Total pages in book: 15
Estimated words: 14744 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 74(@200wpm)___ 59(@250wpm)___ 49(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 14744 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 74(@200wpm)___ 59(@250wpm)___ 49(@300wpm)
I sit on the lounger, texting and sending out emails, feeling the familiar rush of an upcoming mission. Multi-tasking has always been a strength of mine, so while I’m a hundred percent locked in on finding those assholes, I also continue to sneak glances at Lila from the corner of my eye.
And by God, what a vision.
She cuts through the water with effortless grace, her movements fluid, each stroke smooth and unhurried.
Lila isn’t just a good swimmer, but she also genuinely enjoys it. She’s in her element, at ease, and it shows. Her hair trails behind her, and it’s like fire on the water.
Finally, she surfaces, taking a deep breath, and her beautiful face breaks into a smile.
It’s good that last night’s attack hasn’t dimmed her spirit. If anything, that’s going to cut deeper. I like her fire, how quickly she adapts to things beyond her control, and how she tries to make the most out of everything.
Unlike me, Lila is an open book. She wears her heart on her sleeve, and her emotions are clearly written on her face.
No pretense.
No lies.
Just her.
Everything I’ve learned in the past twenty-four hours only draws me to her. She needs me to protect her, and since meeting her, I’m well aware that my priorities have changed.
In the space of a few hours, she has become the center of my universe.
I don’t know how or why, but my gut has never led me astray, and right now, it’s telling me that there’s only one place where I belong, and it’s beside her.
If I heard someone else say this—turning his life around for a woman—I would’ve scoffed. But they haven’t met Lila. They haven’t seen her face darken with desire or turn beet red after coming.
They haven’t seen her smile or laugh.
“You should really lay off the scowling. You’re gonna get premature wrinkles.” Lila props her arms on the edge of the pool and rests her chin on them.
“I’m not scowling.” I wipe any expression on my face and keep it neutral.
“Oh? Could’ve fooled me.” She smiles and pulls herself out of the pool, water cascading down her body, glistening in the morning sun.
Lila dries herself with a fluffy white towel she found in one of the bathrooms. She’s not intentionally attempting to seduce me, not right now, but watching her do something as mundane as this has heat coursing through me.
She notices me noticing and casts a sideways look. “I know my body is far from sexy.”
My eyes snap to her face as she nibbles on her bottom lip. She’s no longer looking at me. Instead, she digs her toe into the tiled deck and lowers her gaze. “What do you mean, Lila? You’re fucking beautiful and hot. I’m a lot of things, but I’m not blind.”
A small, doubtful smile tugs on the corner of her lips. “Okay, sure.” Her tone is light but has a hint of something deeper, something that makes my chest constrict.
She doesn’t believe me.
I stand to my full height and amble to her. She has to tilt her head back to look at me.
In what world does she not think of herself as hot? In another life, another dimension, another version of me, I will still feel this gut punch each time I look at her.
Part of my caveman brain is still in disbelief that she allowed me to kiss her, touch her, be inside her.
But for some unknowable reason, she thinks less of herself.
No, this will not do. She needs to believe that I’m telling the truth. She needs to feel it.
“Lie down, Lila.” I roll my sleeves to my elbow, my gaze not leaving hers.
She furrows her forehead. “You don’t get to tell me what to do.”
A lot of attitude for someone who stands at barely 5’5. “I won’t ask you twice.”
“Or what?” Instead of a challenge, her pupils are blown wide with … the lust mirroring my own. “What are you gonna do if I say no?”
“No is no for me, Lila. Say no, and I will leave you alone.” I sweep my gaze all over her body. “I am not a man who forces himself on women.”
The stubborn glint in her eyes, the slight tilt of her chin, her tongue peeking from the corner of her mouth—she wants to obey but hates looking like she’s not in control.
So, I concede.
With a slight nod, I raise both palms. “Will you let me touch you?”
“Why?” The question is just formality. She knows why. We both sense the desire hanging as thick as a fog above us.
“Because I want to prove how much you affect me.” I take one step closer to her, making sure my hands are behind me. “You’re fucking beautiful and sexy, but you don’t believe me. So you’re leaving me with no choice but to show you just how much I mean it.”