Total pages in book: 155
Estimated words: 146392 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 732(@200wpm)___ 586(@250wpm)___ 488(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 146392 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 732(@200wpm)___ 586(@250wpm)___ 488(@300wpm)
She wanted that world, had felt it when they were kids. For a couple of years there hadn’t been anything but a weird friendship between them that everyone chalked up to Lou being in puppy love and TJ being a nice guy. Because no one would believe he could want the odd, awkward girl. She hadn’t even hoped for more until she was sixteen and tried to kiss him for the first time.
It hadn’t been her ego he’d crushed. It had been her soul, but she’d gone back to being his friend after a few weeks of sulking.
Was she destined to forever be the sulky kid to his all-American hero?
He ran a hand down her arm. “And what’s real is us. But we’re not going to be some perfect thing. We’re not going to be the vision you have of your mom and dad. I know they seem perfect, but that’s because they keep their problems private like most of our parents do. Because marriage is intimate. It’s not splashed across the world for everyone to see. I didn’t know my parents struggled in the beginning until years later. My father pushed her away, but they got through it because she believed.”
She’d heard the stories about his parents. Erin had thought Theo was dead only to find him again, but he’d lost all his memories of her. It was an epic love story.
She’d had a crush on a boy who couldn’t love her back. Nothing epic about that. And he was wrong. “My parents have never fought. They knew they loved each other very quickly. I assure you my dad never once told my mom it wasn’t the right time and they should just be friends.”
If he had, he wouldn’t be her dad because her mom would have had the self-esteem to walk away. She wouldn’t have waited in the background, hoping someday that man would look her way.
God, she was pathetic.
He finally touched her, hands coming out to cup her cheeks as he forced her to look at him. “There you go. I can see it. I can see the questions and anxiety rolling through your brain, and it kills me. If I thought you would let me, I would lay you out on that conference table and eat your pussy until all those questions are gone and you have a smile on your face. I’ve spent years wondering what you would get out of a relationship with me, and I finally figure it out and you won’t let me do the one thing I can do to show you how well this could work.”
She wanted him to. That was the truly awful part. The minute he said the words, she felt her whole body go soft and willing. Traitorous. Her body didn’t care that he wouldn’t stay, that he would go back to work and forget about her and want to be friends when he came back because being away would remind him of all the reasons he hadn’t wanted her before.
Maybe she should do it, let him fuck her brains out, and she would realize it was only sex and not some transcendent experience she would value for the rest of her life. If she did, if she spent a couple of weeks with him, maybe she would finally be able to let him go.
She was bargaining. She was at least on step two or three of Aunt Charlotte’s “you’ve been wronged but still want to bang the person who wronged you” psychological cycle.
“It won’t work.”
He leaned over, his mouth so close. “I assure you it will work. Are you talking about us or sex? Because don’t fool yourself. The sex will be spectacular, and I am not above using it to keep you. I’m a desperate man, Lou. If giving you a hundred orgasms before I get one is how I lock you down, I’ll do it.”
“I’m not changing my plans. I’ve got another date scheduled for two days from now. And I should try to reschedule with Miguel.” But she also wasn’t pushing him away.
“I’ll need a schedule. I’m your bodyguard. Zach wants us to stick together, so I’ll try to be unobtrusive,” TJ whispered, his lips hovering over hers.
That sounded awful. “I’ll talk to Zach. I don’t need a… Okay, I need someone for a while, but it shouldn’t be you.”
His body brushed against hers, hard chest against her breasts. “There’s no one else. I promise I’ll be a good boy, and I won’t even threaten your dates. I’ll sit in the back and watch over you. I’ll sit there and wish it was me you’re flirting with. And if Oliver Knight tries to touch you again, I’ll handle him.”
“TJ,” she said, but her head tilted up, uncertainty flashing through her.
“And if the only place you’ll let me show you my affection is the club, then so be it. Tell me you’re not planning on reneging on our deal.”