Total pages in book: 132
Estimated words: 125213 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 626(@200wpm)___ 501(@250wpm)___ 417(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 125213 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 626(@200wpm)___ 501(@250wpm)___ 417(@300wpm)
She sighed and I took it as my cue to slow down, to savor this moment the way I wanted to. There was no need to rush now. There was no one around to see us, no one to run from, no one to lie to. It was just me and her and hours to pretend like the world didn’t exist.
“You stupid girl,” I muttered against her lips as I lazily kissed her, each one long and slow and filled with intent. “You stupid, stupid girl. How did you not see it? How could you not know that I’ve been fucking obsessed with you since we were teenagers?”
“You rejected me,” she panted, fingers sliding each button of my dress shirt through the slits. “I tried to kiss you. I tried to be more than friends, and you turned me down.”
“Because you were drunk,” I defended, tugging her to sit up by the neck of her sweatshirt. I ripped it over her head and flung it to the side before I was on her and kissing again. “And when you were sober the next day, you pretended like nothing happened. I tried to talk to you about it but—”
“I was embarrassed.” She slid my shirt over my shoulders, and I sat on my knees long enough to shrug it the rest of the way off before we were connected once more. “I thought you felt sorry for me. Here I was, this pathetic little girl with a crush.”
“I had a crush on you, too.”
“You never told me.”
“Your father would have kicked me out if I did.”
Each confession came between clothes being shed — her shorts, my jeans, her bra, my briefs, her panties, my socks — until she was nude and I was bare but for the chain hanging around my neck. It kissed the swells of Mia’s breasts as I settled in again.
“Daddy loves you,” she argued, frowning.
“He does. But you’re his little girl, and I was a horny teenage boy from another country living under his roof. He had every right to be protective. I would have been disappointed if he hadn’t set boundaries.” I swallowed, running my knuckles over her cheek. “But that didn’t mean I didn’t dream of breaking them. Every fucking day I thought about risking it all, Mia, just to have one night with you.”
Mia shook her head, moaning when I flexed my hips, the shaft of my cock sliding between her legs and teasing her where she was wet and wanting.
“All this time,” she sighed, eyes fluttering shut, nails digging into my shoulders.
“I came for you when we were older,” I told her, burying my face in her neck and licking along her flesh. “I came to L.A. I was going to tell you how I felt. I was hoping like hell you felt the same. But then I got there and you were with that fucking rock star.”
“Oh, God. Ian?”
“Don’t say another man’s name when I’m between your legs, Strings.”
I bit down on her neck to hammer that message home, and Mia gasped, arching into me, her hips grinding and trying to line me up at her entrance as I teased and toyed with her.
“I took that as my sign,” I told her, kissing down the flat bone of her sternum before licking each modest swell of her breasts. I circled her nipples with my tongue and savored the whimpering sounds that touch elicited. “I knew I wasn’t your type. I knew you were too good for me.”
Never good enough.
Never good enough.
“So, I stayed away. I watched you shine from afar, wanting everything good for you but hating when your smile was because of someone else. I stopped coming to family holidays because I couldn’t stomach being around you and whatever man had your attention.”
“That Fourth of July…”
“Fucking killed me,” I croaked, remembering how I’d tried and failed to numb myself that night after seeing Austin with her all day. “That was when I knew I couldn’t do it anymore. I tortured myself with miles between us but couldn’t man up and see your joy up close. I wanted you happy, Mia. I still do.” I kissed down her stomach, hiking each thigh up over my shoulder before my eyes locked on hers. “But fuck if I’m not the most selfish prick because the truth is I only want you happy with me.”
I licked along her inner thigh as she squirmed and sighed, hands fisting in the sheets and twisting hard.
“When I called you about the publicity stunt,” she breathed, her words strained as she tried to focus through the way I was teasing her.
“I jumped at the chance. Because I didn’t care if it was fake, Mia. I didn’t care if it would all end. I didn’t care that I’d be a fucking wreck when it was over. I wasn’t going to miss the chance to see you, to hold you, to touch you.” I tightened my grip on her thighs, spreading her wide and licking her in one long lash of my tongue from her opening to her clit. I kissed her there as she shook beneath me. “To kiss you.”