Total pages in book: 115
Estimated words: 106797 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 534(@200wpm)___ 427(@250wpm)___ 356(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 106797 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 534(@200wpm)___ 427(@250wpm)___ 356(@300wpm)
“But like you said, Mason didn’t stop her. And did anyone else?”
I didn’t respond.
“Exactly. Don’t let these people make you feel like this, Bug. Not them, not anyone else. I know it seems like what they think about you matters right now, but it doesn’t.” He bent down a little lower, trying to get me to look at him. “Remember what I said in the gym after you reamed me out?”
“Hey! I didn’t ream you out. I yelled at you. And you deserved it.”
He chuckled, the noise low and throaty. “The point is, I push you because I believe in you. So when they get in your head, just think about that. Maybe it’s time to start believing in yourself, too.”
I could smell the faint scent of mint on his breath as it hit my skin, sparking a wave of chills. I didn’t know what else to say about me, so I turned it around to focus on him. “Was that your girlfriend last night?”
He sighed, leaning back and scrubbing his hands down his face just as the oven timer sounded. “Don’t, Natalie.”
I frowned as he moved from the couch back into the kitchen. “What? I’m not allowed to ask?”
“Not when you know the answer.”
I chewed my cheek, standing and moving to the other side of the kitchen island so I could watch him finish dinner. Or breakfast. Whatever you consider food after midnight to be. “But that’s just it,” I corrected him. “I don’t. Not really.”
Rhodes carefully removed the pan from the oven and set it on top of the stove. “She’s not my girlfriend, Bug. None of them are. They’re my clients.”
I shook my head, the word client sending a familiar yet uneasy zing through my chest. “What? Did they pay for the platinum package to get that kind of extra time?” I scoffed. “Remind me to change my membership before our next training session. Don’t want to be missing out on the perks.” I cringed a little at my words, shocked that they came from my mouth.
Rhodes was plating our food but my words halted him, too, his hands dropping down to grip the handle of the oven hard. I watched as his knuckles turned white and he hung his head, shaking it just slightly. I almost spoke again when he silenced my sass with a loud slam of his hand on the counter. The force shook our plates and he rushed toward me, pinning my hips to the counter with his own before I even comprehended what was happening. He was flush against me, and he snaked his hands into my wind-blown hair like he owned me. “Is this what you want, Natalie?” His tongue licked his bottom lip before he drug his teeth across the tender flesh. I watched fascinated, my breath caught in my throat. “You want me to kiss you in the hot tub? Touch you in the sauna?” His voice was low but gruff, each question laced with lust I’d never experienced before. He flexed his hips forward and I inhaled stiffly. “Fuck you on the treadmill?”
I didn’t answer. I couldn’t breathe, let alone form words. Rhodes stayed there a moment, his body now firmly between my legs, his hands still grasping my neck. He swallowed, his fervent eyes falling to my lips briefly before he released his hold and backed away.
I exhaled the moment he did, oxygen finding me in a rush. It felt like my first breath and my last one, too.
“What if I did want those things?” I murmured, surprising myself more than him, I was sure. “It wouldn’t matter, would it? I’m not hot enough. I’m not skinny enough…” my voice trailed off. “I’m not like them.”
“Why don’t you get it?” he growled roughly, reaching into the cabinet above the stove before slamming it closed again. He turned to me then and his eyes were piercing, like the sharpest blade slicing right through my fragile defense. Suddenly, and for the first time in my life, I felt small. “You’re right. You’re not like my other clients. Them?” He gestured in the direction of the door, his voice raised. “They don’t have goals. They’re selfish, greedy, and entitled. They sign up for sessions with me so they have a solid excuse when they want to dip out on their rich ass husbands to come fuck me.” He slammed his hand against his chest when he referenced himself and I flinched at his honesty. Rhodes swallowed. He knew he’d struck a nerve, but he kept going.
“I’m not a good person, okay? I train and screw around with other people who are just as shitty as I am.” He moved closer, his palms flattening out on the counter in front of me as his eyes leveled with mine. “That’s why when you walked into the gym, I couldn’t figure out why.”