on their yacht, cruising around the Med.
Fancy shit doesn’t compare to being with Maximoff. Just here. Now, and I want to give him the most romantic getaway that he’s never had before. For five days, no kids running around, no siblings to worry about, and no meltdowns he needs to clean up.
All of that mayhem, which we both love to face head-on together, will come later.
“No, no regret,” Maximoff says strongly, standing up and swinging his right arm slowly like a pendulum. He’s allowed to stretch now, and he’ll do this fifty-five times a day.
As long as he’s not doubled-over in pain or puking, I’m in his camp.
He asks me, “Do you?”
I stare up at the baby blue sky, tilting my head from side-to-side. “Never.” I eat another slice of pineapple and twirl the knife between my fingers, staking the blade in the cutting board. I almost start laughing at how much he’s staring at my movements. “You’re too easy.”
“You’re easier than me,” he counters. “I saw you checking me out.”
I smile into an actual laugh. Since we’ve been in Greece, only for five hours so far, I’ve made no effort to hide my attraction to Maximoff. Even if Wolf Scout’s ego could be brought down a couple pegs. “You are my boyfriend.”
My love.
He tries hard not to smile, and his brows bunch. “I could just be a figment of your imagination. Maybe I’m not even real. Maybe you’re not real.”
My brows spike with a barbell piercing. “He wants us to be imaginary together.” I smile wider off his grimace, and I give him a hot once-over.
His form-fitting sunset-orange swim briefs display the cut and carve of lean muscles and mold his assets. But it’s his tough-as-hell confidence that magnifies his beauty, and there are times where I catch him shutting his eyes and soaking up the sun.
When he’s at peace, the entire world seems to still.
I come around the bar, and his gaze glides down the ink along my muscles. My black trunks are above-the-knee length, the fabric looser than his bathing suit.
Swiftly, I cup his face with both hands, and his chest elevates in a heady breath. “You feel very real to me, wolf scout.”
His hands ascend my abs, and he glances at the crystal clear pool behind us. Looking back to me, he says, “No paparazzi. No one knows we’re in Greece. It’s all private.”
I drink in the way he’s staring at me. As though I’m the only man on Earth, the only person he’d ever choose in the beginning and the end. And I toss his words around in my mind, figuring out what he’s leading me towards. “You want to walk around naked outside?”
“Kind of,” he says.
“Kind of?” I repeat.
“Maybe.”
“Getting clearer.”
He smiles. “Yeah, I want to.”
I love a good surprise, and Maximoff wanting to experience this uninhibited act is a surprise to me. I drop my hands off him, and I finger the waistband of my swim trunks.
Maximoff tries to beat me at this, drawing down his orange briefs quickly. He steps out of them in under a second. Buck-naked outdoors. With so much confidence you’d think he does this every Monday.
“This is your first time doing this?” I ask to be sure, pulling off my trunks.
Maximoff watches me. “Yeah. First time.”
And he chose me to be here for it. Time and time again. He could’ve picked anyone in the entire world, and he wanted me. My chest rises. That feeling never gets old.
Maximoff suddenly sprints to the pool and dives in a perfect gorgeous arc. But he tucks his right arm to his chest. I’m right behind him, diving into the cool water.
When I breach the surface, we find each other. Our legs lacing, wet beads rolling down our faces—
Chiming.
That noise abruptly cuts into the moment. Must be text messages. I set my phone to silent when we reached the villa, so it’s not mine.
“Answering those?” I ask him.
“No. It’s just family group chats.” He guides us towards the corner of the pool. “They’re probably talking about that article.” He leans in to kiss me—
Chiming. Again.
And again.
Maximoff rolls his head back in aggravation, and then glowers at the phone that vibrates next to the plate of pineapple. “Ignore it,” he tells me, water lapping around us as we move.