Total pages in book: 113
Estimated words: 107115 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 536(@200wpm)___ 428(@250wpm)___ 357(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 107115 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 536(@200wpm)___ 428(@250wpm)___ 357(@300wpm)
“Wow, that escalated fast. You woke up and chose violence. It’s kind of sexy.”
“Back off and let me breathe, huh?”
“Party pooper. Breakfast?”
She wasn’t hungry, just exhausted. She wished going back to bed was an option. But if she didn’t eat, it would only make the day feel that much longer. Besides, Matt would catch up to her at some point. He would insist on being alone with her. He would want to be in bed with her. He would demand to be inside her.
She would need her wits and strength to tangle with him.
Madison settled for another English muffin with peanut butter. After she choked most of it down, she and Ethan headed out of the apartment. They caught an Uber to the day spa a few miles away.
“Where are you going to hang out?” she asked. The salon didn’t have much of a lobby. “There’s a park a few blocks down.”
“Because that’s the perfect place to be if someone is trying to harm you,” he drawled.
No matter how much she argued, Ethan remained her shadow. He cracked jokes about toes and foot fetishes while the usually stoic pedicurist brushed on her polish with a grin. He stayed mercifully mute during her massage, but he asked a billion questions during her facial, mostly why the shit the esthetician put on her face reeked. Madison wanted to be annoyed. Instead, she found herself entertained. She actually enjoyed the appointments she usually regarded as a chore. Still, she drew the line at having him in the room while she had her girl parts waxed.
After that torture, she dressed and exited, expecting Ethan to be waiting with a smile and an incorrigible quip.
Instead, she found Matt, tense and pissed as hell. Madison stiffened as his stormy gray stare drilled into her. He was going to demand answers…and what could she say that didn’t sound snippy and jealous and juvenile? She didn’t have any right to question what he’d done when they were apart. Her head knew that. Her heart didn’t care. It hurt.
“You done here?”
“Yes.” She turned away, refusing to drink him in with her hungry eyes, despite how hard and male and sexual he looked in well-worn jeans and a gray T-shirt that stretched harshly across his shoulders, biceps, and chest. “As soon as I check out and make my next appointments, I’ll be ready to go.”
Madison faced the woman behind the desk, who greeted her with a bland smile. Quickly, she took care of business, then turned to Matt. He was already right behind her, taking her elbow in hand and leading her to the door as if he couldn’t wait to get her alone.
Despite his incredibly busy sex life while they’d been apart and the omissions and half-truths he’d given her, her pulse jumped at his touch. Her skin tightened. Her imagination ran wild. Her sex gushed wet.
What the hell was wrong with her?
“Let’s go.” He all but hauled her out the door toward an unfamiliar black SUV waiting at the curb.
“Where?”
He turned a grim expression on her. His voice dropped as he growled in her ear. “Someplace we can talk before I spank your ass red for avoiding me, then fuck you repeatedly until you can’t remember any man’s name but mine because you’re screaming it over and over. Whatever is going on in that head of yours? You’re mine. You gave yourself to me. I’m not letting you take that back.” He opened the passenger door. “Get in.”
Speechless and dizzy, she did, buckling up as he tossed himself in the driver’s seat and pulled away from the spa like he was trying to outrun the devil. Madison didn’t know what to say as she watched him drive with controlled rage, constantly checking mirrors and changing lanes, until they reached another high-rent district.
Wordlessly, he ushered her into a clothing boutique. Madison had never shopped here. The wall displays were full of adorable outfits, complete with accessories that would have excited her on another day. Now, she barely glanced as she walked by, prodded by Matt until they reached the back of the store, headed through a door, and ascended a dark staircase. At the top, he stepped around her to shove the key in the lock. Then he all but carried her inside and slammed the door behind them, securing it decisively before he disabled the alarm system.
In front of her was a super-modern apartment. Every surface was so white, the place looked almost sterile, like an operating room. But every accent was black—sofa, barstools, kitchen fixtures, standing lamp, even the huge hardbound book on the bleached oak coffee table. The severe decor was only slightly softened by a wall of windows that showed off views of the nearby vicinity and allowed the late afternoon sunlight to flood in.
Matt tossed the key on the breakfast bar. “This is the space Deke found for us for the next three months.”