Total pages in book: 90
Estimated words: 87538 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 438(@200wpm)___ 350(@250wpm)___ 292(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 87538 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 438(@200wpm)___ 350(@250wpm)___ 292(@300wpm)
Muriel’s eyebrows hit the high ceilings. “I’ll certainly present the offer to my client.”
“It’s open until close of business today,” I say. “You’ve got my number.”
With Guinevere safely strapped into the back of the car, Eira and I get in the front. The car doors close and Eira turns to me.
“You like the house then?”
I laugh. “It works.”
“And you made a decision just like that,” she says, snapping her fingers. Then she waves her hand in front of herself like it’s a fan.
“Oh, you like that?” I chuckle and reach across the center console to slide my hand over her thigh. “When I want something, I want something.”
“It’s like your heart and your head came together and made the decision. It’s…attractive.”
“You’re attractive,” I counter.
She pushes her lips together as if she’s afraid she’ll say something she shouldn’t.
She doesn’t get it yet. I want to hear every last thought she has. Today and every day, whispers a voice in my head. I don’t speak the words aloud—just put the car in drive and go.
TWENTY-EIGHT
Eira
Maybe I’m imagining it, but it feels like the air is vibrating between Dax and me. I’ve abandoned all hope of being able to have sex with him and then just get over whatever was brewing between us. Especially when he says he wants more, which opens me up to the possibility that we might be able to have…something.
He’s an itch I want to keep scratching.
In the meantime, I’m putting together a cheeseboard to try to satiate our appetite for food.
He appears at the entryway to the kitchen, his hair tousled like he’s on a modeling assignment, but I know it’s because he’s been snuggling with his daughter.
It’s like a dam bursts inside me and the blood in my veins starts to race around my body, finally free.
“I had a great day with you today,” he says. I pause to make sure I heard him right. When I realize I heard him perfectly, I want to melt right into him.
Instead I turn back to preparing the cheeseboard. “I’m not sure I added much.” I try not to meet his eye because if I do, I swear he’ll be able to read every thought. I’m doing my best to live in the moment and not start panicking about the future. “Your mind was pretty set on that house. What convinced you?”
He approaches me and it feels like time slows, every movement protracted. My skin tightens with every centimeter he gains on me, and I have to work to keep my breathing steady. He slides his arms around my waist, his front pressed to my back, his head burrowed in my neck, breathing me in.
“It solves a lot of practical problems. The space, the garden, the pool, the proximity to Jacob, the commute. And…” He pauses and presses a kiss to the top of my shoulder. “I could imagine a life there,” he says.
I lean my head to one side, giving him easier access. “Your head and your heart are in alignment,” I say, then immediately wish I’d kept it as an inside thought. I don’t want to start talking about hearts and feelings.
“Yeah,” he says, pressing kisses up my neck, his hands dipping lower. “I think you’re right. Normally I try and keep my heart out of life decisions but it doesn’t feel right since…Guinevere.”
I turn in his arms to face him. “She’s softening you.”
He smooths his lips across mine. “She is. You too.”
My heart throbs in my chest.
He slides his hand down, down, down and presses his fingers on the denim between my thighs. I feel like I’m on fire, his fingers trailing heat wherever he touches me.
He groans, and I bite down on my lip to stop the sounds I want to make from ripping out of my body. The way he wants me…it’s intoxicating.
“I’ve been waiting for you all day,” he says. “I’ve been waiting to do all the things I want to do to you.”
A small smile forms on my lips. “I think you may have done them all last night.”
Slowly, he shakes his head. A ribbon of longing tugs deep inside of me.
He slides his fingers into the waistband of my jeans, unbuttoning and unzipping and unpeeling. He lifts my legs one at a time to remove my jeans. He’s kneeling at my feet as he tugs at my underwear. “These are…cute.”
I groan in embarrassment. I’m wearing the light pink knickers with hearts all over them that Eddie bought me for Christmas. Hot underwear isn’t high on my shopping list. I go for comfy, or in this case, available. “I wasn’t planning on you seeing them.”
He slides his fingers under the elastic and my embarrassment disintegrates. All I can focus on are the sparks I feel whenever he touches me. “Hmm, what’s this? Looks like you might have been having some very dirty thoughts,” he says. “You’re all wet down here.”