Total pages in book: 82
Estimated words: 81584 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 408(@200wpm)___ 326(@250wpm)___ 272(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 81584 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 408(@200wpm)___ 326(@250wpm)___ 272(@300wpm)
“Emma and I—”
“Could you stop saying her name?”
Gray’s head tipped down as he shot me a look. “We’ve never been exclusive. Neither of us were interested in that.”
“Got it.” I didn’t feel any better about it, but I was glad that I wasn’t the other woman or something.
“That’s done,” he said quietly. “Won’t be seeing her again.”
“Why?”
“Not interested.”
“All right.”
We sat there in the quiet for a long time, listening to the wind blow through the trees and the crickets and frogs singing. Eventually, though, I grew restless and had to move. Scooting out to the middle of the spring, I leaned back and let myself float. The water muffled the sound, but I still felt the disturbance as Gray moved. A second later, his hands brushed my back and thigh. I’d drifted toward him. As I let my lower half sink, he caught me on his lap.
“I think this is the longest you’ve ever been quiet,” he said softly, brushing the wet hair away from my face with both hands.
“Not all of us are the strong silent type,” I countered, reaching up to grip his wrists.
My heart was galloping, and my skin felt super sensitive as his thumbs found my cheeks. God, I loved to look at him. The moonlight highlighted parts of his face and cast shadows on the rest. He looked like a painting.
“There she is,” he said, searching my face. “That’s the Francesca I know.”
“I feel like myself,” I confirmed. “We should get hammered and dance on tables or something before it goes away again.”
He smiled. “Nah, she’s not going anywhere.”
“How do you know?”
“I’m keepin’ her with me,” he replied simply.
“Easy as that?”
“Easy as that.”
I glanced down at his lips, and he tensed beneath me.
“Not here for that,” he said so quietly that I barely heard him.
“Fuck it,” I murmured, closing the distance.
I should’ve been prepared for how the kiss rocked me, but I wasn’t. I’d told myself that I’d overinflated how good it was in my memory. Whenever I’d been with anyone else and they hadn’t measured up, I’d reminded myself that the only reason I’d imagined it was so good was because I couldn’t have Gray.
Kissing him again proved me wrong on every level.
I gasped, my nails digging into his wrists.
“Goddamn,” he murmured, his hands tangled in my hair as he dove back in again.
My hands raced over his arms and shoulders, one ending on his back and the other wrapped around the side of his neck. His skin was so smooth, the muscles beneath it tensing and flexing as he repositioned my mouth so he could delve deeper.
I groaned, and he jerked back.
“What?” I rasped, leaning forward again.
“Come on, baby,” he said, standing up with me in his arms.
“Fuck, that’s cold,” I gasped, grappling along his skin as I tried to hang on.
He set me on my feet next to our clothes and quickly began drying me with the small towel as I shivered. By the time he was done with my hair, the towel was soaked.
“How the hell are you going to use that?” I asked in dismay.
“It’ll work,” he assured me as he turned his back. “Get dressed before you freeze.”
I kept my eyes on him as I peeled off my bikini and tugged my clothes onto my damp body. It was a struggle to brush the debris off my feet before I put my socks and boots on, but I hurried because Gray must have been freezing his balls off.
“Your turn,” I said, straightening and turning away.
Gray let out a gruff laugh a second later. “I don’t care if you watch,” he said, handing me the flashlight. “Can you hold this?”
“No problem,” I replied, gripping it in my fist.
I didn’t turn around. I wanted Gray like I wanted air, but I wasn’t delusional enough to think that I could just hop into bed with him without some serious repercussions. For better or worse, I was still raw from Scott’s deception. I’d be taking another hit if things didn’t work out with Gray, and I wasn’t sure I’d recover from that.
“Ready?” Gray asked.
I spun to face him. He was fully dressed, and his wet hair was slicked back from his face.
Gray held my hand all the way back to his motorcycle. He didn’t let go until he had to get into his saddlebags again to put the towel away.
“How are you feelin’?” he asked.
“Well, my nipples are still hard as rocks,” I replied, crossing my arms.
He chuckled.
“And I also feel like I could sleep for a week.”
“You wanna ride a couple more hours or stop somewhere close?”
I thought about it. I wanted to keep going, putting as much distance as we could between ourselves and real life—but I was exhausted, and the hot soak hadn’t helped.
“Let’s find somewhere closer,” I finally answered. “Is that okay?”