Total pages in book: 47
Estimated words: 46599 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 233(@200wpm)___ 186(@250wpm)___ 155(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 46599 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 233(@200wpm)___ 186(@250wpm)___ 155(@300wpm)
Suddenly, I’m moving across the garden, heading straight for the woman. She’s moving toward the drinks table.
I change course, roaring in my mind, telling myself to slow down before I say or do something foolish.
I can’t just shout, Hey, stranger, I saw you across the garden, and now you belong to me.
Even if it’s the truth.
She does belong to me.
The party is quieter at the refreshment station, the garden partitioned by a latticed archway interwoven with plants. The voices get dimmer as I walk through the archway, spotting the woman at the end, pouring herself some non-alcoholic punch.
Up closer, I can see how young she looks, her innocent eyes as she turns to me…and then they widen as she lets out a short whimper.
“I’m sorry,” I growl, my voice trembling far more than I mean it to. “I didn’t mean to scare you.”
She stares for a moment longer, then smiles tightly. It doesn’t reach her eyes. It’s like she’s angry, or concerned, or something.
“It’s fine,” she says. “Are you getting a drink?”
She looks down at my hand, at the nearly full beer.
“A sandwich,” I tell her.
The conversation pauses. I realize, far too late, that I have no idea what to say.
All I can think about is grabbing her shoulders and pulling her close, kissing this stranger until she moans and rubs her body against me.
All I can think about is years into this impossible future when her body will grow even curvier with our children when her cheeks will flush with family and happiness and not with whatever touches them now.
Nerves? Fear?
“Are you enjoying the party?” I ask into the silence.
“Yeah, it’s great. I’m glad Alex is having a good time.”
“Me too,” I say. “I’m Ben, by the way. His business partner and his best man.”
I offer her my hand, struggling not to let it clench into a fist. The tightness in my body is almost too much to handle, every nerve buzzing, every instinct roaring at me to make something happen.
After a moment, she takes it.
Her palm is warm, tempting as fuck. A deranged urge touches me – guide her hand to my crotch, press down, let her feel the effect she’s having on me.
I swear sparks are buzzing between us. She clutches tighter, and I hold on for a moment longer, squeezing, never wanting to let go.
“Nice to meet you,” she says when our hands finally separate.
“Isn’t this the part where you give me your name?” I smirk, teasing lightly.
She blinks and bites her lip. She needs to be careful with how she stares at me.
When she looks like this, so prey-like, so ready, I could tear her clothes off right here. It turns me into a beast. It makes restraint difficult.
I’ve never felt like this, never dreamed I could.
“I’m June,” she says a moment later. “It’s nice to meet you too.”
She takes a sip of her drink. I do the same, but I keep my eyes on her the entire time. I’m not sure I could take my eyes off her even if I wanted to…which I don’t, ever.
“I hope I’m not keeping you from anyone,” I say.
She shakes her head. “No, it’s fine. It’s good.”
Another pause and I wonder what she’d do if I reached out and cradled her cheek. What if I stroked my thumb along her skin and told her how she’s making me feel, the strength of it, the fact of it?
“Are you going to the wedding?” I ask.
She laughs, then nods. “Uh, yeah. I plan to.”
“Is something funny?”
“No.”
I smirk, stepping closer, inhaling the scent of her perfume, the scent of her. “That’s strange. I’m sure I heard you laughing.”
She tosses her head, a note of sassiness entering her expression. It goes to war with the nerves there, the redness in her cheeks.
“Maybe you’re hearing things. Did you ever think of that, huh?”
I chuckle. “It must be my old age.”
“You’re not old, Ben,” she says.
I grin, pointing self-deprecatingly to my hair. “See that? That’s a sign of old age right there.”
“Well, how old are you?”
“Thirty-nine.”
“See, that’s not old at all. Anyway, some people like the silver fox look.”
“Is that what I am?” I chuckle again. “A silver fox?”
She shrugs, causing her breasts to move in the summer dress. She’s not showing much cleavage, but there’s a little, an enticing preview.
“I don’t know,” she mutters. “I…. Have you seen the rest of the garden?”
“The rest of the garden?” I ask.
She nods. “There’s a side passage. It leads to a pond. It’s quite pretty.”
My body stirs. My mind spins over and over.
She wants to go someplace private.
Stepping even closer, I say, “Show me.”
CHAPTER THREE
Becca
What the heck am I doing?
I didn’t plan to give him a fake name, and I didn’t plan to lead him to the cute garden area at the back.
But when I saw him, standing there with his iron hair and his intense eyes, staring like he hated me, like he was freaking angry or something….