Total pages in book: 25
Estimated words: 22971 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 115(@200wpm)___ 92(@250wpm)___ 77(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 22971 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 115(@200wpm)___ 92(@250wpm)___ 77(@300wpm)
I believe I still harbor PTSD from the time Mitch Bradford asked me out during my junior year of high school. My brother was long gone from school, so I thought maybe this was why someone was finally taking a chance. I was overly excited, and I blurted out yes before giving it much thought. Turned out Mitch was a jerk. As soon as I agreed, he laughed loudly enough for everyone to hear before revealing that it was a joke. He was surprised that I believed he would actually ask a chubby dork out. I felt ashamed of myself because, frankly, I had no desire to date Mitch. He’d slept with half the girls in school.
However, the moment I declined Hollis’ request, everything changed. The method in which he wanted to be paid for the damage to his multimillion-dollar car wasn’t in money. No, he had more than enough of that. That’s how I ended up making my payments in dirty pictures. Now Hollis has his own private OnlyFans account with me.
Still, I don’t understand why. Does he have a humiliation kink? That’s a thing, right? Did I hurt his ego? For some reason, I really don’t think that’s it. I could call him cocky, but I think he has a reason to be, with everything I’ve read about him. It’s odd because I don’t get the feeling he’s egotistical.
My phone starts to vibrate, and I shamelessly rush over to it. To my disappointment it’s an alert to let me know a vehicle is coming down the driveway. It sends a picture of it, and I see it’s one of my brother’s company trucks with the logo across the door.
Grabbing a cookie tin of sweets, I go to the front of the house. There are snowmen on the lid of this one. I make them every year and give them out starting right after Thanksgiving.
After I turn off the alarm, I put on my coat and shove my feet into my boots. As soon as I step on the porch, Christmas lights illuminate the snow, creating a rainbow-like effect. I love this time of year. Though it does make me miss my mom and wonder when I might one day have a family of my own.
“Hey, Lucy.” Sam waves to me as he jumps out of the truck.
“Hey,” I call back.
“You stay put,” he says when he sees me about to come down the porch stairs.
“I can help,” I offer.
“I like my job,” he calls back with a laugh, grabbing the wood from the back of the truck.
“Nolan won’t know.”
“Unless you hurt yourself.” Sam heads toward me with his arms filled with logs.
“I won’t get hurt,” I huff, but he laughs.
“Right.”
I press my lips together, feeling a touch embarrassed. I guess it’s no secret that I’m a bit clumsy.
He makes a few more trips, stacking the wood next to my front door, so it’s easy for me to get to. I already have a pile by my fireplace. Even if I lose power, there is a generator, but I enjoy keeping a fire going. I often fall asleep on the couch in the living room because I like being next to it.
“Anything else you need before I head home?”
“I’m good, but these are for you.” I give him the tin filled with brownies and cookies, and Sam’s smile widens. “Thanks.” He winks at me before heading back to his truck.
Once he’s gone, I go back in the house and lock the front door. As soon as I’ve hung up my coat, I hear the voice.
“Are you giving my sweets away to other men?”
I let out a scream before spinning around to see Hollis sitting on my couch. His legs are outstretched as if he owns the place. For a second, I have the ridiculous thought that the couch looks small with him sitting on it.
Snowball sits beside him, as though he’s known the man for years and they are best friends. Traitor.
“Answer me,” Hollis orders before getting to his feet. “You know how I hate to be kept waiting.”
Chapter Two
LUCY
I’m in shock. What the hell is he doing here? How did he even know where I live? A million questions form in my mind, but no actual words come out of my mouth.
"Answer me, love."
"I told you to stop calling me that," I hiss. Why did his pet name have to be “love”? It drives me insane. "You have a million others to choose from. Like babe, baby, sweetheart." I throw my hands up. "Pick something else."
His eyes narrow. Gosh, he really is as big as I remember. “I’ll call you whatever I want.” With three steps, his long strides eat up the distance between us. “Remember who’s in charge here.” I drop my head back to glare up at him.