Total pages in book: 153
Estimated words: 148704 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 744(@200wpm)___ 595(@250wpm)___ 496(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 148704 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 744(@200wpm)___ 595(@250wpm)___ 496(@300wpm)
He blinks and blinks again, and then he flies forward, crowding me, driving me backward until my heels hit the wall. I’m forced to drop my head all the way back to look him in the eyes, and he waits for the moment our gazes crash together, his hands flying up, roughly cupping the underside of my breasts.
I gasp, his move so completely unexpected.
“No motherfucker on this planet will have you handed to them like that, do you understand me?” Crew’s muscles constrict. “No man deserves this body when he hasn’t earned it.” His eyes flash, dark and despondent.
He gives a little squeeze and my toes curl into the carpet.
“No man,” he nearly whispers, “will slide his cock inside you without earning the warmth you’ll wrap him in.” His thigh drives forward, pressing against the triangle of my bottoms. “Fucking drench him in.” He groans, his cheek sliding along mine. “God, I could—”
“What?” I swallow. “You could what?”
“Did you do what you threatened?”
“Threatened?”
His jaw flexes against mine. “The bullshit you said before you ghosted me today. The lessons.”
“I didn’t ghost you. I left my phone in the car like everyone else.”
“Answer my question. Now.” His knee drives farther between my legs and I gulp, giving him more of my weight.
“I… no. Don’t think so, but my brain cells aren’t exactly at full function right now.”
“Did you share a tube with Neo? Wrap your legs with his?”
I shake my head, goose bumps breaking across my skin as his stubble skates over the sensitive spot beneath my ear. “I didn’t get to go on the double-person slides, but Neo’s sister, Nova, I think her name was, was going to be my partner.”
“Good. That’s good.” Suddenly he pulls away, spinning so fast I don’t get so much as a glimpse of his face. “I gotta get back to the bar. Behave. I’ll know if you don’t.”
With that, he walks out, and me?
I’m a sad excuse of a woman, melting over a man moodier than the Mona Lisa.
Chapter Seventeen
Davis
Whiplash. That’s what Crew Taylor is and has always been.
A severe case of whiplash.
An unexpected bout of turbulence.
Hot and cold.
Cold, cold, cold.
So cold, I have to replay every detail to determine if such a thing as hot exists, and it does, even if only in situations where he’s overcome with the need to remind me he’s in charge of the Davis show. As if I could forget.
Whatever lesson he was trying to teach me yesterday, I most definitely did not absorb it.
The only thing I learned last night is I’m a little broken.
Twisted even.
Why else would I find his grumpy, bossy, hands-on approach spectacularly stimulating?
If only he’d be willing to stimulate me on purpose.
As I think it, my senses are swarmed by his spicy, masculine scent.
Seconds later, Crew’s reaching across me, his hand dipping into my bucket to peep at what’s buried inside. “Do you think you have enough Red Hots?”
“What, these?” I tease, revealing the second layer hidden beneath the first. “They should get me through the night. These two.” I point to the three triple-pack candy necklaces I couldn’t resist, even if I do have a half box left at home.
He scoffs, scooting closer to snag his piece of Bazooka Bubble Gum from the plastic bins in front of me.
Stealing a glance over my shoulder, I meet his gaze, holding it as he peels the wrapper off, tossing the rectangular candy in his mouth. His tongue rolls, flipping the little pink piece over, before his lips close around it, and I wonder what kind of tricks that tongue can do.
Heat fills my chest and a hidden smirk whispers at the corners of his lips. Crew takes the candy bucket from my hand, nodding toward the ice cream and treat bar leading to the register.
I follow a step behind. “You know, considering how you basically played daddy yesterday and painted me the rebel teenage daughter who went out without permission, you’re in quite a tranquil mood today.”
“I stay calm until you piss me off.”
“Ha! False news. You are always pissed off. Pissed at yourself, pissed at me, pissed at a red light. You, Crew Taylor, glare more than you grin. Bummer too, ’cause you’ve got a good grin.”
Crew shoots me a look. “I am not always pissed off. Hurry up and pick your fudge before I tell the nice lady waiting for you to choose that you get none.”
“Sounds pretty pissy to me.”
My eyes dart up, meeting the eyes of the older woman behind the counter, her small smirk creating deeper wrinkles in her cheeks.
Crew frowns her way as my laughter fills the air.
The silver-haired woman winks teasingly as she slips a pair of clear gloves on her hands. “You take your time, honey. Ain’t no one behind you.”
I give Crew a full-tooth smile and face the woman. “What’s your favorite?”