Total pages in book: 77
Estimated words: 75414 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 377(@200wpm)___ 302(@250wpm)___ 251(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 75414 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 377(@200wpm)___ 302(@250wpm)___ 251(@300wpm)
“I did. It was just what I needed, actually. They’re great.”
“I’m not at all jealous.”
“I’ll share them with you.”
He didn’t mean it like that but try telling that to my heart as it fluttered at the idea of having grandparents for my baby, at having a caring partner. The kind to sweep you off your feet at the first sign of danger.
“You’re an only child, right?”
“Yeah. But with all my cousins, it didn’t feel like it.”
“It really felt like it for me.” My mind flashed back to the soul-deep loneliness, to the afternoons after school when I would sit outside by myself with no one to play with, no one to talk to.
God, it was no wonder I settled for someone like Ben when all I’d ever known was neglect and indifference. To that needy younger version of me, his obsessiveness would have felt like attention, like love.
If only I knew then what I knew now.
Nave’s hand reached out, grabbing my thigh and giving it a squeeze. “Sorry the people around you didn’t know how to love you. That’s not fair.”
The moisture flooded my eyes, making me turn to look out the side window as I frantically tried to blink them away. Because little me needed to hear that so badly. It wasn’t that I was unlovable. It was that the people around me didn’t know how to love me. Hell, they didn’t even know how to love themselves or each other.
Even when I was composed, Nave’s hand stayed reassuringly on my thigh. I knew all he was doing was offering support. But, yeah, you try to tell my suddenly overactive sex drive that.
I’d tried to blame the new libido on changing hormones. But the fact of the matter was, Nave had just reawakened something in me that I’d all but forgotten existed.
And having his hand on the bare skin of my thigh, just inches from where the aching need would wake me up at night, had desire surging through my system as I thought how easily his hand could drift upward slightly, could put an end to the need that had been clawing at me almost since I’d seen him again.
But the next thing I knew, we were turning into the clubhouse driveway and his hand was slipping away so he could cut the engine and start to collect my things.
I squashed the disappointment as I grabbed Edith and followed Nave into the clubhouse.
It was surprisingly quiet, making me turn to look at Nave with a question in my gaze.
“Spike convinced the others to hit one of the beach bars. I imagine it’s going to be a wild party here later. But for now, I think it’s just Callow and Brooks here.”
“Where?” I asked as we went into Nave’s room so he could put down mine and Edith’s things.
“I imagine Brooks is in the glass room.”
“The glass… oh, the thing on the roof?”
“Yeah. I can show it to you sometime if you want. And I think I heard Callow knocking around in the garage. Brooks has been bitching that it needs organization for a while, but everyone keeps conveniently ‘forgetting’ he said it.”
“You included?”
“Organization isn’t my strong suit. Still overheated?” he asked as I stood in front of the vent, fanning my damp shirt.
“I feel like I’ve been roasted,” I admitted.
“You could take a dip in the pool. That should do the trick.”
I hadn’t been in a pool in almost a decade. The appeal was almost too good. “You too?” I asked. Not because I wanted to see him shirtless. Nope. Not me.
“Sure. Will Edith be alright inside? The front gate isn’t closed much these days, so I don’t want to take her out.”
I glanced over, seeing her already curling up near the air vent.
“I think she’s down for the count. It was a long night.”
“I wish you’d have had Kit call me,” he said as he walked through the common room, pausing only to grab two mismatched towels off a towering pile of them.
“I was maybe being a little stubborn,” I admitted as we moved back outside, the heat slapping me in my already overheated face.
“Maybe?” he asked, shooting me a smirk as he dropped the towels on a chaise.
“I’m not good at asking for help,” I admitted as we both kicked off our shoes.
“I get that. I do. But things are different here. With the girls. With me. You don’t have to feel weird about it.”
“Yeah, I…”
I lost the rest of my sentence as he lost his shirt.
My mouth went instantly dry. And another part of me, well, that was an opposite problem.
I mean, I knew the man was fit. He picked up heavy things like it was nothing. I’d felt those strong arms around me. I’d admired the breadth of his chest and his back.
I guess I hadn’t let myself wonder too much about the rest of him. His chest and stomach, were a treat. Deep grooves etched between his abdominal muscles. And then there was that delicious V that disappeared into his waistband.