Total pages in book: 18
Estimated words: 17267 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 86(@200wpm)___ 69(@250wpm)___ 58(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 17267 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 86(@200wpm)___ 69(@250wpm)___ 58(@300wpm)
“You’re sailing pretty dangerous waters with that one, captain.” I’ve got no idea why my mind went with nautical wordplay. Then again, maybe I do. There has to be a filthy joke about what we’ve been doing, how wet I get around him and seamen here somewhere.
“And why’s that?” Victor snakes a hand up my arm before slipping it over my shoulder. He pulls me tightly against his body as we walk to his car.
“Because if you’re not careful, I fear I might start falling in love.”
He stops dead in his tracks so suddenly, I nearly topple over as his arm around my neck pulls me backward.
I want to believe I meant it as a joke. That I’m just having some fun. But there’s something about Victor that I can’t seem to shake. It’s the way he acts around me. How he gets tongue-tied and twisted when I burrow into his brain with a silly comment like this one. And I’d be deluding myself if I didn’t say the way he looks at me sends chills down my spine.
Every time our eyes meet, it’s as if he sees me for the first time. There’s nothing but genuine warmth and happiness that flood his beautiful eyes.
“Only start? And here I thought we were returning to my place to plan the wedding.” He plays his shock off with charismatic charm.
“Play your cards right, mister, and we just might.” I wink at him and roll my shoulders to say we should keep moving.
As fun as it is to flirt in the parking lot, we could be doing it in his bedroom instead.
The thrill of it all is short-lived when we stop in front of Victor’s Bentley, and from the corner of my eye, I see someone approaching us. Had we been anywhere else, I’d have thought nothing of it. But Dr. Sinclair’s office has a fenced-off parking lot, and when Victor’s car is the only one here, no one would have any reason to be in it.
Shit. That could only mean it’s one person.
I choose to keep my attention focused on Victor instead of looking over. Maybe I’m wrong about who I saw. Vague shapes in my periphery hardly make up a man, right?
“Not interested, pal.” Victor waves a hand toward the guy, no doubt thinking him a bum.
“The fuck’s this, then?” The British accent confirms my fears. It’s Adam Hughes, the dickhead who followed me here from England.
My heart starts thumping faster in my chest.
Not here. Not today.
“Ah, I see.” Victor turns his attention to Adam, pulling me tighter against his body. “But it’s like I said. We aren’t interested.”
“That’s all well and good, big boy, but no one’s talking to you. This game she’s playing isn’t gonna work,” Adam says, keeping out of arm’s reach from Victor.
What game? I’ve made my intentions clear about us from the start. He was a friend when I was a stranger in a strange land. Now I’m just scared of him.
“You best think twice before you open that slimy fucking mouth of yours again.” Victor doesn’t sound angry, though his words portray fury. In fact, a wicked smile has grown where I expected to see a scowl.
Even face to face with danger, Victor stays fully in control. A master in the art of Zen and not giving a fuck.
Goddammit, he’s amazing.
“You threatening me, son?” Adam hisses.
“No. Wouldn’t dream of it.” Victor slides his arm off my neck and puts his enormous frame between me and Adam. I still haven’t taken a look at him, and with Victor acting as my shield, I won’t have to. “I’m warning you. Say another fucking word to Olivia, and I’m going to slap that cocky grin right off your face.”
Adam snorts loudly but doesn’t dare say another word. Out of curiosity, I peek around Victor to see Adam walking away with his hands raised in surrender. His freckled face sunken low in defeat.
But his deep blue eyes never break away from mine. Looking at me as if to say, “This isn’t over.”
“The fucking nerve of that guy,” Victor says once we’re in his car and heading to his place. He’s doing a great job hiding his anger, but he doesn’t have to do so around me.
“Don’t give him any more thought,” I say, touching his inner thigh. If I wasn’t sure he was still seething, I might’ve made a move for the throbbing slab of meat a few inches away.
Watching him put Adam in his place did unimaginable things to the lustful demon who possessed me on the day I met Victor. Soft, kind, and caring when it comes to me, I wasn’t sure how he’d handle a threatening situation.
And if I didn’t believe what I told him before, seeing his raw, primal, and protective side towards me all but seals my fate.