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)
“So, you did it for the environment?”
Beth was proud of the noncommittal sound she made in response to that question.
“Well? Did you?”
“Oh my God, you’re relentless. What do you want me to say? That he took me to his house and shagged me senseless?”
Beth held her breath, hoping her ploy had worked and the words sounded as ridiculous to her friend as they did to her.
There was a beat of startled silence as Cat stared—wide-eyed—at Beth’s image on her screen. The silence was eventually broken by a snort and Cat’s lips parted on a guffaw.
“You and Gideon? Oh my God, I can’t even begin to picture that. You’d probably kill each other in bed.”
They’d come pretty close to killing each other with intense, spectacular, unbearably hot sex. Even now, Beth could feel the magnificent stretch of him as he worked between her legs. The look of fierce concentration on his gorgeous face as he stared down at her intently, gauging her every reaction and adjusting his movements accordingly. She’d never been the recipient of such unwavering focus before. And it would have—should have—been unnerving if she hadn’t been so lost in her own all-consuming lust for him.
“What’s with that look?” Cat—ever observant—asked, her eyes narrowing.
“What look?”
“I don’t know. You look hazy? Dreamy? I’ve never seen that look before. Are you imagining yourself in bed with Gideon?”
“God no, of course not.” More like remembering herself in bed with Gideon. She wrinkled her nose, knowing that the disgruntled expression was more in tune with what her friend would be expecting of her. “The thought of it is…it’s so far outside the realm of possibility that I can’t even imagine it.”
“Well, I was just wondering how the hell you guys wound up sharing a ride when you usually can’t stand to be in the same room for very long. I wanted to be sure that you both made it home unscathed.”
Beth gave herself a moment before speaking. “No blood was spilt, I promise. We were perfectly civil—”
Ride me harder, sweetheart… yeah, that’s it. Fuuuuck, you’re killing me!
Gah! Not cool.
She squeezed her eyes shut in an attempt to dislodge the rogue flashback from her brain. Nope, closing her eyes just made it worse. Because the image of him sprawled beneath her—his expression drawn tight and savage—while she straddled him and slid herself up and down his thick hardness, was burned directly into her retinas.
“Are you okay?” Cat’s voice penetrated the haze of remembered unrestrained lust and Beth blinked as she focused on her surroundings once more.
“Uh… f-fine. Just tired and hungover.”
“Well, go grab a nap or something. I’ll see you later.”
Later? Crap! She’d forgotten about that. Last night had been the big, expensive blowout for Cam’s colleagues, clients, and extensive friends. Tonight was for intimates. Cat and Cam, with their closest friends and family. In fact, today was Cam’s actual birthday.
It was to be a bring-and-braai and Beth had promised to bring potato salad.
She’d already bought all the ingredients in anticipation of this event, but God help her, she didn’t have the fortitude to prepare it right now.
Still, she’d promised to produce enough potato salad for roughly ten people and had—she squinted at the kitchen clock—just over six hours to get it done.
Considering the prep time—she preferred to peel her potatoes—the portions she would have to make to satisfy everyone’s appetite for her popular salad, the sheer amount of ingredients she used, as well as, the fact that she made her own mayonnaise, she would be cutting it close.
So much for that nap.
“I’ll see you later, Cat.”
Her friend blew her a kiss and disconnected the call. Beth groaned and removed her second favorite pair of glasses before burying her face in her hands as she considered the unwelcome reality that she would have to see Gideon again so soon after last night’s craziness.
The two sharp raps on Beth’s front door a couple of hours later left her in no doubt as to the identity of her unexpected caller. It was such a Gideon knock, abrupt to the point of rudeness—Beth was tempted to ignore it.
She had enough to deal with as it was. She cast a despairing glance over her cramped kitchen peninsula and swallowed a groan. She was never going to finish this on time. Thanks to the damned potato salad, her ordinarily well-organized kitchen more closely resembled a war zone right now. A reflection of her frazzled mind and fragile emotional state.
The knock sounded again, sharper now, and a clear indication of her unwelcome visitor’s impatience. It was followed by three short bursts of her doorbell.
“Elizabeth! Open the door, I know you’re in there.”
Elizabeth? She couldn’t recall a single instance of him ever using her full name before. It made her curious enough to see what he wanted.
She heaved a sigh and cast another look over her chaotic kitchen. This interruption presented the prefect excuse to procrastinate and she was going to grab it with both hands, even if it meant facing Gideon again. Rather now than see him for the first time in front of their mutual friends. That could prove to be awkward. This was as good an opportunity as any to lay down some ground rules regarding their interaction from now on.