Total pages in book: 75
Estimated words: 77016 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 385(@200wpm)___ 308(@250wpm)___ 257(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 77016 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 385(@200wpm)___ 308(@250wpm)___ 257(@300wpm)
“That’s a great idea,” I say. “I’ll join you.”
She wrinkles her forehead. “That wasn’t an invitation.”
“I’ve been in meetings nearly twenty-four-seven since I left Kansas,” I say. “I need a shower, too.” A little white lie. I showered when I got back to my place.
“Be my guest, then.” She gestures me toward the bathroom.
“Oh, no. You can’t dangle the idea of a shower with you in front of me and then take it away.”
“I didn’t dangle anything, Braden. You know that as well as I do. We’re not together right now, despite—”
“Fuck it all, Skye. I don’t care.” I grab her and slam my mouth onto hers.
The kiss is more than pent-up passion. It’s primal, like a mark.
Like when I bit the top of her breast that time.
I’ve missed her.
I can’t stay away from her.
She breaks the kiss and pushes me away.
I cock my head and adjust my groin. I’m hard and throbbing and only a moment away from fucking her against her door.
But I remain silent.
“You’re the one who ended things,” she tells me. “Then you go to my parents’ home without telling me. Then you tell me you want to have vanilla sex.”
“All true statements,” I say.
“But you can’t be with me, you say. Not until I can answer the question you asked me after the club.”
“That’s true.”
“So why are you kissing me? Why are you trying to get into the shower with me? Because we both know what will happen in the shower.”
I stalk toward her and push her against the wall, pinning her, my hands gripping her shoulders. “Why am I kissing you? Don’t you know by now?”
“N-No. I mean, yeah. You love me. You desire me.”
I shake my head. “It goes so far beyond that, Skye. You know that, because you feel it, too.”
She nods, shivering.
“You’ve become a drug to me, and damn it, I can’t leave you alone, no matter how much I know I should.”
“Y-You don’t have to leave me alone, Braden.”
“Don’t I?”
“No. Because I have an answer. Tonight I’ll answer your question.”
I crush my lips to hers once more. Her apron is coated with God knows what, and I’m wearing a custom Armani suit, but I don’t give a shit.
Our tongues tangle and duel. The kiss stays primal, as if we’re two animals getting ready to mate.
For that’s what our desire is—animalistic. It has been from the beginning. We’re drawn to each other as if the universe has forced us together for some divine purpose.
And perhaps it has.
Perhaps I needed to figure some things out about myself to live a happier life.
Perhaps Skye needs to do the same thing.
Our love came after the primal instinct to come together, as if our hearts followed our souls.
The best kind of love.
We kiss and we kiss and we kiss, until she breaks her mouth away from mine and inhales a deep breath.
“I have to check dinner,” she says. “I can’t let it get ruined again.”
I trail one finger down her cheek. “Okay. We’ll have the shower after dinner.”
“After we talk,” she says.
I nod. “After we talk.”
Chapter Twenty-Two
Unlike Skye’s first attempt to cook for me, this meal turns out perfectly. The shrimp étouffée is spicy and delicious, and the Beaujolais-Villages complements it very well. We don’t talk a lot at dinner. Just a little about my trip and about the posts she’s done this week. I’m pleased with her progress as an influencer.
“I’ve been using the skincare line for a week now,” she tells me. “What do you think?”
“I think you’re as beautiful as you always were.”
“Seriously. My skin tone is a little more even, don’t you think?”
“I honestly have no idea.”
“Are you kidding me? I look better, and you don’t even notice?”
I chuckle. “Contrary to popular belief, beauty routines aren’t for men, Skye. They’re for women.”
“I just mean—”
“You mean you want me to tell you that you look better. What if I did? The first thing you’d say then is, ‘You mean you didn’t like how I looked before?’”
She scoffs. “Maybe some women. I wouldn’t.”
I shake my head. “You aren’t like any other woman I’ve ever met, so maybe you wouldn’t. But I’m telling you the truth when I say I don’t see a difference. You were beautiful a week ago, and you’re beautiful now.”
Her cheeks go rosy. Perhaps Skye doesn’t realize that she could have dirt smudged all over her, tangles in her hair, and it wouldn’t matter. To me, she’s beautiful in every moment, in every state—messy or polished, she radiates something deeper than appearance. She always takes my breath away without even trying.
“Ready for dessert?” she asks.
Am I ever.
But she already turned me down for a shower, so I’ll keep my cool. She invited me here to share something with me. Something important. Something I asked for.
“Let’s talk first,” I say.
She’s going to open up to me.