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)
“Do you want to?” she finally summoned up the guts to ask in a tiny voice and his lips tilted slightly.
“Do I want to go for a walk on the beach?” he asked and she nodded. “I’m not too big on the beach walks, no,” he said almost gently. “But this is probably not the best time for you to be spotted walking alone on a misty beach. Looking all neglected and pale and forlorn. Best to avoid the trouble in paradise articles less than a week after our wedding.”
“Of course,” she said, feeling a little foolish for not thinking of that herself. “I’m sorry, I’m not very good at all of this.”
“All of what?”
“The fake relationship stuff.”
“I’d venture you’re not too good at the real relationship stuff either, given your relative lack of experience in the romance department,” he said, sounding amused. And Fern clenched her teeth at the mockery she thought she heard in that amusement. She angled her head downward, avoiding his gaze. Feeling like a total fool.
His chest heaved on a sigh and she sensed him moving closer. So close that she could feel his heat and smell his delicious, familiar scent.
His hand shifted to grasp her chin between his thumb and index finger and he tilted her face up toward his.
“Fern,” he whispered, his voice growly and gruff and gorgeous. “I’m unfamiliar with this fake relationship business too. And I’m probably not a whole helluva lot better than you at the real relationships either.”
“You’re not?”
His thumb skimmed over her lower lip, then circled lazily over the crest of her upper lip. Fern stifled a moan at his unexpected touch, shocked by how erotic she found this relatively tame caress.
“You have the prettiest mouth,” he said, almost to himself, his gaze laser focused on her lips and the movement of his thumb. To her shock the pad of his big, sexy thumb tugged her lower lip down before inserting itself between her parted lips and then her teeth.
She was aware of his breath quickening only because of the movement of his chest. And that’s when she realized that he was standing close enough for her to feel that movement. Her own breath hiked up to match his and when the rough pad of his thumb dragged over the sensitive lining of her inner lip, she whimpered and leaned into that touch.
That soft sound of longing seemed to snap him back to reality and he snatched his hand down while simultaneously moving away from her.
Fern swayed, disoriented by the sudden loss of his heat, and it took her a moment to adjust to his absence. When she jerked back to the reality of the moment it was to find him clear across the room, standing by the bathroom door.
“We can go for that walk in an hour or so. I have a few phone calls to make.” He turned away abruptly and left her standing there, wondering what the hell just happened.
Fern didn’t really know what to do with herself in this quiet, alien place. She wandered around the apartment, careful to avoid any space Cade was occupying. Whenever he happened to walk into a room she was in—usually engrossed in conversation on his phone—she slid away as unobtrusively as she could within moments.
She didn’t want to be a nuisance, and strove to make herself as quiet and as inconspicuous as possible. It was a trick she’d learned growing up in the Abernathy home. Staying out of sight had been a self-preservation tool that had stood her in good stead.
In the end, she gave up—evading him was hard when he was so restless—and retreated to her room, where she sat on the massive easy chair by the picture window and stared fixedly and unseeingly out into the grayness beyond.
She didn’t know how much time had passed before she felt the firm hand on her shoulder, at which point she startled back to the present with a gasp.
“Christ,” Cade muttered beneath his breath. “Where’d you go? I called your name several times before I had to shake you out of your stupor. Were you sleeping with your eyes open?”
Self-conscious, Fern shrugged out of his hold and got up, putting some space between them.
“Sorry, I must have been daydreaming.”
He gave her another one of those uncomfortably long probing stares before his jaw tightened and he shoved a hand through his overly long hair. He struck her as a man of strict discipline in both his appearance and his behavior, so the long, shaggy hair had surprised her when she saw him again on Thursday. It was much longer than it had been at their first meeting. And, as if in confirmation of her thoughts, he grimaced and attempted to smooth down those unruly waves.
“I wondered if you were ready for that walk? The mist is lifting,” he said, and she darted a surprised look outside. She had no idea how long she’d been zoned out, but it must’ve been a good while if the mist had lifted that much.