Total pages in book: 133
Estimated words: 126589 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 633(@200wpm)___ 506(@250wpm)___ 422(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 126589 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 633(@200wpm)___ 506(@250wpm)___ 422(@300wpm)
She made a huffing sound beneath her breath and turned away from him with a little flounce. The momentum of her abrupt movement sent the golden-brown cloud of her hair flying and lifted her skirt just enough for him to catch a glimpse of her lacey white panties. Aaaaaaand…he was hard again.
From a mere flash of her panties.
Gideon was inordinately grateful that she never looked back. He released the breath he didn’t know he had been holding when he heard the front door slam a few seconds after she exited his bedroom.
He allowed himself to groan then and cast a wry look down at his pulsing cock.
“You little shit,” he muttered, not one to normally talk to his dick, but this situation called for a stern lecture. “Why her? All the hot women at that party, and she’s the one you had to sit up and beg for?”
The one-eyed bastard stared back at Gideon unrepentantly, clearly happy that they’d seen some action last night, regardless of who said action came from. And the fucker definitely wanted more.
“Not going to happen.” Of that Gideon was certain. “Never again. Not in a million years. Not with Elizabeth Finch. No thank you.”
His cock seemed unconvinced, and continued to gently tap his abdomen with each heartbeat. It was because he could still smell her on him and all around him. He could still taste the sweetness of her orgasm on his tongue. Could feel the velvety texture of her skin beneath his hands, the frayed silk of her hair between his fingers, the satiny clutch of her pussy around his shaft…
His hand encircled his eager shaft.
Just this last time. To work her completely out of his system.
Then he wouldn’t think about this ever again.
Chapter Two
“Soooo,” Cat purred, licking chocolate buttercream off a spatula while peering intently into her phone’s camera and directly into Beth’s guilty soul. “I was pretty hammered, but I’m almost certain I saw you get into an Uber with Gideon last night.”
Beth cursed herself for accepting Cat’s FaceTime call. She should have gone directly to voice. Or better yet, avoided her friend’s call entirely. She and Cat had been texting back and forth all morning, idle talk about who wore what at last night’s party. Because of the animosity between Gideon and Beth, Cat never mentioned him unless it was unavoidable. Even though the conversation had seemed pretty innocuous, Beth should have known to steer clear of all party talk. Because all roads eventually led right here. To this moment where she found herself squirming—no writhing…no wriggling—beneath her friend’s close scrutiny.
Wriggling because Beth currently felt like a worm on a hook. Her own fault for not anticipating this turn of events.
Especially when Cat had abandoned texting in favor of face-to-face talking.
Two hours of intermittent texts had all been a patient build up to this.
Ugh. Beth should’ve known better. She’d once watched Cat sit for an hour, detangling a knotted ball of Christmas tree lights. The other woman had seemed almost cheerful doing a task that would have driven Beth around the bend and admitting defeat in under five minutes. In fact, she’d been on the verge of chucking out the hopelessly entangled mass of lights when Cat had stepped in.
Her friend had inhuman levels of patience and Beth hated it when Cat turned that patience on her. Cat was a master at playing the so called “long game” when she wanted something. Sometimes, Cam still looked a little befuddled when he stared at his wife, as if he couldn’t quite believe how much his life had changed in just two years. He’d fallen hard for Cat and he often joked that he had never even seen her coming.
“Beth?” Cat prompted, when the silence stretched on a little too long. “Shit. Is the screen frozen? Are you there? Can you hear me?”
Beth realized that she hadn’t spoken or moved in just over thirty seconds and wondered if she could get away with faking a frozen connection when…
Crap!
“Hah! You blinked! Which means you’re there. Which means you’re avoiding my question. Why?”
“I didn’t hear a question,” Beth pointed out, sounding a little prim even to her own ears.
“Deflection. A classic avoidance tactic.”
“I wasn’t deflecting. You didn’t ask a question.”
“Fine. Your semantics are tiresome, but whatever. I’m nothing if not patient.”
No shit.
“Did you and Gideon share an Uber last night?”
“It made sense to.” Beth coughed. A delaying tactic she often used to gather her thoughts and organize her words. “We both had too much to drink. Neither of us were fit to drive and sharing a ride was the logical thing to do.”
“You say that, but you’ve never been logical where Gideon was concerned before. I would’ve expected you to get your own Uber.”
“Think of the needless carbon emissions. We were heading in the same direction.”