Total pages in book: 151
Estimated words: 142976 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 715(@200wpm)___ 572(@250wpm)___ 477(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 142976 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 715(@200wpm)___ 572(@250wpm)___ 477(@300wpm)
“You’re free, Fern… if you chose to, you could walk out of that door in just a few short weeks, and all of that will be out there waiting for you. But if we continue with this charade for a while longer, if you leave no fucking doubt in anyone’s mind that this marriage is real—nobody will ever take what’s yours again.”
“Why would you do this for me?” she asked on a broken, uncertain whisper and he signed impatiently.
“Come on, Fern. You know that I’m not doing it for you. I’m doing it for me, for HC&E, because if there’s no doubt about our marriage, there’s also no doubt about my claim to Lambecrete, and that’s all I’m really after.”
“Right.”
Cade was having a hard time looking at Fern in that too-short T-shirt. At the same time, he was also having a very hard time looking away from her… because the garment wasn’t as modest as she likely believed it to be.
The fabric was thin from continual use, almost threadbare in spots. It left little to the imagination the way it lovingly cupped the shape of her small, braless breasts, outlining her hard little nipples in sharp relief every time she inhaled and it was distracting as all hell.
His eyes drifted from her long, remarkable hair, which was loosely twisted into a thick braid and fell down her back to just above her pert round arse. Then his gaze helplessly trailed over the naked, silken expanse of her slender shapely legs and soft thighs. He took in all of these details with covert, stolen glances. Helplessly entranced by everything about her. Even her fucking perfect pink toes, with their neat little nails sweetly adorned with clear, shiny polish, were diverting and Cade hated that he’d noticed them. That he’d noticed any of it.
It reminded him of the night they’d met, when he’d found himself oddly fascinated by her, even attracted to her… but he should know better now. Should know that the attraction wasn’t real, that they weren’t compatible, that all it could ever lead to was disappointment.
And yet… he still felt himself tempted to touch her flawless, silken skin, to see if it was as velvety soft as he remembered. Her lush mouth still captivated him and he tried to recall what it felt like to kiss her, how those naturally plump lips had tasted. But he was drawing a blank and he knew it was because he hadn’t kissed her enough that night. Not enough and not properly.
He’d taken her virginity without even giving her a decent kiss and that was fucking egregious. Part of him—the dumb, prideful part that lacked common sense—wanted a do-over. Wanted to prove to her and him that they could work. That they could be spectacular together. But the other part of him—the sensible part—knew that he was fooling himself. That they didn’t have the chemistry required to be spectacular…
He deliberately diverted his gaze to the mug in his hand, idly considering refreshing his coffee, while he contemplated everything she’d just revealed to him about her personal life.
She didn’t see it. Didn’t grasp how brave she truly was. She hadn’t told him much, but it was enough for him to glean how completely that fucker had stripped her of her agency and independence. He’d believed her a doormat, but she’d been surviving the only way she could.
He recalled her saying she’d once tried to get away from Abernathy but it had ended badly. He now wondered exactly what had happened. But he could imagine. A sheltered woman like Fern trying to survive out in the world without any real-life experience and absolutely no money, was a recipe for disaster.
“Are you hungry?” she asked. “I could fix us some breakfast.”
He tilted his head, assessing her eager expression. “You can cook?”
She laughed quietly.
“Don’t look so skeptical, Cade.” He felt an unfamiliar, wrenching sensation in his chest whenever she used that name. It was unsettling, jarring… but not entirely unpleasant. “I spent my school holidays hiding in the kitchen and learning to cook from about three different master chefs over the years.”
“Hiding? Why?”
“You’ve met Toni and Allie, right?”
He shuddered as he remembered her awful stepsisters. “Yeah?”
She shrugged in a there you have it way and he studied her quiet contemplatively.
“That bad, huh?” he asked softly.
“They weren’t kind. Things went better for me when I stayed out of their way.”
Cade’s hand clenched around his mug and he forced himself to loosen his grip. The way she spoke about these things, like they were no big deal, just normalizing cruelty because to her it had been normal. It was disturbing, infuriating, and so fucking sad it made him want to punch something.
“So? Breakfast?”
“Sure,” he said, not certain why he agreed when he never ate breakfast. She just seemed so eager to do it and he didn’t want to see her face fall in disappointment when he refused.