Total pages in book: 59
Estimated words: 57891 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 289(@200wpm)___ 232(@250wpm)___ 193(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 57891 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 289(@200wpm)___ 232(@250wpm)___ 193(@300wpm)
“Come in,” he commands.
I’m past the point of wanting him to do that.
I’m past the point of anyone else commanding me.
“I don’t know that I want to.”
“Why are you here, then?” he asks.
“I wanted to tell you something…” The gaze in his eyes keeps me from saying what I came here to say. Instead, I tell him something else that happened.
“I got an email from the dean on my student account.” I swallow thickly, remembering how much it felt like salt in a wound.
His tone and expression harden instantly, and I grip my purse strap tighter with both hands as my palms sweat.
“Your father?”
“Yes.” I part my lips.
“Forward it to me.” His matter-of-fact, dominating side takes over, and for a moment, I’m swayed.
For only a moment.
“I will, but I am conceding as well. I don’t want you to stop it.”
“Conceding to what?” he asks in a tone that grates me.
“Their judgment that my behavior is against the student code of conduct.” I can’t help that my bottom lip quivers. They don’t allow scandals at the university. The hits just keep on coming, but this has to be the last one. What else can they take? I don’t have any dignity left, so if they try for it, they’ll be sadly at a loss.
Anger flashes in his beautiful green eyes, “That is bullshit. And I’ll—”
I don’t even have the energy for anger anymore. “I give in, Ro. I just… if I’m not there, it might all just stop.”
“No,” he tells me as if he can.
As if I’ll just do what he says.
He adds, “You will—”
“I will do what I want and never wanted to go anyway.” My tone is just as hard as his, and I meet his gaze evenly. “I’ve made my decision.”
His expression softens, and he stares at me from the doorway like he’s shocked and doesn’t understand.
“But you love it now, don’t you?” he questions.
Love.
When he uses that word, everything crumbles, including my facade that the message from my father didn’t cut me to the bone.
It was one night.
One mistake.
If it even was a mistake.
Tears prick at the back of my eyes.
“Brook, kitten, don’t cry.”
He comes out in the hall and wraps his arms around me. He holds me like he actually cares.
I can’t help it.
I’m weak for him.
I bury my head in his chest, finding the warmth I desperately need and a masculine scent I’ve grown addicted to.
I don’t want to let this go.
Not now.
Not when I need to get lost and forget and just feel like it will all be all right, even if it’s just for a moment.
He leads me inside although I’m not really conscious of it all. Only when the door shuts and the familiar warmth wraps itself around me do I realize I did what I promised myself I wouldn’t.
I let myself come back through these doors.
Pulling away from him, with hands still on his chest but looking him in the eye, I say, “Promise me you didn’t do this.”
As I swallow and his piercing eyes seem to look through me, I know at this moment, even if I thought he was lying, I would pretend I didn’t see it.
Just to survive.
If he did, I don’t know how I could move on.
“I swear, I would never do that to you,” he discloses, and he’s so very confident in the statement.
I don’t know, though.
He looks at me like he’s desperate for me to believe him. Like he knows he’s lying.
“Fuck, I’m going to be your husband,” he adds, and I know it’s because he’s wondering if I came here to do what I came to do. “I would never.”
“It would be an excuse, though, to end it with the board. So none of what happened would be a problem anymore,” I admit my theory out loud, and his expression drops.
“I didn’t do this to you, Brook.” But even as he says it, it’s like he doesn’t believe himself. “You know I would never hurt you like this. You have to know that.”
I can’t say anything as I war inside my head with what to do. What’s right and wrong, and if either of those choices will protect me.
I don’t know. I don’t know anything anymore, and as I stare back at him, the little voice whispers that I know I want him at all. I know somewhere deep down inside me that Ro can make it all better.
“Come here and kiss me… my wife,” he tells me, and I can’t help it.
It’s like that single statement holds all the answers.
It starts with a kiss.
Doesn’t it always?
Seemingly emotional but so quickly it turns hot. His tongue finds mine, and the spark ignites between us. His hands roam my body, and I love it. I need it.
Fuck, I didn’t know how much I needed him.
My clothes come off first, but he’s quick to strip himself as well. And I help him with his belt, the leather singing in the air as I pull it away. The buckle clacks on the floor, and the rest of the clothes follow, making a path to the sofa.