Total pages in book: 88
Estimated words: 87573 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 438(@200wpm)___ 350(@250wpm)___ 292(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 87573 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 438(@200wpm)___ 350(@250wpm)___ 292(@300wpm)
“I insist.”
I opened my mouth to object and then closed it. “All right.”
A flash of surprise crossed his face. He clearly hadn’t thought that I’d say yes to that. Honestly, I was surprised myself. On the outside, I was the strong, resilient type who never let anything get to me. I didn’t need anyone to take care of me. Let alone drive me home when I was having car troubles. I was a big girl.
And yet I couldn’t say no to the offer. Not when I wanted him to take me. After all, the offer had come despite my reputation and our history.
I was known as a maneater, and it was generally well-earned.
Men were a vice. Meant to be devoured and discarded.
Whitton Wright was the only one who hadn’t fallen into my Venus flytrap. Who’d refused to be chewed up and spit out. The only one I still wanted to take a bite out of.
He gestured to the door. It felt like he was asking about more than just a car ride.
“Shall we?” He strode to the door and tugged it open. The invitation palpable this time.
“I’m game.”
I strode past him, swishing my hips dramatically as I stepped out into the hallway. My heels clicked noisily on the slate tiles that led to the elevator. Whitt cleared his throat behind me, and I snuck a glance back, only long enough to see him checking out my ass.
A slow smile curled my red-painted lips. “You coming?”
He straightened his suit coat and cleared his throat. “Yes. Yes, I am.”
I smirked at the double meaning in his words. I liked that I managed to fluster him. The next couple of weeks working together were certainly going to be interesting.
3
Whitton
“I’m over here,” I said as soon as we were out of the overly air-conditioned lobby of Wright Construction.
Eve tugged on the lapels of her blazer. “Christ, it’s a thousand degrees today.”
“Texas,” I said as if that explained everything.
“You chose this,” she pointed out.
“It was forced upon me.”
She shot me a look. “You just said you don’t miss Seattle.”
“That doesn’t mean I’m here for Lubbock weather.”
Or maybe I was.
Eve lifted her long, thick hair off of her neck and panted in the heat. Lubbock was typically a dry, dusty hundred degrees. Closer to the desert than the rest of Texas. No one was prepared for humid days like today after a freak thunderstorm.
I saw the moment that she gave up on professionalism in this weather. She bit down on the red of her bottom lip, sliding her emerald gaze in my direction. Then, she shrugged before slipping her suit coat off of her shoulders.
The first thing I noticed was the new ink across her shoulder—peonies in bloom with leaves curling toward her collarbone and down her arm.
Next was that underneath that black blazer was nothing but a thin camisole, the straps of an unlined lace bra now visible. The front revealed a touch of her impressive cleavage. Which only drew my eyes downward to where her nipples had hardened under the silky material.
Fuck.
Blood pumped to places it certainly wasn’t supposed to when I was going to drive her home. I flexed my hand, trying to shake out the wave of need that pulled me under at the sight of her like this.
Because Eve was best in her element when she let her guard down. The first time I’d seen it happen, I hadn’t realized how rare it was.
She played with our friends on a rec soccer league. I’d only come at my brother’s insistence—I was more of a hockey guy—and then she’d caught my eye. I noticed that she was striking to look at and a force of nature on the field. But it was after the game where I first saw her. A random pop-up storm had everyone else running for their car, but not Eve. She stripped down to her sports bra and turned in a circle on the field with her tongue out, like she was trying to catch snowflakes.
I couldn’t rip my gaze away from her. I stood in the rain and watched her enjoy it like I never could. I ruined a very expensive suit to do it. West had run back in frustration and pushed me toward the car. I’d never told him why I’d been standing there, transfixed. I’d never been able to shake that vision of Eve.
Rather than the one she showed everyone. Cautious. Always waiting for the other shoe to drop. Forever looking around, as if she expected everything to be taken away from her. She put her back up when threatened, and I still hadn’t figured out how I’d threatened her.
“Whitt?” she said, her voice teasing.
I touched the handle of the car, unlocking the doors. I couldn’t explain my daydream, so I made a noncommittal noise and tipped my head at the car. “Get in.”