Total pages in book: 28
Estimated words: 26471 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 132(@200wpm)___ 106(@250wpm)___ 88(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 26471 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 132(@200wpm)___ 106(@250wpm)___ 88(@300wpm)
Staying away from her is not a possibility, however, and neither is this. Leaving her at night and sleeping in separate places. Allowing her to be around other men in her study groups and classes. No. I will steadily lose my mind. Or what’s left of it.
That being said, if I want to keep Mandy and make her happy, I’m going to have to be more creative. Starting with a date. I’m dating the girl who I’d bleed out for, if she asked me, and a date seems a little trivial in comparison to the magnitude of what I feel for her, but this is what it’s going to take to bring her back to me. A taste of normalcy.
A mirage.
“Hey! Um…hey!” The sunshine washes over her face as she reaches me, tucking some hair behind her ear shyly. As if I didn’t rail her airtight ass in a library last night. It’s so adorable and endearing, I want to pick her up and shake her. “I didn’t know how to dress, since you’re being so secretive about this date. Should I go grab a jacket?”
I tilt her chin up with my finger and lean down, kissing her with just enough tongue to infuse her cheeks with pink. “You can borrow mine, if you need it,” I say, gesturing to my fire department issued jacket—the one with my name on the back.
She nods, still staring at my mouth. Dying to be fucked.
Does she think I can’t tell?
“Is your roommate home?”
Her mouth twists wryly. “Yes.” She tucks her hand in mine, allowing me to guide her around to the passenger side of my truck. “It’s so weird, ever since I disappeared for those two weeks, she’s been a lot more talkative. It’s like, she suddenly finds me interesting.”
“You are interesting, Mandy,” I say, boosting her into the truck and fastening her seatbelt. Allowing my knuckle to drag across her nipple, reveling in her quick intake of breath. “Did you tell her where you were during those two weeks?”
“No.” She hesitates. “I don’t…it doesn’t feel comfortable, talking to my friends about us. About our…relationship.”
I prop a forearm on the door frame, zeroing in on those words. “Why not?”
“I don’t know. They wouldn’t understand.” She breathes through a laugh. “If I told them I said yes to a marriage proposal after a week, they would think I’m crazy.” She chews her lip. “Maybe we are a little crazy together. Maybe that’s why I don’t think they would understand.”
This is why I’m forced to stand between Mandy and her friends.
This is why.
To them, I’m dangerous when it comes to Mandy. Obsessive. Unhinged.
And that’s way too accurate. I don’t need them warning her away from me.
I realize my fist is clenched on the roof of the truck and command myself to relax. Or at least appear that way. “You don’t have to tell a single soul the details of our relationship.” Maintaining eye contact, I flip up the hem of her dress and rub the seam of her pussy with my thumb, through her panties. Up and down. Slowly. “But it would make me happy if you wore the engagement ring, gorgeous, so they know you’re taken.”
Her tits are rising and falling faster. “I…I’ll d-decide later.” She tries to push away my hand, even though I can already feel her moisture soaking through the material. I only rub harder. “I took the ring off for a reason, Bobby. I-I just want to see how tonight goes. Okay?”
Removing my hand is painful, especially when I can see she’s enjoying my touch, but hell if I’m not turned on by her backbone. Just like that night in the bar when she told me I was speaking to her inappropriately, my cock thickens in response. She might be a wildcat in bed, but she’s also a stubborn rule follower and a good girl. That contrast gets me so fucking hot.
“That first night I brought you home—you told me you like safe adventures.”
Her mouth spreads into a grin. “You remember that.”
“Mandy, we will never experience a goddamn second together than I won’t remember in vivid detail.” I let that sink in while I’m smoothing the hem of her dress back into place. “In the spirit of safe adventures, I’m taking you to a secret concert.”
“What?” She straightens in the seat, her face brightening. “What’s that?”
Despite the fact that I want to bring her home and have her all to myself, her excitement sparks something inside of me. Satisfaction. Pride. Maybe there is a chance I can learn to be semi-normal for her? It’s a long shot. “There’s on old church in the North End. At sunset, when the stained glass is all lit up, there is an orchestra that begins playing.”
“Oh my gosh, that sounds incredible!” She is practically bouncing in the seat and I can’t stop my smile. She’s such a fucking angel. But then, to my surprise, her happy expression dims slightly. “How do you know about this?” Her chest rises and falls dramatically and something I haven’t seen before in her eyes is present. Like a flame given a blast of oxygen. What is it? “Have you taken another girl there before on a date?”