Total pages in book: 94
Estimated words: 94205 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 471(@200wpm)___ 377(@250wpm)___ 314(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 94205 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 471(@200wpm)___ 377(@250wpm)___ 314(@300wpm)
That was the effect her family had on her. She’d only said yes to being a bridesmaid because her mother had guilted her into it.
And there was the money to consider.
“You could have stepped on something sharp and hurt yourself,” he explained.
Aw. That was so cute. He really cared about her hurting herself.
Cute, but odd.
“But I walked out here without shoes on,” she pointed out.
She had to admit, it was nice being held in his arms like this. She couldn’t remember the last time someone carried her. Although, it was probably hell on his back.
“I know. Don’t do that again,” he ordered.
Her eyebrows rose. He hadn’t seemed this bossy and protective before in the bar. What had happened?
“You’re being very bossy. And you seem awfully concerned about my feet. You didn’t hit your head did you? Or take a sip from a drink someone offered you? Oh no, have you been drugged?”
“No, I haven’t been drugged and I didn’t hit my head. I just don’t want you getting tetanus, is that so bad?”
“Ah, no. I guess not.” She stared up at him, blinking.
Don’t do it.
Don’t say it.
“Did you just come out of the oven, because damn, you’re hot.”
Yes, sometimes she tried to defuse awkward situations with pickup lines. She was just odd like that.
Axel used to tell her she was weird and embarrassing.
Butch simply shook his head.
She started wiggling as they got closer to the door leading to the bar. “You can set me down now.”
“You still have bare feet,” he pointed out.
“Yes, but you can’t carry me through the bar.”
“Why not?”
“B-because people will look,” she explained. He couldn’t want to be seen with her, right?
He hadn’t been giving her any vibes that he was interested in her. Even when she’d thought he was copping a feel earlier, he’d just been doing the gentlemanly thing and trying to cover her butt up.
“So? Not anything I’m not used to.” He’d reached the door by now.
“You’re used to people staring at you?”
“Yep.”
“Why? Oh, because you’re so darn sexy. Yeah, I can see that.” He was. She’d stare at him all day long if she could. Which is why it surprised her that he’d even bothered to talk to her. She wasn’t exactly on the same level as him.
More’s the pity.
He just shook his head.
“Isn’t your back getting sore?” she asked. “I’m too heavy for you to carry around.”
“Stop,” he said firmly.
Whoa. He sounded so stern. It was . . . sexy. Why did she find that attractive? She’d never been attracted to bossy men before. Axel had never tried to tell her what to do.
Axel also wouldn’t have cared about the fact that she was walking around in bare feet.
Oh, and Axel was also a giant dick. With a small cock.
“You’re not to talk about yourself like that,” he told her.
“I’m not?” she asked, staring up at him in amazement.
“No.”
“And just because you say so, I’m meant to do it?” she asked, not as annoyed as she thought she would be by his high-handedness.
Odd.
He stared down at her for a long moment. Then he closed his eyes. “Right. You’re right. You’re not mine.”
She wouldn’t mind being his. Why had she said anything? When he opened his eyes, he set her back down on the floor.
It was what she wanted . . . right?
Then how come she felt so lost right now? Why did she wish he still had his arms around her?
Urgh. You’re an idiot, Lara.
Also, you’ve drunk too many Tingles.
She wobbled, and he had to reach out to grab hold of her arm, steadying her.
“You rouse my protective instincts, but you’re right. You’re not mine and you don’t have to do what I say.”
“So if I was yours, then you’d expect me to do what you told me?” she asked, staring up at him.
“Yes.”
Whoa.
She wasn’t sure what to think about that. Part of her thought she should object. But the other part was kind of intrigued.
“You’d boss me around?”
He drew her around a corner so they could be more private. Looming over her, he placed his hands on the wall behind her, his arms were on either side of her head.
Maybe she should have felt nervous. Instead, a weird excitement buzzed through her. She could smell his cologne, could feel the warmth of him. She leaned back against the wall, unable to hold herself up any longer.
He was so potent. A whimper tried to escape, but she held it back.
She would not beg him to kiss her.
No. Nope.
He was a stranger.
One who’d basically just rejected her. Not that she’d actually expected him to agree to go to the wedding with her. But a girl could dream, right?
Only, right now he was looking at her like she was chocolate, and he had a craving.
“If you were mine, I’d lay down some rules that I would expect you to follow.”