Total pages in book: 84
Estimated words: 82945 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 415(@200wpm)___ 332(@250wpm)___ 276(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 82945 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 415(@200wpm)___ 332(@250wpm)___ 276(@300wpm)
“Gareth. Look at me.” He glances over, eyes dark and staring into mine. The tension in the room’s so brittle it’s about to crack. I stand closer to him, breathing deep, barely keeping myself under control. “I know what I’m doing, okay? I want to go to Boston. I want to try this.”
I want to try more than this.
I want to forget about the no-sex clause. I want what we had, briefly, back in that beach house, in that outdoor shower. I want his mouth on mine, his tongue in my mouth. I’ve been craving him so badly it hurts, and now he’s here, looking at me like he feels the same.
I want him to kiss me.
God, why won’t he just forget about all this complicated crap and kiss me?
It could be so simple.
“I just want you to be sure,” he says, eyes narrowed.
“I’m sure,” I whisper, meaning, I’m sure I want you.
He stays there. Reaches up and touches my chin. I let out a soft sound, nearly a whimper. His mouth opens, so close to mine. I can taste his breath. I can taste his tongue already.
This man, this difficult man. Keeping his distance one day, sending me gifts another. I don’t know what he wants, what he’s thinking, but I know what I feel.
I know what’s churning in my heart.
I want his hands on my skin. His palms on my hips.
I want him now. I want him to kiss me.
But he pulls back. Desire burns in his gaze as he turns away. “We should stop,” he says, voice sultry and low. “There’s a contract for a reason.”
“Gareth—” I say but he walks away.
“I’m sorry, Fiona. I want to, but I can’t. I don’t want to complicate this decision for you more than I already have.”
I stand by the windows, heart racing, wishing he’d come back. Feeling like he ripped something from my body.
Instead, he disappears back to his room. I hear the door open and shut again.
I stare down at my feet, blinking back tears.
What’s wrong with me? Why does he keep pushing me away when it’s so clear he wants this as much as I do? It feels good, we enjoy each other—why keep trying to deny it?
He pretends like it’s for me—but I wonder if it’s really his nice way of saying he doesn’t need me the way I need him.
Chapter 29
Fiona
I can’t sleep. I lie in bed, staring at the ceiling. Gareth’s room is across the hall from mine. I can picture him doing the same thing, in nothing but a pair of boxer briefs. I glance at the clock—it’s barely past eleven.
There’s a sound in the hall. A creak, a door opening. My heart races as I sit up on an elbow. The apartment’s usually so quiet, except I hear footsteps coming toward my room. I’m about to call out when there’s a soft knock.
“Fiona?” Gareth’s whisper. “Are you awake?” The knob turns, the door opens.
He’s standing there. White t-shirt, black boxer-briefs. Staring in at me with that look like he wants to hold me down and feast on me.
I sit up, hair spilling down my shoulders.
“Couldn’t sleep,” I say stupidly.
“Neither could I.” He takes a step forward but hesitates. “You know we shouldn’t.”
“I know,” I say quietly. “But we can anyway.”
“I want to so fucking bad it’s killing me.”
“I want it too.”
“Every night I lie in my room, thinking about you.” He comes closer. “About your lips. About your touch. About your taste. Every single night since I met you, Fiona. I can’t stop this fucking need in me.”
“You have no idea how badly I’ve been wanting you to come in here, just like this.” My heart races, my breathing quickens.
“You’re not worried? You’re not afraid this is only going to make things harder?”
“I don’t care,” I admit. I thought about how sleeping with him might complicate our fake relationship and its inevitable end, but at this point, I’m way too worked up to give a damn.
“I should care for both of us.” He comes to the side of my bed. He slowly kneels down until we’re at eye level. “Tell me to go and I’ll go.”
“I don’t want you to.”
“Good. I don’t want to either.” He moves closer, gets into bed. I suck in a breath as he pins me down, taking my wrists, pushing them up above my head. “I want to take you the way I’ve been dreaming every night since we’ve been home. Hell, every night since I first met you.” His lips brush my neck, my ear, my shoulder. “You don’t have any clue what you do to me, Fiona.”
“Show me.”
He kisses me, mouth rough on mine. His taste floods my tongue as I moan, grinding my hips against the stiffness between his legs. God, he’s so hard already, and I’m soaking wet. We’re both high-voltage wires, buzzing with electricity, ready to explode.