Total pages in book: 77
Estimated words: 72895 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 364(@200wpm)___ 292(@250wpm)___ 243(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 72895 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 364(@200wpm)___ 292(@250wpm)___ 243(@300wpm)
Before I could answer, Sadie had already mixed an Old Fashioned for herself and held up a short rocks glass with a strip of orange peel swimming alongside a big ball of ice.
I put my hand over the glass. “I thought you were done with that, Sadie?”
She smiled and handed the glass to me with a smile. Then she reached for another glass and put some freshly made ice in it. She produced a bottle of fizzy water from the small fridge and poured it into a highball glass. “You’re right. I said no more booze. My word is good. To freedom. Of all kinds.” Sadie held her glass up expectantly.
I lifted mine to hers. “To freedom.”
Her smile widened, and Sadie drained half the glass. “Damn straight.”
We drank in silence for a full minute, and I knew this was my moment, the one time over the next day or two that I would have Sadie all to myself. No interruptions.
“I want to talk to you about something.”
Surprise flashed in Sadie’s eyes, but she banked it quickly because heaven forbid the woman is ever surprised by anyone’s actions.
I took a final sip of my drink and set the glass down. I felt like a wimp, nervous about spilling my guts to this woman, but I needed to know what was going on between us. We’d fucked off and on over the years, but never like this. Never so regularly and with so much trust.
Whether Sadie knew it or not, she was mine in every fucking way that mattered, but what did that mean for our future? Did we even have a future? Could I do my job, keep Sadie safe, while I was sharing her bed?
Sadie’s gaze met mine, and she nodded slowly as if she could tell exactly what I was thinking. Maybe she could.
“I’d like you to escort me to Kat’s wedding tomorrow.”
Yeah, she knew exactly what I was thinking, and this was her way of placating me. I wouldn’t let her.
“You want me to be your date.” It wasn’t a question, but I waited for an answer anyway.
She shrugged off the non-question. “In a manner of speaking.”
Fuck that. I took three steps forward until I was in her personal space. Not touching, but close enough to see her pupils dilate and that soft flesh at the base of her throat flutter like a hummingbird.
“Either you want me as your date, or you don’t, Sadie.”
She opened her mouth to speak, and I put my fingers to her lips.
“No. I’m talking. This back and forth between us, it’s fun as hell, but it’s not enough. Do you want me, Sadie, or is it just my cock that you’re after?”
I loved this woman, had loved her for too fucking long, and now I wanted—no, I needed—clarity.
“Well,” she cooed, “your cock is one of your best assets.”
I felt my dick stir to life at her words and the way she licked her lips. Her distraction almost worked. “Sadie.”
“I asked you, didn’t I?” She was falling back on her smartass defense mechanism.
“You asked me to escort you. What the fuck does that mean? You want me to drop you off? Stand in the back as your hired protection? Use your words, Sadie Rose.”
“I told you what I want, Thomas. A fucking escort.”
She was getting angry. Good. I smiled. “So, a date or merely someone to escort you to the backyard?”
Sadie sighed and brushed the back of her fingers against my cock, flashing a satisfied smile when my cock twitched at the move.
“Really, Thomas?”
“Yes, really.”
Her hand flipped, and she gripped my cock through my pants. “I could make you say yes.”
She could, and we both knew it. But there was the other half of the equation that she hadn’t counted on.
“You could,” I agreed and backed her up until her ass was on her desk. My hand slid up the inside of her thigh, her skin bare and silky smooth, until I found her silk covered pussy.
“I could make you ask me,” she scoffed, a sound that turned into a moan as I slid one finger inside her, already wet for me. Yeah, she was mine. All mine.
“You want me to be your bodyguard?” I slid another finger and pumped in and out slowly until her muscles clenched around me. “Or your date.” I plunged deeper and just a little faster. “Answer the question.”
A shaky breath came out, and her eyes fluttered shut. “Not exactly,” she answered, her lips curled into a coy smile.
I added a thumb on her clit and pumped until I was coated in her juices and then stopped when I felt her clench again.
“That’s not an answer, Sadie. You want me there as your valet?”
Her green eyes opened to me, pleading with me to give her what she wanted. What we both wanted.