Total pages in book: 159
Estimated words: 155775 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 779(@200wpm)___ 623(@250wpm)___ 519(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 155775 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 779(@200wpm)___ 623(@250wpm)___ 519(@300wpm)
Addie knew she wasn’t going to get any more sleep tonight. Instead of turning toward the living room, she headed out the back. Maybe she could sit outside for a moment.
Opening the back door, she saw that there was a small porch with some furniture. Walking along, she sat down in a seat.
It was cold out here, but it helped soothe her overheated skin. And the quiet of the night eased her ragged nerves. It had to be close to dawn. It was far lighter out here, and she could hear the occasional car moving along the street.
She wasn’t sure how long she was there before he found her.
“Addie, shit, baby. What are you doing out here?”
She startled, glancing over to see Cash walking toward her. Where had he been?
Then she noticed that he was dressed in just a pair of shorts and a tank top. Had he been out for a run?
Addie couldn’t help but run her gaze over him. There was muscle everywhere she looked. His arms were thick with it, his chest wide, and his thighs oh, Lord. How was it possible for a set of thighs to be that sexy?
“Addie? Hey, what happened? Did something scare you? Why are you out here?” He crouched down in front of her, resting his hands on the tops of her thighs.
Her whole body gave a shiver, not out of coldness or fear, but out of pure desire. What the hell was going on with her? She’d never reacted to anyone like this in her life. And it had to be this man, this walking sexy god of a man.
She shrugged, grateful she had an actual excuse not to talk. Then she pointed at him and made running motions with her two fingers.
“What are you doing, Stowaway?” he asked, staring at her fingers. “Is there something wrong with your fingers? Did you hurt them? Do you need me to tape them up? I’ll go and get some tape right now.”
Oh dear Lord, this was ridiculous. She needed something to write on.
“Running. You?” She managed to croak out, pointing at him.
“Oh, is that what you were doing? You were trying to make a running motion with your fingers? Huh. I didn’t get that.”
Yeah, no kidding. She rolled her eyes at him.
“Why are you rolling your eyes at me, little girl?” he asked. “That’s very naughty.”
Her eyes grew wide at his words, especially as he reached out to tap her nose.
What was he doing? He was making her Little side stir. And now wasn’t the time for that to happen. She wasn’t in a safe space. Then again, sometimes her Little came out during the most inopportune times.
Cash seemed to sense something was wrong and dropped his hand. “Sorry, Stowaway. I shouldn’t have done that.”
He stood, and sadness filled her. Oh, no, he was leaving.
She didn’t want him to leave, especially like this. Reaching out, she grabbed hold of his hand and clung on tight.
“Hey, it’s all right. I was just going to sit down next to you,” he told her.
She was acting like an idiot. This was embarrassing. Addie quickly let go of his hand, and he sat.
“Yeah, I’ve been running. Needed to clear my head a bit, and a run always helps. It’s painful for about the first two or three miles, and then everything sort of goes peaceful in your head.”
That sounded blissful. Maybe she should take up running.
She’d always been a pretty fast runner, but she’d never done it as exercise, only ever to get away from something.
Seemed like she was always trying to get away from something.
“How’s the throat? I’m guessing not good since you still aren’t talking. The humidifier didn’t help? Shit. Why do I keep asking you questions when you can’t respond?”
“Helped. Feels better,” she told him.
“It doesn’t sound better. Rest your voice, Stowaway.”
He pulled his phone out of his pocket. When he turned it around, she could see he’d opened a text-to-speech app. “Type in here. What happened?”
“Nothing happened,” she told him through the phone. “I just needed some cold air.”
“Nothing happened? Then why aren’t you still asleep? It’s early. You barely had any rest.”
“Why haven’t you had any sleep?” she countered.
“I got a few hours. That’s all I need. A Little girl like you needs more. Shit, I did it again. Sorry, Stowaway.”
“Why do you keep apologizing?” she asked him.
“I don’t want to say anything that makes you uncomfortable.”
“It doesn’t make me uncomfortable, should it? Maybe I’m defective because it doesn’t.” Her words sounded odd coming out of his phone.
“You are not defective at all,” he told her firmly. “If something makes you feel good and it doesn’t hurt anyone else, then what’s wrong with it?”
She nodded, although she wasn’t so sure.
“And I don’t want to hear you call yourself defective again. That’s going to get you into big trouble.”