Total pages in book: 128
Estimated words: 125140 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 626(@200wpm)___ 501(@250wpm)___ 417(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 125140 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 626(@200wpm)___ 501(@250wpm)___ 417(@300wpm)
“So, you want to go off the grid. Become invisible, bad even?” I ask sarcastically.
She smiles sadly. “I think being bad would be easier.”
“Why is that?”
“At least I would know what to expect from people.”
I frown as I watch her. What’s happened to make her like this? My mind immediately goes to the night where we found her at the nightclub and the tears that were streaming down her face as she stumbled out that back ally way door.
“What do you mean by that?” I ask.
“Well…” She hesitates as she articulates her thoughts. “If I expect the worst then I will never be disappointed.”
I raise a brow in question. “The worst?”
“Lies.” She stands and picks up a towel from the floor.
I lean up onto my elbow as I watch her. “People lie to you?” I ask.
“Everyone,” she murmurs as she disappears into the bathroom to discard the towel.
“That’s not true. I never have,” I call.
She reappears and leans on the door jamb and smirks. “Yes. You have.”
“When?”
“When you told me your name was Mac.”
I raise my eyebrows. How does she know my name isn’t Mac? “I never introduced myself to you, and why do you think my name isn’t Mac?”
“Is it?” She smiles sexily with a raised brow.
I smirk and shake my head. “No.”
“Thought not.” She bends and picks up my clothes on the floor and starts to rearrange them.
“Can you just stop cleaning and come and talk to me for a moment?”
“Nothing to talk about. You either want to help me, or you don’t.”
“And if I don’t?”
“Then I will be crippled by student loans and dealing with a jerk of an ex-boyfriend.”
A smile that I am unable to hide crosses my face.
“Why are you smiling?” she asks.
“So, you do have an ex?”
“Yes.” She smirks. “And this is funny because?”
I widen my eyes. “Key word ex. You’re a free agent.”
She looks at me deadpan. “Yes, free except for the small kidnapping being kept against my will by you part.”
I smile broadly. “Minor detail. Tell me something.”
Her eyes meet mine and I can tell she’s fighting a smile.
“If we had met under a different circumstance…”
“Which we didn’t.”
“But if we did?”
“Yes.”
“If we met say…” I hesitate while I think of a scenario. “At your work, for instance, and I asked you out on a date. Would you have gone out with me?”
A smile does find her face this time. “Would you have asked me out?” She pauses for a moment. “If you were normal and didn’t like whore bags, I mean.”
I laugh out loud as I pull her back over me as I grip her two hands in mine. “I am normal.”
She leans over me and smiles as her hair hangs in my face. “You are not fucking normal and this whole ship from Hell thing you have got going on here is filled with whore bags. Whore bags that you share with your work colleagues.” She fakes a shiver of disgust.
It would seem weird to the outside world. Truth be known, for the first time since being here, I can’t wait to get back to this cabin every night after work. This beautiful, innocent, fiery woman in my bed is almost too much to bear.
I want her.
I want her to want me and I will move Hell to make damn sure that she does.
I reach up and swipe my fingers through her dark, chocolate hair as she stares down at me. “I’m not interested in the whore bags, Rosh.”
“What are you interested in?” Her eyes search mine and I have to restrain myself from sitting up and taking her lips in mine. I can’t touch her in the bedroom, I remind myself.
“You,” I answer immediately. I can’t even pretend that I don’t want her. Regret fills me and I hesitate for a moment. “I wish we had met under different circumstances,” I reply.
“The point is moot because we didn’t.” She smiles sadly as she pulls out of my grip and stands.
My face falls at her rejection.
“So, is that a yes? You will help me?” she asks.
I lie back and watch her for a moment as I tuck my two hand behinds my head. Why does the thought of being the only person on the planet who knows where she is seem so appealing to me?
“I can help you disappear,” I reply.
She smiles a grateful smile. “Thank you.”
I stand and wrap my arms around her from behind, and she turns and leans her head onto my chest. We stand for an extended time in each other’s arms and I wish she didn’t just show me that vulnerable side of her… because now, not only do I have the primal urge to fuck her, I also have the need to protect her. In the situation I am in here in on this ship, I honestly don’t know if I can offer her protection or which sin is the worse evil.