Total pages in book: 86
Estimated words: 83986 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 420(@200wpm)___ 336(@250wpm)___ 280(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 83986 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 420(@200wpm)___ 336(@250wpm)___ 280(@300wpm)
“Holy shit, you really would fly back and forth.”
“Who wouldn’t? You get that you’re Ashford Lennox, right?”
His scowl was quick. “That doesn’t mean anything. Not after you wake up the next morning. No one expects this—me in my pajama bottoms and a borrowed Nirvana T-shirt, which I appreciate the loan of, by the way.”
“Anytime.”
“People expect me to be the guy I am in the movies, the suave guy, the sleek guy, the guy with all the best dialogue, good hair, and no morning breath.”
“Your hair is great,” I said, smiling. “And you do taste minty.”
“That’s because I brushed.”
“Sorry, I haven’t yet.”
“I don’t care. That’s the least of…” He gestured at both of us. “We have dried cum on us, and sweat, and I don’t even care.”
“No?” I teased him.
“I love that neither one of us cared. I mean, we made a mess of the bed and each other, but after, I rolled over and you held me, and that was perfect.”
Perfect was a big word.
“You think I’m crazy.”
“No, sir, I just… You have to be patient if I’m not perfect all the time.”
His eyes were so soft and warm as he looked at me. “Just be you, and everything will be great.”
“You’re setting yourself up for disappointment.”
“It’s only been a short time, but so far, you’ve let me be me, and you have no idea what that means to me.” He took a quick breath, as though girding himself. “If you agree, I would really like to see if you could, or would, fit into my stupid, crazy life.”
“A life you love.”
“I do love it, and I’m grateful for it every day, but it is hard work, and I’ve been solely devoted to my career for a long time.”
“And now?”
“Now I want my person. I’m ready to prioritize that guy.”
“Prioritize, huh? You sound so healthy.”
He sighed deeply. “And now I want to smother you with a pillow.”
I scoffed. “Nah. You want to fuck me again.”
“I want you to fuck me again, but that’s not all I want, and you can’t possibly think—”
“No,” I rushed out, putting my hands on his hips so he couldn’t move. “I don’t think for a second that what we did was just fucking.”
“Good,” he whispered. “Because that’s not what it felt like to me.”
“Same here,” I said, and brushed my lips over his. “So yeah, I would like to see if you could fit me into your amazing life.”
“You really would?” He sounded so hopeful, my heart squeezed in my chest.
“Yes, please.”
He took my face in his hands. “I haven’t had butterflies when a man looks at me for a very long time. I forgot that it’s exciting and really fucking scary.”
“Don’t be scared. I’ve got you.”
He kissed me then, and if I wasn’t clear how he felt before, it was there in the way he devoured my mouth and claimed what he wanted, which was very clearly me.
How slowly he moved, the way he cupped the back of my head and pressed me forward against him at the same time with a hand on my lower back, made me lose myself in the swell of emotion that I returned with my lips, my tongue, and my arms wrapped around his neck.
The knock on the door brought a moan out of his throat.
“We’re on the clock out here,” Owen let us know.
I broke the kiss, turning my head, and he immediately pressed his lips behind my ear, his hot mouth feeling like a sultry brand on my flushed skin.
“We’re so different,” I husked. “I really hope this works.”
“It’s going to work, have faith,” he ground out, retaking my mouth.
I knew the FBI wasn’t coming to break down the door in moments. Jared had sent Owen and Nash to head off law enforcement, so really, my focus was on nothing else but Ash and starting something with him. I wanted that. I had regrets in my life for not acting on things when I should have, for not jumping, for playing it safe. With my life, as a cop and now a fixer, I gambled. You had to take chances to save people, and it was right to be selfless. But with my heart, I’d been careful. And then when I finally took a chance, with Damien, I had been so stupid and wrong.
But now, suddenly, a stranger had stepped into my life, and I didn’t want to be anything but brave. The possibilities if I leaped without a net could be everything. We were talking about my happiness here.
Or not.
It could all end horribly, with lots of heartache. But what there couldn’t be was regret. There would be no more of that. The old saying about loving and losing…even that was better than playing it safe.
“You won’t be embarrassed to introduce me to your friends?” I asked him.