Total pages in book: 47
Estimated words: 45531 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 228(@200wpm)___ 182(@250wpm)___ 152(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 45531 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 228(@200wpm)___ 182(@250wpm)___ 152(@300wpm)
CHAPTER TWENTY
Jacob
“What’s going on between you and Mom?” Madison snaps the second I pull the door open.
She’s changed from earlier, wearing faded blue jeans and a baggy hoodie, her hair tied up in that no-nonsense ponytail I love so much. I didn’t expect her to be in a good mood when she arrived, but she’s far more pissed than I guessed she’d be. She marches through the threshold, glaring up at me.
“Well?”
“What does this have to do with the photos?”
Even to myself, I sound tired. All day, I’ve been rushing around, meeting with lawyers and my business associates, attempting to back out of the deal with the least harm possible.
She grabs the front of my shirt. She’s done this before, but there’s always been lust in her touch, in the sensation of her fingernails pushing through my shirt and against my chest. Now, there’s nothing but rage.
“Answer my question. You and Mom, what’s the deal?”
“There is no deal,” I say, disgusted at the thought.
Not just because she’s Maddie’s mom, but also because she’s not Maddie. Thinking of any woman who isn’t my woman causes sickness to swirl through me. I close the door, then attempt to take Madison into my arms.
She takes a step back. “Mom came home all giddy talking about a man who’d finally shown her some love. I’ve never seen her like that. She won’t tell me who it is. Then, when the photos leaked, she wouldn’t even talk to me. She stormed off to her room and yelled at me.”
“Whoever that was, it wasn’t me,” I snap, unable to keep the anger out of my voice. “I don’t want your mom. I don’t want anybody…”
Who isn’t you, I was about to say, but that would mean ripping the lid off the feelings I’ve been trying to force down.
“Anybody at all?” she whispers.
This time, she lets me loop my arms around her. As usual, savage instincts try to control me, try to guide my hands lower, but there’s affection and warmth and the need to protect inside of me, too, and I listen to those voices. I cradle her close, leaning down and whispering into her ear.
“I swear to you, Maddie. I swear on the truth. I swear on my parents. I swear on my life. I have never and would never do anything like that with your mom. If she’s found somebody, I’m glad for her, but it isn’t me.”
She sinks her touch into my back for a second. She leans back so she can look up at me.
“You promise?”
I do one of my favorite things, brushing the hair from her face. She turns to my touch as if savoring it.
“I promise. I wouldn’t lie to my girlfriend.”
That earns me a smile… something I’ll spend the rest of my life doing. Earning smiles from her.
“Are you hungry? Thirsty?”
“I wouldn’t mind a coffee.”
I smirk. “It’s one of those days, eh? I’ll make us some.”
She looks around at the tall ceilings of my living room, at the large windows which overlook the city.
“Look at all this space,” she says, turning in a circle.
Then she suddenly stops.
“What’s wrong?” I ask, calling across from the open-plan kitchen.
“I sound like a gold digger, just like everybody will think I am.”
Leaving the coffee to brew, I surge across the room and sweep her into my arms. I don’t realize how much passion has infused my movements until she’s off her feet, her legs wrapping around me, probably out of instinct more than her trying to start anything. I hold her tightly like that.
“I don’t give a damn what they think,” I say. “They can call me a pervert. They can call you a gold digger. We know the truth… and the truth is all that matters.”
“What is the truth?” she says, her face buried in my neck.
I walk to the couch and sit with her still straddling me. Our position has my manhood getting excited, my body trying to respond even as I tame it with my mind.
“The truth is, you were mine the second I saw you.”
She sits up, still with her groin pushed against mine with her sex sending me messages through her denim jeans, my manhood bulging. It’s hard to read her expression. It’s hard to look at anything. I’ve never felt nerves like these, wrapping around my throat like an invisible cord.
“The moment I saw you, I knew you were my woman. I knew I wanted nobody else. I didn’t know your age. I didn’t know if you were rich or poor. I didn’t know your mom worked for me… and your little lie helped with that.”
She laughs, and I consider that a victory. If she’s laughing, it means she’s not running. It means she’s not calling me crazy.
“It was more than just wanting your perfect body. I saw you and I knew, Maddie, deep down, where the truth is. I knew you would be my wife one day. I knew we were going to have children together, and we’d be together forever.”