Total pages in book: 144
Estimated words: 136296 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 681(@200wpm)___ 545(@250wpm)___ 454(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 136296 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 681(@200wpm)___ 545(@250wpm)___ 454(@300wpm)
My heart skips a beat and warmth floods my body. This feels so much better than the mind games Gabriel plays. “Okay. New Year’s in Pearl Bay it is.”
Twenty-Seven
All the Ways to Fall
Clover
I’m a mess on the flight home, even though I changed it so I fly into Milwaukee instead of Chicago, which will put me closer to my cabin on Pearl Bay. My paranoia is ridiculously high, and I’m afraid Gabriel somehow managed to get my flight information and is going to show up at the airport.
My stomach is a twisted knot when I get off the plane and text Maverick that I’ve landed. As soon as I have my bag, I head for the exit, scanning the area, still worried that Gabriel is going to show up and ruin my plans.
I’d been struggling with what I should do before he showed up at my parents’ place, but once he came in and turned my holidays upside down, I decided I’d had enough of playing by everyone else’s rules.
I want what I want. And that’s Maverick.
If all I can have is a few months, I’ll take it and not regret it.
My breath catches when I see him walking toward me. He’s wearing a peacoat, black dress pants, and a white button-down. His shoes clip across the tiles, the floor gritty with salt and wet from snow.
He’s refined, put together, and gorgeous. He doesn’t look like a college student. He looks delicious. And I’m standing here in a pair of leggings, an oversized sweatshirt—I almost wore his hockey one on the plane—and my hair in a messy ponytail.
He stops when the tips of our shoes touch—his black and polished, mine scuffed—and his eyes take me in with a hot sweep. “How do you feel about PDA?”
“What?”
“Public displays of affection. Are you for or against them?”
“Most of the time or right now?”
“Right now.”
I glance around, reminding myself that we’re not in Chicago and no one here knows us or that up until a few weeks ago, I was his professor. “Right now, I feel reasonably good about them.”
He grins, that dimple in his left cheek appearing. “I was hoping you’d say that.” He cups my face in his palms and covers my mouth with his. I grip the lapels of his coat and sink into the kiss. One hand leaves my face and pulls my hood up to shield me, and the other drifts down my arm and wraps around my waist. He pulls me tighter against him and angles his head to the side, deepening the kiss for several mind-bending strokes of tongue.
When he finally breaks away, he holds the edges of my hood and backs up only enough that his beautiful face is clear. “I missed you more than I wanted to,” he admits.
“Me too.”
“At least we’re on the same page. Want to get out of here?” He inclines his head toward the door.
“Absolutely.”
He takes my suitcase in his free hand, and we head for the exit. The blustery cold of winter has me tucking my chin to my chest. Maverick puts his arm around me and pulls me against his side, protecting me from the wind until we get to his truck, parked in the short-term valet.
He opens the passenger door, hands me the keys, and puts my suitcase in the back seat before he rounds the hood and takes his place behind the steering wheel.
He leans over and kisses me again, and I wish I could snap my fingers and we’d be in Pearl Bay. Our kiss lasts until someone honks their horn behind us. Maverick unlocks his lips from mine and sighs. “To be continued.”
He shifts the truck into gear, and we leave the airport. He places his hand on the center console, palm up, and I slip mine into his. It’s snowed over the holidays, the landscape blanketed in white.
“How was the flight? How are you?” he asks.
“The flight felt longer than usual, but anticipation does that. And I’m . . . better now that I’m here with you,” I answer.
He gives my hand a squeeze. “That’s good. I’m glad to hear that.”
“How are you? How were the holidays with your family?”
“I’m better now too. The holidays were okay. I’m not used to having someone I miss, and my family picked up on that.”
“Oh?” It comes out pitchier than I intend it to.
He glances over and gives me a tight smile. “Don’t worry. They don’t know about you. I won’t say anything, not even to Kody. I won’t put you at risk like that.”
My heart clenches at the way his jaw tightens. “Thank you for understanding. I’m sorry I made the holidays difficult for you.”
“You didn’t make them that way. I’m the one who pursued you. I understand the limitations and restrictions.”
I wonder if part of the allure for both of us is that this has the added bonus of being not only taboo, but secretive too. We’re only real in the cosmos we create with each other.