Total pages in book: 80
Estimated words: 76821 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 384(@200wpm)___ 307(@250wpm)___ 256(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 76821 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 384(@200wpm)___ 307(@250wpm)___ 256(@300wpm)
“Hey, my man, good timing,” Eddie said, coming down the stairs with brightly-printed beach towels. “This pretty lady here has been busting her butt cooking.”
“He’s exaggerating. He cooked. I tasted,” I said as Eddie made his way out the back door.
I’d pretended to busy myself with rearranging some of the dishes, so they weren’t all touching. And in doing so, I missed how he’d moved.
Around the island.
But then he was right at my side.
“I think we need to talk, sweetheart,” he said, and his voice was a cool breeze over my skin, sending little internal shivers through me.
“No, we don’t,” I said, hating how small my voice came out. It was a whisper really.
“Hey,” he started, voice equally as soft as his hand reached out to touch my wrist.
But then the door was bursting open, and I was yanking away, then reaching to grab a plate.
“So, what can I get for you?” I asked, voice a little too loud, a little too sharp.
I felt Donovan’s gaze on me as the guys came in, still wrapped in towels, then followed by Triss who had a towel tucked around her bare chest.
“A little bit of everything,” Donovan said.
“And on your potatoes?”
“Whatever you think sounds good is fine,” he told me, moving behind me. “And I want some of the punch,” he declared.
Then his hand ran discreetly across my lower back as he passed.
I swear the sensation made my belly quiver. And my sex clench hard.
If anyone else saw anything, they said nothing.
And then we were all eating, all talking and, eventually, after I loosened up, laughing.
Eventually, the older members and their wives took turns coming in to steal plates, saying hello, then going back to their kids.
After dinner, Triss volunteered herself, Cato, and Levee to clean up after dinner.
Eddie took off to go home and get some sleep. Alaric went off to the gym.
And I quickly excused myself to my room to write.
It was maybe a bit naive of me to think that doing so might guarantee that I avoided an awkward as hell conversation with Donovan.
But there was a knock at the door about an hour later that had me tensing.
Before I could even decide if I was going to answer, though, the door was opening, and Donovan was walking in with a cup of coffee in his hand.
A peace offering?
“Triss made it how you like it,” he said, moving inside, and kicking the door closed.
It was pretty clear right then that he wasn’t just going to drop it and leave.
“Where is she?” I asked as he kept moving closer, close enough to place the cup beside my laptop, making me reach out to half-close the lid.
“I wouldn’t read it without your permission,” he assured me. “Were you on a roll? I didn’t hear frantic tapping.”
“It’s a tough scene,” I said, shrugging. “Lots of action. My nerves feel a little frazzled.”
“Then a break is good,” he said, giving me a smile.
“I don’t think that talk is going to help my frazzled nerves,” I told him, reaching for my coffee, holding it like a shield between us, not even bothering to take a sip.
“Maybe that wasn’t what I was going to suggest,” he said.
“What were you going to suggest then?” I asked, looking up at him from under my lashes.
“Very much… not talking,” he said, a sexy little smirk toying with his lips.
“But you’re…” I started to object even as he reached down, placing his mug on the desk, then closing his hand around mine, and pulling me toward the bed.
“Perfectly capable of giving as good as I received,” he said, making my belly wobble.
“You don’t… I didn’t do it to…it’s okay if you don’t…” I kept trying, not knowing exactly what I was trying to say, or how to say it. Because some part of me wanted to give him an out, my body was screaming for things to progress.
Donovan said nothing, just pressed me to sit off the end of the bed, then turning away to go lock the door, then reaching up to unfasten his neck brace.
“No! You need that,” I objected.
“Shh,” he demanded, making his way to the bed, then reaching down with his good hand, grabbing the side of my neck, and pulling me up to my feet.
Yeah, my book hero was totally going to do a sexy neck grab.
But then his finger was tracing my lower lip, then slipping to my chin, and angling it up.
The next thing I knew, his lips were on mine.
Soft, coaxing at first. Then getting firmer and more demanding as I felt myself sway into him, sighing against his lips.
My hands rose, sliding up his chest. Feeling the elastic bandages beneath his shirt, though, had me stiffening again.
“It’s fine,” he murmured against my lips.
Then his teeth were nipping my lower lip, and all other thoughts were flying out of my head.