Total pages in book: 112
Estimated words: 107687 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 538(@200wpm)___ 431(@250wpm)___ 359(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 107687 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 538(@200wpm)___ 431(@250wpm)___ 359(@300wpm)
My chest seizes. There’s no way I can ask for them to remove Dimitri, not after all they are doing for me. I don’t even have a real job. I’m a shadow, yet they’ll pay me and house me. I can deal with Dimitri; I know I can.
Snap.
I swallow hard as I hold her gaze. “No worries. I threw everything in the other room, and it’s all fine.”
“Are you sure?”
“Absolutely,” I agree, waving her off. “I’m just very grateful for all you guys are doing for me.”
“We’re thankful for you,” Elli adds, grinning at me. “Okay, you two are expected in the team meeting that is starting in ten minutes. I’ll let y’all go while I make some calls.”
“Thank you,” I say as I get up with Shelli to leave. Elli sends me a wide grin, her gaze so kind as wrinkles move along the corners of her eyes. I put away my things and catch up with Shelli since she’s already left, on the phone.
I fall into step with her as she says, “Yeah, I’m coming down the fourth hall. Ah, yes. I see you.”
I look from her to down the hall, where a very, very exquisite man is coming toward us. He is massive, with large shoulders and long, toned legs that are on display under his shorts. His eyes are almost a silverish-gray, with hair along his jaw and an unstoppable grin. His hair is dark, pulled high up on his head in a bun. By the way Shelli grins, I can tell he must be her husband. The distance between the two is gone within seconds as their lips meet. I find myself breathless as I watch them in what I guess shouldn’t be such a private moment, but for some reason, it feels as if it is. I have never seen anyone kiss out of love or adoration for another. I think I saw my mom kiss my dad twice in my life, and it was because he made her. Took her by the jaw and forced his mouth on her.
My fingers move to my lips of their own accord as I yearn for that feeling. I’m so curious if it feels as good as it looks, but I fear it doesn’t. It can’t if no one ever kissed in New Beginnings. I think of how it feels when my peepaw’s lips are on my forehead, and that’s not bad. It’s kind and loving. The kiss between Shelli and her husband is not just kind; it’s very loving, but almost devouring. He parts from her lips then and smiles down at her.
“Sorry,” he says bashfully. “Your lips looked extra tasty.”
Snap.
I do that to keep myself from asking what she tastes like. For one, that’s weird as all heck, and for two, that’s none of my business.
“You’re impossible,” Shelli says breathlessly, tapping his chest sweetly. She pulls back farther so she can face me. “Austen, this is my husband, Aiden.”
He holds out his hand, and I shake it eagerly. “It’s great to meet you,” I force myself to say so I don’t say anything else I’m actually thinking.
“You too. Let me make sure I’m right—you’re Shelli’s partner for the season?”
“That’s me,” I say, waving my hands.
Aiden laughs a low sound, and Shelli wraps her arms around him. “You ready?”
“Yes,” we both say, and I immediately snap my wrist. She wasn’t talking to me. They start down the hall, and I follow, my mind moving a million miles a minute. It’s insane to me how they just met in the middle, their lips capturing each other’s with no hesitation or even a thought. Almost as if they were drawn together. I’ve read moments like that in books, kisses that are simply necessary, but I never truly understood the need for a kiss. For the joining of mouths. It doesn’t make sense to me. But seeing it up close and personal…it does something to my soul.
And has me yearning for that touch.
I wrestle with the thoughts in my mind, knowing none of this should matter right now. I’m working and getting paid for this time. I shouldn’t be thinking of what it feels like to kiss someone. Or to be kissed the way Aiden kissed Shelli. My insides clench, and I will them to relax. This is neither the time nor the place.
When I turn the corner, there is no willing my insides to do anything. Soon, I’m faced with the fully clothed version of the very image that is seared into my brain. His shorts are tight along his thighs, his shirt the same along his shoulders. He wears a hat low on his head, but nothing can hide those eyes of his. Dimitri stands with a bunch of guys, his laughter causing his whole body to shake as he listens to whatever is being said. His eyes are so vivid, so intoxicating, but it’s his smile, the way his dimples come to life, that has everything inside me melting into pure lava.