Total pages in book: 101
Estimated words: 93713 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 469(@200wpm)___ 375(@250wpm)___ 312(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 93713 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 469(@200wpm)___ 375(@250wpm)___ 312(@300wpm)
“Nothing ever felt so good,” he whispered, voice shaky. “I’ve had sex. Plenty of sex. But nothing ever felt like that. And now I don’t know what to think anymore.”
“I think that’s a win.” I pitched my voice as reassuringly as I could. “Best oral of my life and a best-of for you too? Win-win. It’s going to be okay. For both of us.”
“It was really your best ever?” A small smile teased the edges of his mouth, those irresistible dimples of his threatening to make an appearance.
“Absolutely. You’re…” Special. That was what I wanted to say, but I had a feeling he wouldn’t take it well. “Talented.”
“Maybe I am.” Some of his normal swagger was back. “Maybe the key is for me to try not to overthink this.”
“Leave the overthinking to me.” I laughed. “That is my specialty, after all.”
“Intelligence guys.” He shook his head, moving his neck like he wanted more massage, so I indulged him.
“Are we for real cool now? Can we make this Colorado assignment work?”
“The one where you’re stuck with me?” His mouth twisted.
“I didn’t mean it like that.”
He finally pulled back from my touch, taking a step away to give me a hard glare. “It sure as shit felt like you were telling Harley you’d rather not have to babysit the one-armed guy.”
“It’s not like that at all.” Fuck. I’d made a total mess out of this. “I meant experience wise…” That explanation clearly wasn’t cutting it because he interrupted me with a frustrated noise. Time for honesty. “You missed the part where I was more concerned about Duncan thinking I needed extra assistance. It was about me having special needs in the field, not you.”
“You?”
“I have PTSD.” Outside of Harley, it wasn’t something I talked about with other A-List employees, but strangely, telling Avery wasn’t as scary as I’d feared. Instead of pity, his face softened, understanding rising in his blue eyes.
“How bad?” he asked with the gravity of a fellow service member. He knew how bad things could get. We both did.
“My biggest issue is super-intrusive nightmares. I take meds to help me sleep, and sleep keeps me from getting too paranoid or off-kilter during waking hours. It’s why Duncan doesn’t assign me to work night shoots. And probably why he’s sending you along. He doesn’t trust me to work long hours.”
“I’m sorry, man. That sucks.” He stepped toward me, reaching out his hand and giving me an awkward pat like he wasn’t used to expressing sympathy through touch. But that he wanted to try for me made my breath catch. “What you said earlier? That goes both ways. You could tell me if you need to talk. I’ll listen.”
“Thanks.” I swallowed hard.
“And who knows, maybe Duncan doesn’t trust either of us alone.” He offered me a crooked little grin that was way too damn charming. “The assignment sounds cool. Better than hanging around a concrete lot.”
“Absolutely.” I smiled back, stomach wobbling for reasons I definitely wasn’t thinking about right then. “So, truce?”
“Truce.” He nodded, and so did I, but I knew better than to expect peace to last the flight to Colorado, let alone the whole trip.
Chapter Nine
Avery
Malik and I might have a truce, but we definitely weren’t back to being friends. There was an awkwardness to every interaction, and I was well aware I was most of the reason for that tension and weirdness, my inability to get over myself. I’d sucked another guy’s dick, so what was the big deal? Malik clearly didn’t find this upsetting or outside the ordinary. He wasn’t reconsidering his whole life plan. Why should I?
Maybe because, unlike Malik, I couldn’t stop replaying every damn second of our encounter, down to each gasp and tremble.
As a result, I was both crabby and out of sorts as I made my way through the airport for our flight to Denver. From Denver, we’d be driving into rural Colorado, a mountainous area of small towns, smaller towns, and the teeny-tiny ghost town the movie would be filming in. Duncan’s helpful new admin assistant booked Malik and me on the same flight. After dropping off my checked baggage, I was delayed getting through security due to my prosthetic arm, so Malik was already waiting at the gate for our flight.
“Hey.” He smiled as he stood, but like it had the last week or so, his smile had a tentativeness that hadn’t been there pre-Valentine’s. “Have everything? All ready?”
“As I’ll ever be.” I shifted my backpack from one shoulder to the other. “Did you know this place we’re headed to is an actual ghost town? Middle of nowhere too. The nearest big town is only like five thousand people, and lots of nearby places with only a couple hundred.”
“Yep. We’ll have a drive into the mountains. Duncan’s assistant sent me the rental car info.” His gaze dropped to my prosthetic arm. “I don’t mind doing the driving. Hope the weather holds. Early March is always unpredictable.”