Total pages in book: 136
Estimated words: 130673 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 653(@200wpm)___ 523(@250wpm)___ 436(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 130673 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 653(@200wpm)___ 523(@250wpm)___ 436(@300wpm)
Rhyland and his decisions.
Rhyland and his ruthless, punishing beauty.
Rhyland and that flirty photo with Claire Larsen.
I knew who he was. He’d never hidden nor denied it. He was a hedonistic, fun-loving slut who enjoyed a variety of women. I was the flavor of the week, and oh, how he loved the taste of me. But that didn’t mean he could offer more.
And maybe this was all real. Maybe I was his one in a million. But putting my heart on the line had turned out to be a price too hefty to pay. Because the way he saved Gravity, the way I saw him in action, the unbearable grip he had on my heart, frightened me. He could do with it as he pleased. And Rhyland was notoriously reckless with things. Case in point: he’d lost his pants before Bruce Marshall swooped in to save the day.
I’d spent this evening, prior to Tucker, sinking into a miserable oblivion because I thought he’d stood me up. Because he flirted with a starlet. If it weren’t for Cal, Gravity would have seen the damage he did to me. And then Tucker showed up and reminded me that men couldn’t be trusted.
No matter how many times they gave you orgasms.
No matter how many times they called you beautiful.
No matter how many times they made sweet, charming promises.
At five in the morning, I uncurled myself from around my daughter’s tiny figure and rose up from her toddler bed, my bare feet gliding over the engineered wooden floor toward the living room.
Rhyland was asleep on my couch. He insisted on staying over so we’d feel safe. Mittens and Fluffy were nestled at his feet, snoring the night away. My heart cracked like an egg. He was such a sucker for those dogs. He was never going to get rid of them.
I took a seat in the hollow gap between his flat abs and the couch. He hadn’t changed his clothes or taken a shower since his initial journey in the morning, and he smelled accordingly. Coppery, sweaty, and sour, like dried blood and a long, punishing day. I placed a hand on his cheek. Instinct made his hand lock around my wrist, but then his eyes fluttered open, and he released me, his scowl melting into an indulgent smirk that always made my heart beat faster.
“Hi,” I croaked.
“Cosmos,” he rasped. “My favorite sight.”
In that moment, I didn’t feel like the universe at all. Maybe like a black hole that sucked the life out of everything.
Rhyland read my face like an open book—leafing through the pages, racing through the paragraphs. My feelings were in plain sight. He understood immediately. He sat up straight. The dogs yelped in protest at his shifting position and skated down to the floor to resume their nap.
“Look, there was a surprise tornado.” He stuck his fingers into luscious locks of hair that were no longer there, immediately running his palm through his new cut. “It came out of left fucking field. I woke up to the storm. All the flights out of Dallas got canceled. I got here as fast as I could. Destroyed Bruce’s Ram. I gave Tate twenty-five percent of my shares in my company to borrow his plane. I—”
“I know you did everything to get here.” The words wrenched out of my mouth with great effort, my stomach roiling. I didn’t want to do this, saying goodbye when every hello made my heart skip a beat. But I also didn’t know how to give up control over my heart without losing my sanity. “And I’m not mad about it. Although…I do wish you didn’t give that bastard Tate what he wanted.” My face crumpled.
“Fuck the company, Dylan. He can have it. He could take the penthouse, the shirt on my back. I came all this way in a tornado, against all odds, against all reason, to tell you something very important.”
“And what is that?”
“I love you.”
The words hit me so hard they made me keel over, like an iron fist straight to my stomach. Growing up, I’d fantasized about hearing those words. Tucker spoke them so rarely, and always when we were in bed.
But now?
Now I was shit-scared.
Unlike Tucker, Rhyland wouldn’t just hurt me—he’d destroy whatever was left of me.
Worse still, he might destroy Gravity. Continue the cycle and make her distrust men too.
Just because he was the good guy in this specific scenario didn’t mean he wouldn’t be the bad guy in the next. I didn’t mean physically or maliciously, like Tucker. I knew he’d never do that. But he was…Rhyland. He could get tired of us and go his merry way. Up and leave once he’d had a taste of the billionaire lifestyle. Tucker had left, and he had nothing waiting for him. Rhy was going to have temptation at his feet from now until forever. Who could promise me he’d stay?