Total pages in book: 54
Estimated words: 52384 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 262(@200wpm)___ 210(@250wpm)___ 175(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 52384 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 262(@200wpm)___ 210(@250wpm)___ 175(@300wpm)
“Sweetheart---”
“Don’t you dare sweet talk me if you’re just going to give me excuses!” With one hand still holding the hot compress to my belly, I angrily paced the length of my living room even as I continued on with my admittedly unwarranted bitch rant. “Come here right this moment, asshole! I don’t care if you’ve promised to meet with the effing Queen of England! I want you here, now, naked, and you’re going to make me forget about my stupid PMS by masturbating in front of me, and afterwards you’re going to give me a bath and---”
“Alright, sweetheart.” As always, the former model’s lovely Greek-accented voice was annoyingly mild. And though I’d rather swallow a fistful of nails than admit it – especially now when even I knew I was being unreasonably horrible – I did find it sexier that he could always stay calm no matter how crazy I got.
“You’ve made yourself quite clear---” A pause. “To me, my godfather, and the rest of his board.”
My jaw dropped.
What…did…he…just…say?
A moment later, I heard his godfather drawl in a similarly amused tone, “It’s nice to hear from you again, Alyx.”
Fuck. Me.
Somebody please fuck me out of the shithole I had just gotten myself into!
“Hello, Uncle Geoff.” My voice came out a squeak, and I quickly cleared my throat. “Those things I said weren’t really true.” I silently banged my head against the concrete wall. “They’re actually lines from this book I’m reviewing---” I silently banged my head again. “And I thought I’d, you know, try them on Nathan to see if they’d sound realistic?” I banged my head one more time.
God, Alyx Marshall, why does Nathan always come out with the upper hand?
“Oh, it did,” the older man murmured in the same mild tone as Nathan’s. This one, however, had her cringing. “You think so, too, don’t you, Nathan?”
“Very realistic,” his damn godson agreed.
“Gentlemen?”
As the members of Geoffrey McAllister’s board hastened to agree with their CEO, Alyx rapped her head on the wall like a jackhammer. Fuck me. Fuck me. Fuck me.
“Perhaps Alyx needs more of your help with her review, son,” she heard Geoffrey say. “We can handle it from here. See you at tomorrow night’s gala.”
Alyx heard Nathan murmur something too low for her to decipher. Several moments later, Nathan came back on the phone. “I’ll be with you in twenty minutes, sweetheart.” This time, he was no longer on loudspeaker, his voice coming to her more clearly.
“Don’t bother.” But the words came out a half-snarl, half-wail.
“Okay, okay.” Nathan’s tone was humorous. “I’ll do my best to get there sooner, even if it means getting a speeding ticket.”
“Nathan!” But the line already went dead, and I stared at my iPhone in a mixture of consternation and giddiness.
He was coming.
Despite me being such a bitch to him, he was coming---
But then my period chose that moment to act up, and the pleasure dimmed as the pain in my belly took over. I trudged back to bed, huddled under the covers, and squeezed my eyes shut.
Pain, pain, go away.
Come again another day.
I said the words over and over, just like a kid counting sheep in hopes of falling asleep, and the world started to fade but the pain continued to linger. Enough time must have passed – period pains always had me feeling delirious – because the next thing I knew, he was already there.
“Hey, sleepyhead.” Nathan’s lips brushed against mine, and my eyes slowly flickered open as I felt him pull away. For one moment, I found myself dazzled, not by his good looks, which were admittedly blinding, but by the tenderness gleaming in his gray eyes.
It wasn’t right, I thought half in despair, half in bliss. Why did he never stop looking at me like that? No matter what I said or did, no matter how crazy and bitchy I was to him – why could he still look at me like I was precious?
Didn’t he know it would be harder to keep myself from loving him more when he was this…lovable?
He ran his knuckles over my cheek, and I was torn between biting his hand off and licking it like a damn puppy.
“Sorry I made you wait too long,” Nathan said softly.
“It’s okay,” I mumbled, uncomfortable with his apology because he really didn’t owe me one, and we both knew that.
“Still need that bath?”
“No.” I burrowed deeper into the covers.
“Then…the private show perhaps?”
I peeked out of the covers with a gasp. “You’d really do that?”
“If it’s what you want,” he answered simply.
I nodded vehemently. “I want.”
He chuckled.
“I really want.” And because I was shameless with things I wanted, I added feelingly, “Please.”
“Anything for you, sweetheart.”
As he pulled away and slid back to his feet in one graceful movement, I groped for my phone, connected it to the Bluetooth speaker, and played Miguel’s cover of Crazy in Love for the 50 Shades Darker film.