Total pages in book: 121
Estimated words: 122550 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 613(@200wpm)___ 490(@250wpm)___ 409(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 122550 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 613(@200wpm)___ 490(@250wpm)___ 409(@300wpm)
“Sheesh, you’re going to spoil me, Gerald! What will I do when I don’t have you?”
He tilted his head to the side. “I thought you were here to stay, miss.”
Right. Yes. She was.
She just wished she felt like she fit in here.
Give it time.
Everything will be all right.
Moving back into the solarium, she studied the credit card. Regent wanted her to use it. Maybe because he wanted her to have clothes that were more appropriate for this house, for her place as his girlfriend.
With a sigh, she sat and got to work. Both on her book and on remaking herself.
Jilly was walking up and down the hallway, trying to work through a plot hole in her book, when she heard the front door open.
Turning, she saw Regent walk in. Excitement hit her and she forgot about the problem with her book.
Racing toward him, she was vaguely aware of the three men behind him, but she didn’t really look at them.
She was focused on her man.
His eyes widened slightly, his only reaction to the whirlwind running toward him. She threw herself at him and he caught her, holding her against him. She placed a kiss on each of his cheeks, then his lips.
“You’re back.”
“I am.” He stared down at her as though he couldn’t understand her. “I’ve only been gone a few hours.”
Right.
And she was acting like a complete and utter lunatic.
He set her down and she tried to keep herself from blushing too hard.
“Damn, remind me to have words with Aston. I want to be greeted like that every time I return home.”
She looked over at the other men. One was Victor, who seemed as calm and unconcerned as ever. Jardin smiled at her. The third man had to be Maxim, Regent’s youngest brother. He had that casual elegance. That air of confidence that bordered on arrogance but wasn’t obnoxious.
Also, he had the same thick, dark hair as Regent.
Maxim grinned at her, his dark blue eyes dancing. He had a slimmer build than his brothers yet it was obvious he worked out. His hair was slicked back, his stance relaxed.
“Hi, I’m Jilly.”
“I should hope so.” He held out his hand. “I’m Maxim.”
To her shock, Regent pushed his brother’s hand away before she could grab it.
“No touching.”
Maxim’s eyebrows rose. “Seriously? I’m your brother.”
“No.” Regent swept her up against him, walking with her further into the house.
“Um, well, hi.” She tried to turn back and wave at Maxim, but Regent wasn’t having any of it.
“I’ll meet you in the study,” he fired back as he walked with her to the back of the house where the solarium was.
“Is that . . . did I do the wrong thing?” she asked in a rush.
He stared down at her. “The wrong thing? No, you did nothing wrong. Maxim shouldn’t touch you.”
“He was only going to shake my hand.” That wasn’t what she’d been talking about anyway.
She’d meant the way she’d greeted him. It obviously hadn’t been what he’d expected.
“I don’t seem to be able to stand the idea of any man touching you.”
“Careful, your possessiveness is showing.”
“It wasn’t showing before?” he queried. “I will have to improve my game.”
“If you improve your game anymore, I might die,” she muttered thinking about the shower that morning.
He smiled and it was such a beautiful sight that she sighed.
“You’re so beautiful,” she told him.
“That’s my line, sweet girl. And you’re the beautiful one. Have you been using your laptop?”
She let out a squeal and jumped against him again. This time, he lifted her up into the air so she could wrap her legs and arms around him.
Maybe he just needed some training in . . . well, in how to live with Jilly.
Hmm. That was it. She had to train her king.
“Thank you so much! I went looking for you earlier to say thank you, but you’d left. Without saying goodbye.”
Regent frowned slightly. “Were you upset about that?”
Well, she had been. But it seemed silly now.
“It doesn’t matter.”
“It does if it upsets you, baby. I’ll try not to leave without saying goodbye again. But it’s not always possible. Sometimes I have to leave abruptly.”
“Is everything all right?”
He sighed, looking tired as he sat with her on his lap. “I’m not sure and that bothers me. There seems to be more fires than ever to put out and I don’t think it’s a coincidence.”
“I don’t understand anything you just said.”
“Good.”
Good? How could that be good? Shouldn’t she know what was going on with him so she could support him as necessary?
“How is that good? Don’t you want my help?” she asked.
“I want you to be as worry-free as possible. You’ve already had enough stress in your life. It’s time to let me shoulder everything and for you to live worry-free.”
That sounded so nice.
But also so wrong.
How could she be happy and worry-free when he was weighed down by the weight of the world?