Total pages in book: 31
Estimated words: 29349 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 147(@200wpm)___ 117(@250wpm)___ 98(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 29349 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 147(@200wpm)___ 117(@250wpm)___ 98(@300wpm)
I was as honest with her as I could be as well, telling her enough that she could probably go back to Jackson right now and he’d be pleased with her progress. Nothing incriminating, but enough that they could probably get a warrant if they wanted one.
It wouldn’t do them any good, but they could get one.
Cassandra tried to just put a little salad on her plate, but I wouldn’t allow it. I know that’s all she fucking eats, and I don’t like it. Sure, looking after her health, I get that. But there’s a difference between health and weight, and when I went inside her apartment a few days ago and saw that there was nothing else in the fridge, that’s when I started to worry.
And seeing the way she ate when I made sure she knew I wouldn’t judge her for it? I get the impression it’s something she’s had drummed into her.
“Time for dessert,” I tell her. “What do you want?”
“Oh, no, I couldn’t possibly eat any more. The meal…”
“Isn’t over until you have dessert. Come on, take a look at the menu. Anything you want.”
“Well…” I see the twinkle in her eye as she pulls her lips to the side, not even glancing at the menu. “Anything I want?”
I nod. “Anything.”
“Well…”
“Anything.”
“Chocolate fudge cake and strawberry ice cream?”
I start to laugh. I can’t help myself.
That’s it?
“Why are you laughing?”
“You were nervous about asking for that?”
The blush spreads up from her neck, covering her cheeks, and she glances down. Fuck, this woman is something else. The way the blush lights up her freckles makes me want to kiss every single one.
I take her hand in both of mine and pull it toward me, then kiss the knuckles, and she meets my eyes.
“My dad never let me have cake and ice cream,” she says. “It was… He said I needed to be fit for…” She hesitates and looks down again, then back to me. I get the feeling she was about to tell me something she shouldn’t. “For later life,” she finishes. “I guess it stuck.”
“Your dad’s a fucking idiot.”
She shakes her head. “No, don’t say that. I love my dad. He just—”
“Well he’s an idiot about this. That’s not speaking out of turn. I’ve been too strict with my own daughters, I know that now. I saw it too late, but I know it. Kora, you shouldn’t have to watch what you eat for anyone. Being healthy, I understand. I want you to be healthy. But cake and ice cream isn’t going to kill you. From now on, you have cake and ice cream any time you like, you hear me?”
Her eyes go wide. “No, just this once, as a treat. I—”
“Kora,” I growl, and she falls silent.
For a moment, she just sits there, staring at me. Then she nods. “OK. Chocolate fudge cake and strawberry ice cream. But not for you.”
“No?” I feel the grin pull at my lips. She’s telling me what I can and can’t do?
She shakes her head. “No. You need to save yourself.” A little smile crosses her face, and she looks away, slightly embarrassed. “I’ll give you your dessert when you take me home.”
Chapter Eight
Apollo
I can’t keep my hands off her.
As we fall in through the door to my house, I’m already pinching her nipple through that cute-as-hell fucking work t-shirt. Her mouth goes wide, gasping and laughing as she wriggles in my hands, pulling playfully away from me but I can tell this is different from last night. This time, she doesn’t want to resist, but still…
Was it just a one off, or does she want me the same way I want her?
There’s only one way to find out.
I make sure she notices when I drop my keys in the bowl by the door. Locking the house is more a force of habit than any serious effort at security. Between the gate guard and the laser tripwires around the perimeter of the property, if anyone broke in here they’d find a fucking army on their ass before they even got to the door. But I want her to see, because that’s also where the key to my office is, and I need to know if she’ll use it.
But first…
“This way,” I tell her in a husky growl. “I’ve got…things to show you.”
“Oh, things I haven’t seen already?” she teases, but her hand slips into mine for me to lead the way.
I pull her with me, not toward my bedroom but toward the security door that leads to my basement. The one place I never, ever, brought a woman before. Or anyone else, for that matter. Since this house became mine, this has been my deepest, darkest secret, both physically and metaphorically. When she sees what she’s about to see, she will have the means to destroy me, to ruin me.