Total pages in book: 107
Estimated words: 95311 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 477(@200wpm)___ 381(@250wpm)___ 318(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 95311 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 477(@200wpm)___ 381(@250wpm)___ 318(@300wpm)
Hannah almost laughed, but wasn't entirely sure if he was joking or not.
"Come here," he said and she did without hesitating. "I think you need to be punished."
Hannah tried to step away at the last moment, the intention clear in Elliott's eyes. He grabbed her and pulled her across his lap in one swift motion and landed a hand across her butt hard. She giggled, pulling herself off him only to have him pull her into a seated position across his lap.
"How was your day?" he asked and she felt her body jerk at the question. Since when did Elliott Michaels ask every day mundane questions like that? Since when did he care about how someone's day was?
Hannah shrugged. "No complaints."
"Not even James congratulating us on our sex?" he asked, his hand absent-mindedly rubbing her thigh.
Hannah sighed, enjoying the intimacy and rested her head against his shoulder. "That is just James being James," she said and planted a quick kiss against his neck. She didn't know where the urge came from. She hadn't ever considered herself an overly affectionate person before.
"So I was thinking," he said, kissing her on the lips, "how about sushi for dinner?"
Dinner? Elliott Michaels was asking her to go out to eat with him? She stifled the urge to ask him what alien life force had taken over his body. And she silently fretted over what they could possibly talk about during dinner. She found herself saying, "Sushi is good."
"Good," Elliott said, patting her thigh so she would stand up. "I have to have a drink with a client in a few. Meet me at the house when you're done here."
"Okay," Hannah said, feeling lightheaded from the change in direction of their relationship.
Elliott smiled. A quick, pleased smile. Then he grabbed her by the front of her pants and pulled her against him. His arms wrapping around hers so she couldn't move them and kissed her hard for a long minute before releasing her and walking to his office.
Hannah's hand slammed down on the desk to get her balance. What was going on? Was Elliott trying to actually... date her? The thought hit her as a warm sensation in her belly and she realized she really wished that were the case.
She drove home right after the rest of the staff filed out. She didn't want to be there after dark. She knew it was childish and that she would have to return eventually, but the idea of going back when it was light and people would be milling around was comforting. The light was on as she left it, but she left the door open behind her, rushing to her closet and stuffing a mixture of clothing into a bag.
She wasn't sure how many nights she would be spending at Elliott's. She needed clothing for work. And makeup. Shampoo and conditioner. She would just keep it all in the trunk of her car. Just in case.
Just as she was walking back into her living room, she froze, the bag falling to the ground. Her entire living room wall was covered in a makeshift mural. A giant figure of her sprawled out, red paint representing blood pooled all around her, a huge dagger stuck in her chest.
Hannah felt sick, her stomach rolling and the bile rising. She reached for her phone, snapping a picture to send to Xander.
Xander Rhodes: 6:03 PM: Yeah. I saw that when I broke in earlier. Took me under a minute. No wonder that psycho got in.
Hannah grabbed for her bag, too upset to even be put-off that her hired private investigator had broken into her apartment. She grabbed her bag, walking out the door and down to the car in a daze. Her mind raced as anger and fear mingled to a toxic cocktail as she drove.
Elliott was waiting in his office, a drink in his hand. He stood as she walked in, his hands reaching into his pocket and pulling a box out.
Hannah felt her nerves sharp and frazzled as he walked up to her, smiling and held the box out to her. She looked down at it dumbly for a minute. "Open it," Elliott said, his voice sounding far away.
Her fingers searched for the seam and pulled it open. Nestled inside was gorgeous necklace. A shiny chain with a large simple, impossibly shiny round diamond. Hannah saw it as though through a telescope, far away. A few seconds passed and Elliott reached for the box. "Turn around," he instructed and she did.
His fingers carefully brushed her hair over one shoulder and then put the chain around her, clasping it with ease. He bent and kissed the back of her neck before brushing her hair back. At her long silence, Elliott spoke, a bit more surly than he planned. "Well, do you like it?" As soon as he said it, he wished he hadn't sounded so nasty. He had wanted to do something nice, to give her something that would make his intentions more clear. And she was looking at him like he had three heads.