Total pages in book: 101
Estimated words: 97073 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 485(@200wpm)___ 388(@250wpm)___ 324(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 97073 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 485(@200wpm)___ 388(@250wpm)___ 324(@300wpm)
“You’re not curious?”
“I never said that.”
His gaze flits back up to me. “Interesting.”
“Should I give Oliver a call?”
His jaw ticks, and I smile, feeling like I’ve won. What have I won exactly? I’m not sure. This game feels inappropriate and wrong on so many levels.
“So there’s a chance you’ll run right back to Andrew?” he asks, barely concealing his sneer.
I shrug one shoulder casually. “That’s the most likely possibility, yes. We’ve been together for a long time. He knows my family. It just fits.”
“‘It just fits’…is that going to be in your vows?”
I scowl at him. “Why do you get to pick apart my relationship? Huh? Why don’t we turn the tables?”
“Because your love life is so much more interesting than mine.”
“You’ve never been in love?”
He reaches for his wine glass and shrugs. “I never said that. But to be clear, this thing you have with Andrew isn’t love.”
“You have no idea what you’re talking about!” I say with an indignant laugh. “God, you’re so arrogant.”
“If it were love, you wouldn’t be here right now. You wouldn’t have accepted an open-ended job in the middle of nowhere, with me.”
I roll my eyes, waving my hand. “Absence makes the heart grow fonder.”
“Out of sight, out of mind,” he retorts.
I scoff. “What a romantic.”
His eyes narrow in challenge. “‘Day by day and night by night we were together. All else has long been forgotten by me.’”
I can’t place the quote.
“Who is that?”
The side of his mouth rises. Those dimples sear. “Whitman.”
“Ah, so you are romantic. I bet that drives women wild. Handsome, rich, mysterious…”
“Who exactly are you referring to?”
“And humble, too!”
He laughs and shakes his head, drinking his wine. I swear there’s a faint blush on his cheeks. He really doesn’t see it then.
“Who was it before Alice?”
His eyes darken. “It doesn’t matter.”
“So there have been a lot?”
“More than you’ve had apparently. Is Andrew good in bed?”
“How would I know? I have nothing to compare him to.”
“Don’t you want to know?”
“What it’s like to have sex with another man?” I smile coyly. “Are you offering?”
One…two…three seconds pass, and my heart thunders in my chest.
“You’re playing with fire,” he warns.
“You are offering! Should we do it right here?” I quip. “I can sweep these plates off the table and let them crash to the floor…”
God, his eyes are molten. I’m pushing him too far, but I can’t rein it in. I’ve been stuck in this cottage for too many days. Besides, I’m enjoying this. It’s fun.
“Would you have sex with me? Just once?”
How does he keep his expression so neutral, his emotions so carefully tucked away? “As an experiment?”
“Yes.”
His eyebrows furrow. “You say it like it would be a favor.”
“Ah…so you’d enjoy it?”
“Of course I would.”
I melt at his rough tone.
“Don’t be so sure of that. Maybe I’m horrible. After all, I’ve only been with Andrew, remember?”
“Summer.”
My name comes out like a painful warning.
I didn’t want it before, not this clearly. I’ve been attracted to Nate since the moment I saw him—those blue eyes, that strong jaw, his hands, the prominent veins protruding up his forearms. Every part of him is a siren song. Beautiful and fierce and, above all, intriguing. He tugs at me, and all at once, right now, it comes into focus.
I want Nate.
If not forever, at least for what we’re discussing—one night.
“I feel like I should put myself in time-out.”
He won’t match my smile. He’s angry, or at least…I think he is. It’s so hard to read his emotions, especially at a time like this.
I scoot my chair back and start to clear the table. I pick up my plate then reach around to take his as well. Lightning quick, he reaches out to grab my arm. He stills me and rises from his chair, eclipsing me with his height and his dark mood.
“Don’t tempt me, Summer. You live right down the hall, tucked in that little bed. It would be so easy to have you.”
He’s turning this inside out, muddying it, and making me angry. What started out as lighthearted teasing now feels tainted.
I try to yank my arm out of his hold, but he doesn’t let up. He bends down, his forehead level with mine, his mouth hovering so close I can practically taste him. My body reacts as if we’re already kissing, fireworks trickling down my spine.
“Should I?” he asks. Have you?
My eyes are already closed. My reply is so clear.
He knows it, but he doesn’t give it to me. His lips never press down to mine. He never takes the path he promises he will.
He leaves me there, standing with my eyes closed, his handprint burned on my arm, and I don’t see him again the rest of the night.
CHAPTER 15
NATE
I’m lying in bed, thinking about Summer. I’m thinking about Summer’s lips, full and perpetually curved like she’s smiling at a hidden secret. Summer’s forever legs, the kind that draw your eye and keep your attention. I rarely see them since it’s the dead of winter, only when she wanders out in her nightshirt, the hem skimming the middle of her thighs, my wool socks bunched around her ankles. Summer’s smart mouth. I took a shower last night, getting myself off while the hot water poured over me.