Total pages in book: 49
Estimated words: 46412 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 232(@200wpm)___ 186(@250wpm)___ 155(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 46412 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 232(@200wpm)___ 186(@250wpm)___ 155(@300wpm)
I’ve held his attention all day. Sometimes that attention makes me squirm, wondering if he’ll try to make another move. Though I shouldn’t want him to, I find myself craving more of him.
Now, we’re at Kingdom Come State Park. I’ve always been a bit of a bookworm. To me, curling up with a book is about as exciting as I want to get. Work and life have been stressful enough. If I thought about a great way to spend a day from here out, however, it will always include this place. We walked around on some of the trails and now we’re in the middle of a lake in paddle boats, feeding ducks. I never imagined King enjoying something like this, but he’s grinning and laughing with me. It feels… normal. Nothing with Mason felt normal. He wouldn’t spend the day like we have if his world depended on it. Then again, it was harder for him to belittle me if he actually tried to enjoy the day and be happy.
I hate that I keep comparing King to who Mason is, but he was really the only relationship I’ve had, and that might also be why I’m afraid to trust the pull that I feel towards King.
I look down between us, taking in King’s hand on mine once again. His dark skin is scarred and covered in tattoos. It’s so different from mine but together they appear as if we fit perfectly—although maybe I’m being silly. I want to ask him what his ink means. I have a feeling each tattoo has been purposefully chosen. They’re intricate and very detailed. Mason has a lot of ink too, but his have no rhyme or reason other than he believes it makes him look intimidating and hot. He likes to think he was God’s gift to women. At least he made a point to remind me of how lucky I was to be with him daily. My ex was so narcissistic that he needed constant assurance he was everything and people around him—especially me—were below him. We were supposed to be blessed just to have him grace us with his presence. God. When I look back at the relationship I had with him, I just feel stupid.
I shove memories of my time with Mason out of my mind and concentrate on King and being here with him. I can feel King’s body heat, and I can’t help but realize that with him I feel safe and even special. He’s got an energy about him that makes everything better—more alive. The air, color of the trees, sound of the water—it’s all more vibrant with King here.
“What’re you thinking, beautiful?” King’s deep voice grabs my attention, and I notice he’s staring at me.
“Mostly that I’ve had a really good day with you today, King. I wasn’t expecting it.”
“I guess I’m not the kind of man you usually date, huh?” His smile slowly fades. “I’m not your usual type of man, huh?”
“Not at all. Which is a very good thing.”
“I talked to Billie the other day at the diner. She said you had trouble in your past with a man.”
“She told you about Mason?” I ask in shock. She’s not one to talk about me with others. She definitely has never divulged a painful subject that I don’t want others to know about.
King looks disgusted for a minute. “Mason? Christ. Do you like them pretty boys, baby?”
I laugh. I don’t correct him. Mason is a looker, but in all the wrong ways. I wonder briefly if I should tell him he has the wrong impression. I get the inkling right now he is under the assumption I go for men in suits. For me, it wouldn’t matter if King was in a suit or not. It’s the way he makes me feel. When I dated Mason, I was naïve and bought every line he sold me. I was invested before I discovered his dark side—and boy did he have one. I don’t tell any of this to King, probably because I’m ashamed. I just wish I could forget it. Still, he deserves to know something so I give him as little as I can.
“I was involved with an asshole who liked to be mean,” I tell him, as my smile falters.
“Billie didn’t get into the specifics,” he says, as he touches my face, his thumb grazing against my skin softly. “But I wondered if that was part of the issue. You need to know that I would never raise a hand to you, ever.”
I swallow as shame fills me. I’m embarrassed that we are talking about this. I drop my gaze down, not wanting to meet his eyes.
“Despite what you must think, I’m not a weak woman.”
“I don’t think that at all. I wouldn’t think that, Shelby.”