Total pages in book: 30
Estimated words: 28059 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 140(@200wpm)___ 112(@250wpm)___ 94(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 28059 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 140(@200wpm)___ 112(@250wpm)___ 94(@300wpm)
“Is that what you like to read?”
She looks down like she’s shy but nods. “Yes. I know it’s silly, but love stories are my favorite.”
“Why are they your favorite?” She cuts her eyes to mine, and I squeeze her hand. “I’m interested, not judging.”
“Oh, sorry. I’m used to people looking down their noses at it.”
“I don’t think I could ever look down on you for anything.” She blushes, and it’s so sweet my chest clenches.
“They’re my favorite because it’s a way to live the life I dream of.”
“Which is what, exactly? To be on the run from a serial killer?” She pretends to scowl. I smile down at her.
“No, smarty pants,” she laughs, and I squeeze her hand again. “To meet someone and fall madly in love and live happily ever after.”
“That’s all?”
“I’m a simple girl.”
“That’s where you’re wrong.” I stop walking, and since I’m still holding on to her hand, she’s forced to stop with me. “You might think what you want is simple, but it’s not.” I reach up and brush a lock of hair away from her face. “It’s the greatest thing in the world.”
“You think so?” Her voice is soft, but her eyes don’t leave mine.
I pull her to me like the space between us is too great and I can’t keep away from her a moment longer. Without conscious thought, my hand goes around to her lower back, and I bend down to place a kiss on her cheek. It’s simple and soft, but it means everything to me.
My lips linger, and then I feel her lean into the touch like she’s savoring it. We both turn our heads at the same time, and then without hesitation, our lips connect.
The feel of her warm softness against me is unlike anything I’ve felt before, and it opens a dam that I’ve had walled up my entire life. A noise in the back of my throat rumbles out of me as I grip her and dip her backwards. Her hands go to the back of my neck to hang on to me, but all I can do is kiss her like this might be the last chance I’ll ever get.
She’s hot and wet, and all I can think about is stripping away our clothes and seeing if she’s hot and wet in other places too.
I’m not sure how long we’re like this, but when I hear footsteps, I break away and put Glenda back on her feet. She’s a little wobbly, so I pull her against me to steady her legs.
“Good afternoon,” one of the groundskeepers says as he quickly passes us, and I nod.
“Afternoon, Jeremy.”
Once he’s out of earshot, Glenda relaxes against me and then begins to straighten her sweater where I’ve mauled it.
“I should get you to the cottage,” I say, because now the moment has passed, and she won’t look me in the eyes.
“Yes, I’m sure you’ve got enough to do without having to babysit me.”
Her words don’t have the warmth they held from earlier, and I want to kick my own ass. I’ve ruined things between us, and I’ve missed my chance. I should have known better than to kiss her. Why would anyone want to kiss a scarred freak like me? It’s better this way because I’ve already fallen hard enough. If she were to string me along out of pity, it would only make things more difficult in the future.
“This way.” This time I walk quickly instead of trying to draw the time out. I’m sure she can’t wait to get as far away from me as possible.
It’s too bad because all I want to do is get closer to her. I guess some dreams aren’t meant to come true.
Chapter Seven
Glenda
It’s been a few hours since Cillian left me alone in the cottage. As soon as he opened the door for me, he bolted. I truly don’t understand what went wrong. When I touch my lips, they still tingle, and I hope the feeling never goes away. I’m certain Cillian won’t kiss me again, so this is all I’ve got to hold on to.
When we heard someone coming, he ended the kiss so quickly I couldn’t help but think that he didn’t want anyone to know that he’d kissed me. Was he embarrassed about it? The only other thing I can think of was that I’m a terrible kisser. I’d never kissed anyone before, and the thought of being bad at it hadn’t occurred to me until now.
Sure I’ve read about thousands of kisses in books, but there’s no way I could have tried to recall any of it at that moment. The only thing I could think about was the fact that Cillian was kissing me.
Then I thought I felt something hard pressing into my stomach. My mind and body went haywire after that because I thought that I’d turned Cillian on. For a brief moment, I felt sexy. I’d never had that desire before, but with Cillian, I wanted him to see me that way.