Total pages in book: 81
Estimated words: 77344 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 387(@200wpm)___ 309(@250wpm)___ 258(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 77344 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 387(@200wpm)___ 309(@250wpm)___ 258(@300wpm)
Once she had finally passed out on her side, I pulled the blanket more fully over her, thinking of how her brown sugar scent was going to be all over the material for days. And liking that idea way the fuck more than I should have.
I took her half-drunk coffee back to the kitchen, made a hot one for myself, then checked my texts for a while.
When it was clear Max was out for the long haul, I went into my spare room that served as my office, finding and then loading all the images I had into one file for her to easily scroll through when she woke up.
Though, the more that I looked at them myself, the less sure that any of them were the right guy. Yeah, there were blue-eyed guys. But their hair seemed too dark to be described as blond. There were also blond guys who were too yellow to be called “dishwater” or “dirty.”
I wouldn’t know until I let her look at them, of course, but I was starting to think that maybe it was an accomplice of one of the guys from the company. A friend, brother, or even just someone who overheard him saying shit he shouldn’t have when he was drunk.
All I did know was that with every hour that passed by, the chance of finding the diamonds disappeared. With it, the chance to get back what I’d already shelled out.
I wouldn’t be poor. But I would be busting my ass working other jobs for months, maybe even a year, to recover that buffer I liked to have around.
Still, I couldn’t bring myself to go and wake up Max.
I checked on her twice, finding her still in the exact position she’d been in when she’d first passed out, then went back into my room, peeling off my clothes, and making my way toward the bathroom to take a shower. I needed to clear my head, to let some new thoughts come to me. I’d been rolling the same ones over and over ever since I found out Max had the diamonds lifted from her.
And for me, the best place to think was the shower. It was probably a layover from my childhood, from a house full of so many younger siblings that it was hard to find any time to myself. The splashing of the water onto the floor always managed to just about drown out the squeals, laughs, and cries going on in the rest of the house as I would just stand there and think.
It was still the first thing I did when life got too heavy or too confusing, when my mind was reeling and nothing was getting figured out. Take a shower. Let all the other shit wash away.
Almost without fail, by the time I climbed out, I had a new perspective, if not an outright solution, to whatever I was dealing with.
The longer I stood there under the hot water, the bathroom steaming up despite the exhaust fan going at full tilt, the more my thoughts simply drifted in one direction.
The woman sleeping her bone-deep exhaustion off on my couch.
I couldn’t pretend to relate to her early life, to the things that likely motivated her later on. I had both parents. A relatively comfortable life. Happy memories with loved ones. But I could relate to her hunger, that drive to push yourself harder and harder. Right up and through the point of complete exhaustion.
I knew too well the way your body would finally just throw up its hands and say ‘fuck this’ when you’d been going too hard for too long, leaving you damn near catatonic for days on end until it got a chance to recover.
Sure, she seemed motivated by the hardships of her youth, and mine was hunger for a better future. But burnout was burnout, regardless of what led you to drive yourself there.
I was more intrigued by her ambition than I should have been.
While I’d always had an appreciation for strong women, for the kind of balls it took for women like Max and Lil to not only survive but thrive in a male-dominated criminal underground, I always thought my type was softer women. Sweeter women. The ones without the sharp edges to get caught on.
So the way just the thought of Max putting her sights on me, then walking confidently toward me to take my wallet, had my cock stirring to life in the shower was unexpected.
One thing I did know, though, was that if I didn’t deal with it, there was going to be no thinking straight around her.
So my hand slid down, grabbing my cock and stroking to the thoughts of how such a hard, strong woman could be made real fucking soft with the right words, with the right kiss, with the right touch.