Total pages in book: 75
Estimated words: 72945 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 365(@200wpm)___ 292(@250wpm)___ 243(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 72945 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 365(@200wpm)___ 292(@250wpm)___ 243(@300wpm)
To be a part of the production company that finally gets a Cowan film into theaters after all these years sounds like a dream. The second employee, right on the ground floor? It’s so tempting I could scream.
“Why me?”
He nods and shifts closer. Now we’re touching, arm to arm, and I don’t pull away. It’s a dance we’re going through and I’m not sure why it’s happening at all, but I feel this sudden pull to him. It could be the alcohol buzzing in my head or the scenic wedding or just him. Baptist annoys the hell out of me, and I think he’s an egotistical asshole, but this is a real opportunity. And he is handsome as hell.
I’m flattered he’s thinking of me. I’m attracted to the way he’s looking at my dress.
Maybe I should stop drinking the champagne.
Instead, I drain my glass and look for another.
“You’re clever. You work hard. Ansell speaks highly of you and your clients all think you’re the best. Marie likes you, which I guess means something.”
“That’s just a bunch of crap other people say.” I turn toward him, looking hard. “What do you think?”
His eyes meet mine. There’s that smoldering need again, so intense I nearly pull back, but I don’t move. His fingers brush against my wrist, just the slightest touch, sending a jolt into my core. What’s with this guy all of a sudden?
“I think you’re smarter than you let on. I think you’d kill to make this project a success, and that’s what I need. Drive, talent, ambition. I want someone that cares as much as I do, and you’re the only person I know that gets anywhere close.”
I take a slow breath. “And you’re not doing it because of my father?”
He knows damn well who Alexander Webb is. Everyone in this industry knows my dad, and I’ve spent my entire life fighting off blood-sucking leeches intent on getting close to me just to meet my father. I’m not about to let Baptist take advantage of me, not even for an opportunity like this one.
“No, I’m not.”
“Promise me.” I touch his chest, my palm flat against his heart. He seems surprised, but he doesn’t pull back. I feel his heart beating, slow and steady, and I stare at him sharply. “Promise it has nothing to do with my dad.”
“I promise.”
His heart races, faster and faster.
“You’re lying.” I move to pull away.
But he catches my wrist. I stare in surprise as he yanks me closer, pressing my hand harder to his chest, above his heart. It’s pounding now like he’s in the middle of a marathon. I look in his eyes and he gazes back, and that longing is incredible and painful, and I don’t understand it at all.
Is his heart racing because he’s not telling the truth?
Or maybe it’s because I’m so close.
“I want you, Webb. Not your father.”
I bite my lip and slowly nod.
What am I doing right now?
“Say that again.” I move nearer. My lips are inches from his. This is a stupid mistake, especially if we’re about to get into business together. A stupid, dumb, alcohol-and-wedding-fueled mistake. The kind of mistake that can ruin a life.
“Tell me you want me, Baptist.”
“I want you. Not your name. Not your family. I want you.”
He kisses me and I kiss him back. Fuck, it’s so stupid, but his heart is pounding and mine is too, and his lips taste like whiskey and licorice, and I want to melt into that mouth. His hands brush along the small of my back inches from my ass and extreme jolts of desire rush down my core. I’m breathless and longing for more. He holds the kiss for longer than we should until I break off first, and I can tell he didn’t want me to stop.
“Come with me,” he says quietly, not asking for permission. He grabs my hand and I should tell him to stop. Someone might see us leaving together and make all the right assumptions.
But I don’t care. I trail after him, walking fast to a back door. We descend an empty back staircase, pausing only for a moment, only long enough for him to pin me against the wall on the darkened landing and kiss me, his body hard and handsome and warm against mine.
This is stupid. This is so, so stupid. We’re going into business together, we can’t start this way.
I don’t even like this guy.
And yet I follow. I’m smitten, my lips swollen, my body melting. He takes me into a back room—a supply closet. “How romantic,” I say.
He shuts the door, shoves me against the wall, and smothers any other thoughts I might’ve had with his tongue.
His hands move down my hips. I can feel his thick hardness against my flesh already. He’s pulsing, beating with desire. He hikes up my dress and I gasp in shock as he strokes my pussy over my panties, kissing my neck, almost purring with delight. Pleasure breaks into my brain and any lingering doubts are blasted to pieces.