Total pages in book: 77
Estimated words: 74554 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 373(@200wpm)___ 298(@250wpm)___ 249(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 74554 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 373(@200wpm)___ 298(@250wpm)___ 249(@300wpm)
This? This was nothing to him.
It wouldn’t be a lie if he asked if I’d been with her and I said no.
Dry humping on patio furniture was teenager shit.
It was nothing.
Or, at least, that was what I told myself even as my hands drifted up and down her sun-warmed skin.
I could feel the uncertainty creeping through her. Muscles tensed one by one. Her heart, which had started to calm, was hammering against my chest again.
I was trying to think of a way to be casual about it, to calm her anxiety.
Then the fucking sprinklers clicked on.
Ice-cold water shot across Rue’s back, making her squeal in surprise and hop off of me.
A yelp escaped her as another sprinkler head ticked in her direction, splattering her front.
“Cabanas,” I said, hopping up only to get a stream of water in the face.
Uncertainty abandoned, a laugh escaped Rue as we both ran through the minefield of high-powered sprinklers, trying (and mostly failing) to avoid the water as we made a dash for the safety of the cabanas.
She shot me another of those big smiles of hers before she rushed into the safety of her cabana.
I could have followed.
I could have pulled off that bikini top, yanked down her shorts, and buried myself deep inside her like my cock was begging to do.
But instead, I carried myself into the shower, stripped, turned on the tap, and stepped under the spray, taking matters into my own hands, hearing the low echo of Rue’s voice as she, I assumed, called Traeg to tell him I hadn’t murdered her.
I wish I could say I felt better after rubbing one out, drying off, and getting back into my clothes—sans anything under my jeans since my board shorts were still wet—but the fact of the matter was I felt just as desperate to get more of her as I’d been on that damn patio furniture.
Soon, I promised myself. Soon, I would have answers. Then I could take Rue to bed for a week fucking straight.
With that in mind, I moved out of the cabana.
“Is it safe?” Rue asked, peeking out from the crack in the door.
“Yeah, they’re off. You want to order some food and have a tour while we wait?” I asked.
She looked conflicted.
Then, throwing the door open, she exhaled hard.
“Traeg wants a picture of the primary bathroom,” she said, rolling her eyes.
“Let’s get him a picture then,” I said, waving out toward the house.
And just like that, all the potential awkwardness was thwarted… by a fucking sprinkler system.
CHAPTER NINE
Rue
“More details, please,” Traeger demanded the next day at work.
“I’ve been telling you about the house for hours,” I reminded him.
Granted, I could probably keep going.
The inside had been as grand as you could imagine with white stucco walls contrasted with rounded, warm wood doors, stone floors, and a sort of classy minimalist look that still felt cozy but allowed the architecture to shine. And just about every single room had views of the beach and the water beyond.
“And it’s not enough. We all want to know how the other half lives.”
“This isn’t even the other half. This is the richest of the rich,” I told him. “Kylo said he was going to mention us to Teddy.”
“Wait… what?” Traeger asked, straightening.
“Teddy has hotels and apartments and rental properties. Apparently, he likes using local artisans. Like one of Kylo’s friends’ wives did all the art for one of his hotels. And he was going to suggest Vital Greens for plants for his places. And, of course, your pottery.”
“Why didn’t you lead with that?” Traeger asked, eyes huge. I could practically read his mind. This could be career-changing.
“I just… I don’t want you to get your hopes too high, y’know? I’m sure rich guys like him get recommendations all the time.”
“Probably,” Traeg agreed. “But it’s never a bad thing to have dreams.”
“True.”
Except these days, my career dreams were entangled with nightmares. The ones that were the main reason my anxiety had come back with a vengeance the last few months.
I’d made so much progress before then.
I wasn’t cured. No one ever truly was. But I’d come so far, had been as even as I’d ever been in my life.
Then, well, it all got shot to hell.
I felt the invisible hand closing around my throat, the shiver working its way up my spine, the cold sweat on my brow.
I shook the thoughts away.
It wasn’t time to worry.
Not yet.
Soon, but not yet.
And I wasn’t going to borrow next week’s anxiety.
I had enough on my plate as it was. You know, with the whole dry-humping Kylo on some billionaire’s lawn furniture.
I mean, what was I? A horny teenager? Grown-ass women didn’t do things like that with virtual strangers, did they?
Okay, well, maybe they did.
It certainly seemed like my grandmother was still getting it on the regular. You couldn’t get further from a teenager there. I knew that if I asked Traeg, he would say something about a dry hump being basically a handshake these days.