Total pages in book: 119
Estimated words: 110549 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 553(@200wpm)___ 442(@250wpm)___ 368(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 110549 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 553(@200wpm)___ 442(@250wpm)___ 368(@300wpm)
I wasn’t sure what to do or say from here.
My phone went off on the counter next to me, and I grabbed it, sighing when I saw my coworker’s name on the screen. “Annabelle, now really isn’t a good time,” I told her honestly as I watched Jessie crack eggs into a bowl.
Fuck, how did I get turned on by watching him do something so fucking normal? I wondered.
Maybe I was officially losing my mind.
“I know, and I’m so sorry, but some guy came in here asking for you—said he was your brother and was worried about you. I didn’t believe him, but the manager did, and he told him you went to your hometown because your mom died—”
I pinched the bridge of my nose and heaved a heavy sigh. “Fuck,” I cursed. “What did this guy look like?” I demanded to know. Jessie looked over at me, a perfect eyebrow arched in my direction. I shook my head at him, silently telling him to give me a minute.
“He had dark hair, and he was tall. He had a scar on his eyebrow—”
Jay.
God, I couldn’t deal with this. I’d been hiding from him for two years. Two fucking years. And my careless manager blew all of my careful hiding to pieces.
“Thanks, Annabelle. I need to go,” I told her, rudely cutting her off.
Jay had found me.
I hung up, dropping my phone onto the counter. I rubbed the heel of my hand over my chest as I drew in a deep, calming breath. Anxiety was a righteous bitch to deal with. “Talk to me,” Jessie said from his position at the stove where he was scrambling eggs. It was the first words he’d spoken since he was inside of me.
I chewed on my bottom lip, looking away from him for a moment and out the window across from me.
I had been hiding for years. How the fuck did he find me?
I finally looked back at him to find him still watching me, waiting patiently for an answer. Grunting, he ripped his eyes off of me and focused back on breakfast so he wouldn’t burn it.
“Jay found me,” I told him quietly. Jessie turned his thunderous, dark eyes back to me. “He played the brother card, and my manager told him where I was.”
Jessie’s perfect features twisted into a snarl. “Jay, as in fucking Jayden Falcon?” Jessie demanded to know.
I swallowed thickly, nodding at him in answer. “That would be the one,” I told him quietly.
Jessie clenched his jaw as he turned back to watch what he was doing. “We’ll eat breakfast, and then we’ll go back to my place.” I frowned. “Now that he knows you’re here, I won’t leave you alone. If he’s been looking for you all these years, then he’s definitely up to no fucking good.”
“I don’t understand his obsession.” I sighed. “I just want normalcy. It’s all I’ve ever fucking wanted. I know he’s been looking for me, and I’ve been under his radar. One fucking slip up from my fucking boss, and now it’s all over for me.”
Jessie stepped between my legs and placed his hands on either side of me on the counter. His eyes bore into mine with an intensity that burned through my soul in the most beautiful way possible. “You may have disappeared for years, West, but nothing has changed. I won’t let him hurt you, you got that? You can always count on me—don’t ever forget that.”
He pressed a gentle kiss to my swollen lips before he moved back over to the eggs.
“Even when you’re angry with me for ghosting you?” I asked him quietly, hating the vulnerability in my voice.
He nodded, glancing at me over his shoulder. “Even then, West.”
I swallowed down the sudden tears and watched him silently as he continued moving around, making breakfast. When he made my coffee exactly how I always take it, I had to blink so the tears I’d just tried getting rid of wouldn’t fall, suddenly feeling extremely emotional as I watched Jessie take care of me in his own way, just like he always had.
“You still eat your scrambled eggs with ketchup?” he asked me as he dug around in the fridge.
I choked out a sob as the tears rushed down my face. Jessie looked up at me in alarm. “Woah, hey, baby, what’s wrong?” he asked in alarm, rushing over to me.
I threw my arms around his neck and linked my legs together behind his back as I buried my face in his neck, drawing him close to me. He wrapped his muscular arms tightly around me, turning his head to press a kiss to the side of my head. “I’m so sorry for ghosting you, Jessie,” I cried. “I’m so, so fucking sorry.”
Jessie sighed and gently ran his hands up and down my back. He pressed a tender kiss to my temple. “As long as you don’t do it again, all’s forgiven, sweet girl,” he assured me.