Total pages in book: 90
Estimated words: 84864 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 424(@200wpm)___ 339(@250wpm)___ 283(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 84864 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 424(@200wpm)___ 339(@250wpm)___ 283(@300wpm)
“I really do,” he said.
“Okay,” I said, shrugging. “I just graduated with my doctorate in psychology—”
“Doctorate?” Ajax asked. “Aren’t you a little young for that?”
I bit back a laugh. “How old do you think I am?”
“Twenty-four,” he answered, like he’d already known my exact age.
I tilted my head. “Okay, then,” I said. “I graduated in half the time. Took on double the workload with the dean’s approval.”
“That’s a huge accomplishment, isn’t it?”
“It is,” I said.
“Then why do you look so sad about it?” He may as well have flayed me open right there, that’s how easily he’d seen through to the heart of me.
“I’m never going to be able to put it to use,” I said, turning to look at the view. The screams of the people ahead of us echoed through the night.
“Because you can’t do what you want with it in the time you have?”
He was so relaxed about the conversation, it made me wonder if he truly understood what was going on. I mean, I had been pretty flippant about it with him because I was half certain he was a manifestation of my mind. If he wasn’t one…maybe I needed to be more clear. Crystal clear.
“You know how I joked about you being an angel of death?”
He grinned. “Yes.”
“Well, I’m still like sixty percent sure you are.” He laughed, but I continued. “I know I’ve kind of joked about this entire thing with you before, but I’m guessing since you were outside that specific wing of the hospital, you know what it specializes in.” When he pinned me with nothing but an intense gaze, I went on. “There is no denying it. I’m not going to be around much longer. I mentioned it to you before, but I want you to understand. I don’t want to be anything but clear to you. I have three months.” I tapped my temple lightly. “Brain tumor, remember. It’s the thing that has caused all sorts of fun side effects, like headaches and hearing voices, but there it is. My story.” I motioned to the platform, noticing there were only two more people ahead of us in line. “Hence all the adrenaline stuff.” I shrugged. “I’m trying to do all the things I’ve always been too afraid to do.”
Ajax was so still, I wasn’t sure he was breathing as he took in the information. A muscle in his jaw flexed, and I clenched my brow.
“I’m really sorry if you thought I was leading you on or making the story up for attention.” Did people do that? I really hoped not, but God, I hope he didn’t think that I had been. “I’m definitely not trying to garner your pity either. When you asked to hang with me the other night, I’d just heard the news and was kind of in a fuck it mood where anything went. I didn’t take into account that I might be wasting your time. Not that I’m implying you’re interested in me like that…” God, now I was rambling. “What I mean is—”
“Grace,” Ajax cut over my rant, stepping close enough to me that all it would take was one deep breath and our chests would brush. “Why are you apologizing for your condition? It’s completely out of your hands. And I understood you perfectly the first time you spoke about it. I never thought you were lying or joking.”
I blew out a breath, shaking my head. He was right. Why the hell was I apologizing for something that I never asked for? “I just didn’t want you to get the wrong idea—”
“And what idea would that be? That you just want to use me for a rush like you are these adrenaline feats?”
My lips popped open, heat soaring over my body in a wave that nearly made my knees buckle. Images of doing just what he implied fluttered through my mind, stealing my breath and making me ache in all sorts of deep, tight places.
And from his deepening smile? He noticed how much his words affected me.
Jeez, could he read me that well?
“I’m doing no such thing,” I hurried to say. “You stalked me, remember? The roller coaster night, then romance reading on the porch? Part of me still thinks you’re here to steal my soul.”
He arched a brow at me. “Are you offering it to me?”
I gaped at him again, the words getting tangled in my throat. “I’m not sure you would want it,” I finally managed to say.
Ajax’s eyes darkened as he shifted closer. “I’ll take whatever pieces of yourself you give me, Grace.”
Awareness rippled beneath my skin, making me tight and hot all over. The way he was looking at me…like he wanted me in a desperate, hungry sort of way had my head spinning.
I quickly shook my head. No doubt I was reading him wrong. “What were you doing outside that hospital anyway?” I asked, turning the tables and all that. “Do you see a doctor there?”