Total pages in book: 76
Estimated words: 71911 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 360(@200wpm)___ 288(@250wpm)___ 240(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 71911 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 360(@200wpm)___ 288(@250wpm)___ 240(@300wpm)
Theo continued to see right through me with a discerning gaze, seeing my flesh and bone and the blood in between. He should be just a good lay, a warm body next to mine in a cold bed, a distraction from my loneliness, a form of revenge against the man who crushed me, but he somehow felt like more than that. “I’m sorry.”
My eyes flicked down to my drink.
“But I’m not sorry that you’re here with me.”
When we finished dinner, our plates were totally clean.
“Damn, that was good.”
He smiled slightly. “Don’t tell George.”
“She really knows her way around a kitchen.”
“And the bedroom, according to Axel.”
I chuckled. “He tells you stuff like that?”
“Not the details, but the incidents.”
“Have you…told him about me?” When we ran into them at the restaurant, there was definite tension in the air. Axel seemed particularly interested that I was there.
It took a while for him to answer. “The incidents. But not the details.”
“You really are a gentleman.”
“I’m not a gentleman,” he said quickly. “Just not an asshole. To women, at least.”
“So he knows that I have an open marriage?”
“Yes.”
“Does he have an opinion on that?” I’m sure most people would burn me at the stake.
“Like me, he’s not the judgmental type. He’s a one-woman kind of guy, so he doesn’t understand how a man could ever let his wife be fucked by somebody else. But that’s just his personal opinion.”
I didn’t understand how Bolton could stand it either. Whenever I thought about him with someone else—let alone multiple people—it made me sick. It still made me sick. The longer I spent with Theo, the more I disassociated from Bolton and our marriage. I wasn’t sure where we would end up, but happily ever after seemed less realistic with every passing week.
Theo continued to watch me. “And even if he were the judgmental type, you wouldn’t be the one he’d judge.” He grabbed his glass and drank what remained of the contents. It was his second drink of the night, and despite the fact that it was hard alcohol, he seemed in complete control of his faculties.
Heels sounded from behind me, and then Scarlett appeared, tall and lean in her sky-high heels, the big diamond on her left hand. “How was dinner?”
“Amazing,” Theo said. “As always.”
“It’s the first time he’s taken me somewhere he doesn’t own, so I knew it would be good,” I said.
“Sounds like he takes you out a lot.” She glanced back at him.
I realized I’d shoved my foot into my mouth. “Not a lot, just here and there.”
“Well, I’m glad you liked the food,” Scarlett said. “We opened the restaurant a couple years ago, but it still feels like my baby. The restaurant business is hard, and the last thing I want is to lose something I care so much about.”
“You’ll never lose this place,” Theo said. “You can’t get in unless you make a reservation a month in advance.”
“Unless the owner tried to sleep with you once upon a time,” she teased.
My eyes immediately darted to Theo.
He smirked like it was an inside joke only the two of them knew about.
“Enjoy the rest of your evening.” Her hand squeezed his shoulder before she walked away.
His eyes immediately moved back to me instead of staring at her ass. The waitress never brought the tab, so it seemed like it wasn’t coming. And Theo didn’t wait for it because he rose from his seat. “Ready?”
“Yeah, sure.”
When we returned to his bedroom, I reached for my bag.
He grabbed my hand and steadied it. “Stay.”
I inhaled his scent when he stood this close to me. It smelled like a cold forest, the mist a cleanse on the soil. But when I turned to look at him, I saw a blazing fireplace that heated the entire room. My eyes took in his dark midnight gaze as he stared down at me.
“Can you stay?”
Bolton would be back tomorrow evening, so I did have some time. Now, my life was divided between two homes, between two men. My identity was in limbo. “Yes.”
With his iron grip, Theo forced me to turn toward him, and then like a bullet coming out of the barrel at the speed of sound, his mouth was on mine, his hand deep in my hair, his other hand making itself at home on my ass.
He kissed me with the passion he always showed when we were behind closed doors. At restaurants and in the car, his affection was restrained and discreet, but once it was just the two of us, he was at me like a hungry wolf. He lifted me into his arms and carried me toward the bed, holding me with my thighs around his waist.
He kissed me there for a while, until he suddenly threw me onto the bed.
My back hit the mattress, and I bounced, my hair flying from the motion.