Total pages in book: 206
Estimated words: 192184 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 961(@200wpm)___ 769(@250wpm)___ 641(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 192184 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 961(@200wpm)___ 769(@250wpm)___ 641(@300wpm)
I blushed.
“I’m serious,” he said. “I’m new to the whole relationship thing. I never bothered with the whole dating or relationship thing and to go from not doing them to being engaged sounds huge. It is huge, but I’m ready. I never had time for that. But now I know it’s because I’ve been biding time waiting for you, baby. I just didn’t know it until I laid eyes on you.”
He reached for me, about to kiss me but I stopped him and blurted, “Tommy, I need my friends. I need Rose and Cal to know I’m okay. I need…”
He cut me off. “All in time.” His lips touched mine gently, sweetly.
“Really?” I felt something twist in my gut.
“I’ll give you everything you need.” He let that sink in for a beat, and then continued. “Let’s get a few things cleared up and it’ll have to be handled delicately, but you can invite them to the wedding. In fact, if you do, I’m sure it’ll settle them down.”
“The wedding?”
“We’d might as well start planning it. Pop offered to let us do it at his house. The girls can help you. We can have whatever you want. Sky’s the limit. It’d be good to be there for security reasons. How about a month away? Tomorrow, you and I can stop by the Crenshaws’ and talk to them. Together. Think about where you want to honeymoon. Sky’s the limit there, too. But you won’t be able to tell anyone. We’ll need to keep the location quiet until we’re back.” He leaned over and kissed me quickly.
I gulped. “We’re still there? This is fast, it’s–”
He cut me off, “Your ice cream is melting.”
I licked all the way around the cone quickly.
“Oh my God,” he said under his breath.
I looked over at him and he was looking at me, his eyes filled with fiery lust.
I licked the ice cream off my upper lip with the tip of my tongue. “We’re having a serious conversation, here, Mister.” I poked his chest playfully.
He chewed his lower lip. “Lick it again.”
I did. I twirled the cone slowly and lavishly licked the circumference and then slowly licked my lips.
He shook his head. “Mm.”
“What were we saying?” I asked and he let out a little laugh. I felt my belly dip, but a simultaneous internal wince as I wondered if I could do that to him without remembering that horrible man.
“You were saying this was fast and then distracting me with that tongue. I know it’s fast but it’s right. I feel it. I’ll protect you; no one will hurt you ever again. I’ll give you everything. I’m a lot to take on, my family, all of that, I know, but I need you to be mine in every way. You’re already mine. You know you are. Let’s just make it legal.”
“Legal? You care about the law? Really?”
He winked. “Selectively. Lick, baby. Your ice cream is melting.”
“It’s not, you perv. But…” I turned serious. “About all that. The thing with my father, I…”
He waited for me to finish but his jaw tightened.
“I don’t know why all this happened and he promised me an explanation. I called him from that mall that day and he said he would give me answers. I’d like to hear what he has to say. Does he know I’m okay? Does he know all about Mexico and everything? He was supposed to meet me at that food court in the mall when I took off and then you found me first, and…”
“No.” he interrupted me. He got up and tossed his ice cream into the trash bin about five feet away. I was pretty much done, too. I passed mine to him and he threw it in the bin. He came back over and crouched in front of me. He put his palms on my face and rubbed my cheeks with his thumbs, then said, “Your father told me where you were.”
He stopped talking, maybe letting it sink in, and then continued. “That’s how I found you. He had no intentions of coming to meet you and give you answers. None, Tia. You should have zero guilt where he’s concerned. He should not be at our wedding. He doesn’t deserve to be in your life. Your father is a fucking douchebag.”
I winced. I hadn’t even considered how Tommy had found me that day. The whole Mexico thing sort of made all of that evaporate.
He raised his hands. “Sorry, but it’s true. I called him when you took off and he called me a few minutes later to tell me you’d called and then he gave me your location. He sold you out; he’s done it more than once. He’s already given you away. He doesn’t get to hand you to me at our wedding because he already gave you away. You’re already mine. I still don’t know what went down with him and my pop as women as a debt payment ain’t his thing, but I’ve got a PI on it. A good PI. That’s between you and me, Tia. You and me only. My father won’t tell, and I need to know.”