Total pages in book: 41
Estimated words: 39424 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 197(@200wpm)___ 158(@250wpm)___ 131(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 39424 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 197(@200wpm)___ 158(@250wpm)___ 131(@300wpm)
She traces her fingers under my eyes. “I see your big blue eyes.”
She then traces the rim of my lips. “When you smile, I see your heart, Elias. And you think it’s hidden, but it’s not.”
I put my hands at her waist. “You mean that, don’t you? My scars don’t bother you, do they?”
She leans in and presses her body to mine with her arms looped around my neck. “I hate that you were hurt. I hate the pain that you’ve gone through and continue to go through. But no, when I look at you, I only see you.”
I lean down and kiss her. It’s not like any kiss we’ve shared. It’s slow and patient, deep and lasting. I put my all into that kiss, wishing I could tell her everything I want to say to her. It’s a car horn that pulls me out of my trance and reminds me we’re on the street in downtown Whiskey Run. I brush a stray hair off her face. “Are you wanting to hide me, Chloe?”
Her lips are swollen. “Hide you?”
I nod, tracing my finger along her lips. “Yeah, this thing between us. You want to hide it?”
She almost looks dazed as she stares back at me. “No.”
“You know we’re more than friends, right?”
She bites on to her lips and nods.
I lean in and kiss her forehead and whisper. “So you’re okay if people know about us?”
She closes her eyes, savoring the kiss. “Yeah, I’m fine with it. Do you want to hide me?”
“No,” I tell her without any qualms. “I want the fuckin’ world to know you’re mine.”
She opens her eyes, and I can see all the questions she has without her even having to ask them. I gesture with my head to the front window of her gym. She looks and gasps when she sees all the women standing at the front window watching us. Some are laughing, some are clapping, but there’s no doubt that every one of them is enjoying the show.
I whisper against her ear, “The whole town will hear about you making out in the street by this evening.”
She turns and blinks up at me. “Well, we’d better give them a show then.”
My brows lift in surprise, but there’s no way I’m turning down what she’s offering. I put my thumb on her chin and seal my mouth over hers. She moans, and I deepen the kiss. Call me selfish, call me anything you want, but I’m not passing up this chance to make sure everyone knows Chloe is mine.
CHAPTER 17
CHLOE
I keep telling myself not to get attached, but it’s easier said than done. For the last week, we’ve spent a lot of time together, and I’m doing my best to just enjoy it and not have to put a name on it, but the more time we’re together, the more I’m letting my guard down.
I’m living with the knowledge that he could pick up and go at any moment. Or that he could get called out on some mission and who knows what happens after that.
I’m sitting next to him on my couch, my feet curled up under me. We have the television on, but like most nights, we are talking instead of watching.
“Tell me about your job, E. What exactly do you do?”
“It’s changed a lot through the years, but now I just monitor things. Mostly online.”
I’m leaning with my head on the back of the couch, and I ask him, “Monitor things? What does that mean?”
He shrugs and gets a faraway look on his face. “I don’t know… things.”
He sees the expectant look on my face and elaborates. “I do different things. One second I can just be monitoring where someone is spending their money. The next I can be watching through drones and helping our men escape the deserts of Afghanistan or jungles of Africa. It’s never the same, but the stakes are always high.”
I scrunch my nose up. “It sounds stressful.”
“It can be. But I’m going at a lot different pace now. If I tried to do what I used to do, I would be dead right now.”
Alarmed, I say his name. “Elias.”
He shrugs. “I’m sorry, but it’s true. What I’m doing now is much safer.”
He gets a faraway look in his eyes, and I attempt to change the subject. “Am I going to get to see where you live?”
He gets quiet and waves his hand. “You don’t want to see that.”
I lift my knees up and wrap my arms around them. “I wouldn’t ask if I didn’t want to see it.”
He finally turns to me. “It’s a rehab center for veterans, Chloe.”
“So? It’s your home.” I don’t know why I’m so insistent, but I’m not giving up. Sometimes I think he’s letting me in, and sometimes he completely closes me off. To me, it’s crazy that he hasn’t asked me to his house. If he was a different man, I’d be convinced he’s seeing another woman or something, but I know that’s not the case with Elias. He just doesn’t want to let me in.