Total pages in book: 81
Estimated words: 76390 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 382(@200wpm)___ 306(@250wpm)___ 255(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 76390 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 382(@200wpm)___ 306(@250wpm)___ 255(@300wpm)
In the end, he heeded neither urge, and his voice was deceptively mild as he said, “Make it count. I won’t answer any other questions after this.”
Raising her head, she looked at him over her shoulder and pouted. “Spoilsport.”
“Only because you’re acting spoiled. Now, your question?” As he spoke, he resumed kneading the muscles of her back, yet another thing he had never thought he’d end up doing in this lifetime. And yet...he had. The silky feel of her skin was irresistible, and a disturbing sense of possessiveness struck Nik at the thought that, in another time, another man would be able to enjoy her body the same way.
He inhaled roughly at the thought. No. Goddamn. Way.
Beside him, Daria was still speaking, apparently oblivious to the violent slant that his thoughts had taken. “I’ve asked you about your favorite color, your favorite food, hobby...”
As she rattled off, Nik slowly found himself relaxing. He merely listened, knowing by now that Daria had a penchant for thinking out loud. It was a habit he suspected would lead to other people thinking she was vain, but the time he spent with Daria made him realize it wasn’t that at all. She did it simply because she liked doing it, and if he had to be honest, he liked it, too. The years he had spent working in the corporate jungle had made him distrust people who only said what they thought people wanted to hear. He would rather have Daria, with her outrageous ideas, over them any time of the day.
“But one thing I’ve never asked...” Daria suddenly flipped around, and Nik found himself almost cupping her breasts instead.
He immediately pulled his hands away. Nik scowled, knowing it had been deliberate on her part, but Daria only laughed in response.
“That,” she declared. Pushing herself up on her elbows, she glanced at him with thoughtful gray eyes. “All the men I...know—-” Again, Daria almost said ‘dated’ but managed to catch herself in time. “—-are quick to paw their girlfriends in public, even when it’s not appropriate.” She wrinkled her nose, remembering how one of the frogs she had dated had tried to get his hand under her skirt in church. “But you’re different. Actually, you’re the exact opposite. Why?”
He shrugged.
She pouted. “Come on, please.”
“Let me ask you a question instead.” Nik cupped her chin, making sure she looked straight into his eyes. “Why did you choose me to be your first?” He managed not to let his lip curl at the last word.
Startled by the question, Daria gazed at Nik searchingly. “Why are you asking me that now?”
“Aren’t you willing to answer me?”
Even if she was, Daria thought, he wouldn’t believe her. No one except her friends would believe the truth, which was that she had written a message in a bottle to God, and Nik had been the result.
“You wouldn’t believe me if I told you,” she said finally.
Safe answer, Nik thought.
Nik’s face was unreadable, but sensing that her answer didn’t satisfy him, she blurted out, “Do you know the fairytale about the princess and the frogs?”
“The one where the princess ate all the frogs?” he deadpanned.
Daria gasped in horror. “I do not eat frogs!” Then she realized what she had just let slip.
Nik’s face was relaxed now, and a smile started to tug at his lips again.
Sitting up, she instinctively touched his lips. “I like you smiling,” she said softly. “I wish you’d do it more.” His smile didn’t disappear, but it failed to reach his eyes this time, and she regretted saying anything at all about it.
“My life doesn’t give me much to smile about,” he said flatly. And he knew it was true, despite the billions in his bank account. Before she could answer, he changed the subject, murmuring, “But I’m sure it’s different for a princess like you.”
She grimaced. “You’re not going to let me forget that, are you?”
“I had a feeling you were the type of girl to think you’re the princess in all fairytales.”
She immediately shook her head. “Not at all. I can’t be Belle, for one.”
He raised a brow. “Belle?”
“Beauty and the Beast,” she explained.
“Because you can’t fall for someone unattractive?”
“That used to be one of the reasons,” she acknowledged honestly, “but I’ve learned my lesson. Looks don’t matter as much to me.” At the skeptical look on his face, she laughed. “I mean it,” she insisted.
“If you say so,” he murmured noncommittally.
“No, really, if God gave me someone who looked like the Beast, I’d love him.” It was the closest to the truth she could speak of. “But...that’s really not the reason why I can’t be Belle.” She gave him a shamefaced look. “You see, I’m not that into books.”
“Ah.” He struggled not to smile at the way she seemed to wait for him to call her an idiot.