Total pages in book: 81
Estimated words: 78085 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 390(@200wpm)___ 312(@250wpm)___ 260(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 78085 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 390(@200wpm)___ 312(@250wpm)___ 260(@300wpm)
Note to self: don’t stay here if you want to hook up with someone.
The instant image of Brax taking me from behind, his words from earlier at the lighthouse filling my head, had me covering my mouth with my hand. I closed my eyes and willed the image to go away. Now was not the time to be thinking about his words from earlier.
Turning carefully, I slowly tiptoed back into bed and pulled the covers up. The room suddenly felt chilled.
Who had Brax been talking to? Was it Brandi? Had she called him after reading that stupid article? At the time, I’d thought it would be funny to have all the single women of Seaside throwing themselves at Braxton, but now I realized I’d made a huge mistake. Women like Brandi would be among them, surely. I could tell from the look on her face that she was interested in something more than a friendly get-together with Brax to talk about old times.
I sighed. How could I blame any woman for wanting him? He was handsome, smart, successful, and even though I wanted to hate him, I knew he was a good person. He never told anyone about all the volunteer work he did in and around Seaside. Or about the money he’d donated to the homeless shelter, the women’s recovery center, and the pet shelter. I only knew about it because I volunteered at each of those places, and I’d seen the checks come through.
“Damn you, Braxton Bradley. Why now? Why tell me how you felt now, of all times?”
I sat up quickly as another thought occurred to me. He’d said he wanted to be with me in the lighthouse. Physically, be with me. What about his feelings? Did he feel the same way that he did before?
I suddenly needed to know. Swinging my feet off the bed once again, I looked for the fuzzy socks Kris had loaned me and pulled them on. I was dressed in a large pajama shirt that fell almost to my thighs, which Kris had also let me borrow.
Without a care in the world for creaking floorboards, I marched to my door, opened it, then turned to the right. I stopped in front of Brax’s door and knocked lightly. The other couple staying in the bed and breakfast were on the top floor, in the large honeymoon suite, and I doubted they could hear me. I still wanted to be cautious, though, so I knocked lightly once again.
I could hear movement on the other side of the door and when it opened, my jaw dropped. My eyes swept over Brax’s nearly naked body. The only thing he had on was a pair of boxer shorts. The images my mind quickly conjured up were insane.
Swallowing hard, I attempted to look into his eyes, but it was so hard not to notice how built he was. Not that he wasn’t years ago, but my oh my, had the man upped his workout game. From his broad chest to his chiseled abs, everything about him was…well…it was stunning.
“Is it warm in here to you?” I asked, starting to fan myself.
Brax raised a single brow as he gave me a questioning look. He was probably wondering why I was at his door in the middle of the night talking about the temperature.
“It’s so…so warm suddenly,” I whispered.
“Harlee, is there a reason you’re at my bedroom door at two in the morning?”
“What?” I asked, my mind suddenly filled with all kinds of naughty things I wanted to do to and with Brax.
“You, here, my door. Middle of the night?”
“Right. Well,” I started. “I’m here because…” Why was I there again?
He leaned in closer. “Because…?”
I blinked a few times before I shook away the image of Brax taking me against the wall. “Oh! I remember now,” I nearly shouted as I placed my hands on his very thick chest and pushed.
Brax stumbled back into his room while I turned and shut his door.
When I spun and saw him staring at me like I’d gone mad, my mind went blank yet again.
What was I thinking? Surely he didn’t still feel the same way he had in the past. Or maybe he did, but then had changed his mind after I’d acted like a complete bitch at dinner. Or maybe it was Brandi whom he wanted now.
Ugh. Stop with the jealousy, Harlee. This is not you!
Brax folded his arms over his chest and waited.
“I couldn’t sleep,” I finally blurted out.
“Okay. And what would you like me to do about that?”
The coldness in his voice told me everything I needed to know. He didn’t want me here. It was time to crawl back to my room and forget this ever happened.
I quickly spun around and stared at the door. “This was a mistake.”