Total pages in book: 34
Estimated words: 31449 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 157(@200wpm)___ 126(@250wpm)___ 105(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 31449 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 157(@200wpm)___ 126(@250wpm)___ 105(@300wpm)
The need to argue with her was strong, but one look at my sweet girl and I shut my mouth and walked into the hall.
“You give me whiplash, Sebastian.”
“Are you interested in Wentworth?”
“You’re also insane.”
I smirked as I stepped toward her. Her eyes widened, and with every step I took, she retreated until her back hit the wall. My hands were on the wall beside her head, and I caged her in with my body. “Looks like you’re caught between a rock and a hard place.”
I skimmed my nose along her delicate neck, taking in that intoxicating scent that was all Sarena. “Don’t talk to him again.”
Her hands were on my chest, but she didn’t push me away. “It’s hard to avoid talking to him. He’s Emme’s therapist.”
“I’ll get her a new therapist.”
“You absolutely will not. He’s the best in the field.”
I pushed away from her, frustration running wild in my veins. My emotions were running out of control. I’d worked hard to rein in the man I used to be, and this girl was turning my entire world upside down.
I tugged at my hair in frustration. “Email me the schedule. I’ll juggle my workload so I can take her.”
“That’s ridiculous. You have your job, and taking care of Emme is mine. I’ll take her.”
I growled and stepped in close. My lips hovered over hers for a split second before I claimed her mouth. The kiss wasn’t gentle. It was desperate and driven, laced with possession and need. It was a kiss sealed with a statement. Mine.
When I pulled away, we were both breathing heavily. The air was thick with lust, threatening to consume us. “Go to bed, Sarena.”
“You can’t kiss me like that and then demand I go to bed like a child.”
“Trust me, I know you’re not a child. But kissing you was inappropriate, and I need you to go to bed. Now.”
With that, Sarena hurried to her room and closed the door softly behind her.
Chapter Five
Sebastian
“Fuck, I’m the dumbest cocksucker who ever walked Park Avenue,” I chastised myself, thrusting a hand through my hair as I walked into my office the next morning. I was already an hour late because I’d waited for Emme to wake up so we could eat breakfast together.
My only thought as I rushed out the door was that I couldn’t miss the meeting I’d scheduled. But when I arrived a few minutes ago, I discovered my morning meeting had been canceled, so my stress was for nothing.
I settled at my desk, thinking about our day in the park and that kiss with Sarena last night. I liked it too damn much, which was why I’d crowned myself the dumbest Park Avenue cocksucker I knew.
I’d almost screwed up the best thing to happen to Emme and me: Sarena Brooks. She’d filled my home with food, warmth, and love without trying, which annoyed me. I’d trained myself to live without affection because it only ripped your heart out and stomped on it. I’d learned young not to let anyone get too close, so I didn’t get hurt. My life was structured and organized, and other than Emme, I wanted to keep it that way.
I kicked back my chair and stared out my floor-to-ceiling Park Avenue view. I’d worked damn hard to get here, and I wouldn’t let some twenty-year-old fuck it all up. Yet remembering her pressed against the wall made my cock so hard that I feared it would bust out of my pants. I was thirty-six. I should be able to control my damn dick.
I hadn’t grown up in a home with warmth. My mother’s idea of a home-cooked meal had come from a convenience store. I hadn’t missed the love lacking in our house because how could you miss what you’d never had? Silent meals around the dinner table had been the norm.
I’d tucked my sister in at night and read her stories with cheesy happily ever afters.
I’d taken the beating from my father when he’d drunk too much and exorcised his miserable life choices on a nine-year-old boy.
I’d taken care of my mother’s wounds when he’d needed someone to punch.
At the tender age of nine, I’d been the glue holding the family together. The responsibilities that should have fallen on my father’s shoulders had landed heavily on mine. Maybe that was why Chloe had picked me as Emme’s caregiver. She’d known better than anyone that I would never walk away from responsibility. Even when the mess wasn’t mine, I stayed back and cleaned it up.
Emme had been dropped into my lap unexpectedly. A man who’d sworn never to have a family suddenly had one hoisted on him. I didn’t know what to do with her. Sure, I could feed and clothe her, give her all the luxuries I’d never had, but I wasn’t sure I could give her what all little girls needed the most. Love.