Total pages in book: 36
Estimated words: 34755 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 174(@200wpm)___ 139(@250wpm)___ 116(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 34755 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 174(@200wpm)___ 139(@250wpm)___ 116(@300wpm)
“Are you going to take away your money?”
“No. Your house is going to remain paid for.”
“I don’t know if I feel comfortable with that,” she said. “I can’t pay you back.”
“I didn’t ask for you to pay me back.”
“Why would you do something like that? You don’t know me.”
“I’m a nice guy.”
“Eli, I’m being serious.”
“So am I. I like you. What’s there to think about?” He didn’t want to think about it himself. Paying for her house, making a life with her. None of this was part of his plan. It wasn’t even a little part of his plan.
Finding a woman wasn’t even mixed in with what he wanted to do. Katie needed stability. So what if his parents liked Ann? From the way Katie talked about her, he doubted anyone could ever hate this woman. She was smart, beautiful, and a fine fuck as well.
Any man would be lucky to have her.
There was the spike.
The shock rushed through him, taking him by surprise. He didn’t want any other man to know how good this woman was. They all had their chances with her and fucking failed. They didn’t get to have a second shot.
Something primal, possessive, and consuming flooded over him. No woman had ever made him feel this way. Something struck him, hard and powerful.
Ann wasn’t just any woman. She belonged to him. No other man was ever going to get a taste of perfection. Stroking her cheek, he thought about the houses.
No!
It was all bullshit.
There was no way houses brought people together. He could have any woman he wanted. It just so happened he wanted to give Ann a whole lot of firsts and he was only just getting started.
It didn’t mean anything.
For once, he was going to be selfish with her.
She shook her head and wriggled off his lap. Eli wanted to fight her but instead, let her go, seeing she was agitated. He didn’t want to upset her any further. He didn’t fucking get it, though. Why would she be pissed at him for paying for this house? He saw how much she enjoyed the place, and other women, he’d bought flowers, jewels, and many other expensive trinkets. Okay, not in as much value as a house, but he did something nice.
“This is a house.”
“I know. I have one next door.”
“Dammit, I really can’t talk to you when you’re like this.”
“Then how about we stop fighting, you come to bed, and we make up. We’ve got all evening.”
He went to grab her hand but she evaded him. She turned on her heel, walking away. He listened as she stomped upstairs and he sat back.
Their arrangement didn’t include him sitting here, listening to her being pissed, but even still, he couldn’t exactly let her go away. Blowing out a breath, he got to his feet and slowly followed her. This was totally pointless, and he didn’t understand why the fuck he was following her in the first place.
He found her standing in the bathroom, staring at her reflection.
“Look, I’m not going to take the money back. You deserve to have happiness, Ann. I don’t get why you don’t see this as a gift, but it is.”
“Your company, would you have been so damn smug about it now if someone had helped you to build it?”
“Ann, no one helped me.”
“Exactly. So you can take all the credit for making it work. Look around you, Eli. What can I do?” she asked. “You know nothing about me. I came from nothing. I was nothing, and now I can’t even look myself in the mirror and say, yep, I totally won this one.” She shook her head. “I’m sorry. I don’t mean to sound like a bitch.”
“You’re doing a really good job.”
“That’s not funny.”
“I thought I was doing a good thing. I saw all your calculations and starving wasn’t an option.” He stepped into the bedroom, going right behind her. Putting his hands on her hips, he slid them across her stomach, pulling her back against him. “You see, I love the way you feel against me. How you move. I love your body, and starving it won’t make me happy.”
“You did all of this for yourself?” she asked.
“Not all of it. I did it for Katie. You were going to have to move away, and I can’t have that. Not even for my own sanity. You see, you’re stuck with me.”
She chuckled. “I don’t know if I can stay mad at you for long.”
He slid his hand down between her thighs, touching her pussy. “Then don’t. There’s no reason to be pissed at me. I did a good thing.” And it wasn’t like he was ever going to say sorry to her either.
He did what he had to in order to keep her around because the truth was he didn’t want to risk some other fucker taking her from him.