Total pages in book: 98
Estimated words: 95421 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 477(@200wpm)___ 382(@250wpm)___ 318(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 95421 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 477(@200wpm)___ 382(@250wpm)___ 318(@300wpm)
“Naomi, talk to me.”
She kept walking. “There’s nothing to talk about.”
“Nothing happened with Emily.”
At her desk, she popped the top off a can and proceeded to spray every inch of surface.
“Naomi, stop for a second. Talk to me.”
But she kept on spraying.
“Naomi.” I touched her arm. She pulled it away like my hand was hot. But at least she was looking at me now.
“What do you want from me, Dawson?” Tears welled in her eyes, causing a giant ache in my chest. She quickly looked away, so I slipped two fingers under her chin and nudged until her eyes met mine.
“I swear, nothing happened.”
Rebecca, the new receptionist, walked back at that moment. Her gait faltered when she saw Naomi and me. “Uhh…Mr. Langone is on the phone. He says it’s urgent. I tried to get you on the intercom, but you didn’t answer. I didn’t mean to interrupt.”
My eyes never budged from Naomi’s. “Tell him I’ll call him back.”
“He said it was urgent.”
“I don’t give a shit.”
“Ohhhhkay. Whatever you say.”
A fat tear spilled down Naomi’s cheek. I grabbed her elbow and started us walking. “Let’s go into my office so we can talk in private.”
“I don’t want to talk.”
“Well, then you can listen.”
I was surprised as shit that she didn’t fight me as I guided her into my office and closed the door. Maybe I should’ve been scared she was going to give me another black eye once we were alone. But I didn’t give a fuck. I only gave a shit that she didn’t think the worst of me.
I motioned to the seating area. “Do you want to sit?”
She folded her arms across her chest. “No.”
My hands found my hips. “Fine. We’ll talk right here. I have no idea what you think happened with Emily that’s got you pissed off, but nothing happened.”
She looked away yet again.
“Damn it, Naomi, look at me.”
This time, her eyes roamed my face, gauging my sincerity. “But you said things heated up?”
I thought back to our text exchange last night. “I said things got heated, as in we had a huge blowout.”
“Oh.” Her face thawed a bit, though not entirely.
“Do you believe me?”
She looked away. “It’s not important.”
“Clearly it is.”
“Just forget it. It doesn’t matter.”
“It matters to me.” The tears in her eyes meant she wasn’t as much pissed off as she was hurt. And if she was hurt, that meant it mattered to her, too. And if it mattered that much to her, then… “Were you jealous, Naomi?”
Her cheeks pinked. “No.”
But I knew in my bones, that was it. I took a step closer, and the scent of coconut hit me. I had the strongest impulse to run my nose all over her skin, take in every last delicious smell on her body. Instead, I caught her eyes. “You smell good enough to eat.”
She swallowed. My office was pretty big by New York standards, yet suddenly it felt very small.
“Do you believe me that nothing happened?”
Naomi looked deep into my eyes for a long time before nodding.
I smiled. “Good. Because the idea of touching another woman is laughable, really. I don’t even look anymore, which is insane to me. But I have no interest. You know why?”
She hesitated, but eventually shook her head.
I took another step closer. The coconut was all around me now, and it was mixed with the best scent—her. Naomi’s tongue ran the length of her bottom lip, leaving it glistening. It was totally and completely mesmerizing, yet I didn’t think she had a clue she was doing it. She didn’t have a clue what she’d been doing to me since the first night I laid eyes on her.
Naomi leaned in ever so slightly, and the tiny movement was enough to tell me so much. I stopped debating what I was going to say and just spoke.
“Because you’re the only woman I’m interested in.”
Her eyes bounced between mine. “What part of me are you interested in, Dawson?”
I’m usually censored around women, especially women I’m interested in, because I don’t want to give them the wrong impression of my intentions. But I got lost in her beautiful green eyes. “Twenty-two.”
Her adorable nose wrinkled. “Twenty-two?”
I smiled. “That’s how many freckles are on your nose. I counted them on about the tenth time I stalked your Facebook page two weeks after the wedding. I’m interested in every part of you, sweetheart.”
She smiled, and it felt like my chest swelled. Maybe some other parts grew swollen too. I closed the distance between us, cupped both her cheeks, and fused our lips together. She tasted even better than I remembered. I’d never been into drugs, but I’d seen plenty of movies where the addict slips a needle into his arm and his world stops spinning, euphoria coming over his tense face. I was addicted in two seconds flat. And that’s also how long it took for slow and sweet to go out the window.