Total pages in book: 88
Estimated words: 85608 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 428(@200wpm)___ 342(@250wpm)___ 285(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 85608 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 428(@200wpm)___ 342(@250wpm)___ 285(@300wpm)
“There,” he said.
“Thanks.” I flopped back on the bed even though I was still in the dress I’d worn to the party. The hem that had crept up nearly to my hips along the way.
Gavin’s eyes went to my legs. He stiffened slightly as his gaze ran over my body. I bent one knee and turned toward him invitingly. I was drunk, but I wasn’t stupid. Gavin King wanted me in that moment, and I wanted him. Maybe I was drunk enough for that.
Then, he cleared his throat and turned away. “I’ll find you something to sleep in.”
I blinked at his back in surprise. Wow. I hadn’t thought it was possible for Gavin to walk away like that.
He came back a minute later with one of his T-shirts and a pair of shorts. “I couldn’t find anything in your stuff. Just wear this.”
I took it from him, starting to lift the hem of my dress. He coughed and hastily turned around. I smirked. Well, this was unexpected.
The dress came off in one swift movement. I threw it past Gavin and into my pile of clothes. I drew Gavin’s oversize shirt onto my figure. I was so short that it nearly hit my knees. The shorts were useless with a T-shirt this large.
“Done?” Gavin asked.
“Yep.”
He turned around to find me still clutching the shorts. A Cheshire cat smile crossed his face. “You look good in my shirt, pixie.”
I laughed and threw the shorts at him. “Don’t make fun of my height.”
“I’d never,” he said solemnly before hoisting me back up into his arms.
I yelped again at the manhandling. But damn, I couldn’t deny that I liked it.
Our lips were inches apart as he gently deposited me down onto the bed. I arched into him, my body going supple and wanton. My head might be spinning and limbs all fuzzy, but my core knew exactly what it wanted. All I had to do was lean forward and claim those lips for my own.
With one arm under my bare legs and the other under my back, Gavin hesitated over top of me. As if the same thoughts were flitting through his mind. The same desire coursing through his body.
Everything hinged on that second in time. The whole world slowed on its axis as our breaths mingled for the first time in years and our hearts beat as one again. A hitched sigh escaped my lips as I waited with bated breath for the instant when everything changed and we tipped over the edge.
The moment I saw him again, I’d known that this hadn’t gone away. That moving to California hadn’t changed the desire that clung to him like a wet coat. I’d thought we’d evaded it all these weeks. That maybe this friendship thing was actually viable.
Pour a little alcohol in me, and I was as hot as a firework and just as likely to explode if he set me off.
But Gavin removed his arms and stepped around me.
I made a noise of protest.
I heard his chuckling as he walked around the bed and slipped under the sheets. “Go to sleep, pixie.”
“But …”
“You’re drunk.”
“So?”
“You’ll feel differently about this in the morning.”
I rolled over and met his green eyes. “Will I? How do you know?”
“Because you told me.”
I tilted my head in confusion. “Maybe you could kiss me and find out?”
“You’re trouble.”
“But the good kind?” I asked, moving into the middle of the bed.
“If I kiss you, I’m not going to want to stop.”
“Who said you had to?”
He sighed, as if caught in the middle of his own angst. “Whit …”
“Gav …” I trailed a hand down his muscular shoulder and over his bicep. “I’m right here.”
He trapped my hand against his and fingered the ring on my left hand. “We don’t have to make it more complicated.”
I huffed. “You don’t want to play?”
His eyes raked over my body. How eager I was. I couldn’t guess what he was thinking, but the seriousness of his expression was making me second-guess whether I should have come on to him. Maybe he was right. Maybe I should have stayed far, far away.
He tugged me forward until I was nearly pressed against him. He clutched my wrist in his grasp and didn’t let go as he held me in place. Then, his lips landed on mine, hard and unyielding. I gasped at the force of the kiss. The need etched into every line of him.
His tongue darted out and traced my bottom lip. I shivered at the taste of him, the feel of him, the want that radiated off of him.
Suddenly, it was over. Far too soon.
He pulled away, leaving me caught in the space between with my mouth slightly parted and eyes closed.
“There.”
“Oh,” I whispered.
“Now, go to sleep. If you want more in the morning, I will ravish you.”