Total pages in book: 107
Estimated words: 100086 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 500(@200wpm)___ 400(@250wpm)___ 334(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 100086 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 500(@200wpm)___ 400(@250wpm)___ 334(@300wpm)
I’m speechless.
I’m not immune to information. I know people like what they like, and that doesn’t define who they are, but I’ve never felt that pertained to me, yet here is Dalton, a man who is as masculine as they come, and he’s telling me he tried bottoming at some point? Just like that?
“Were you in love with that guy?” I ask, once again in the grips of petty jealousy.
Dalton looks as if he’s been caught red-handed but then smiles, rubbing his thumb over my hand. “Yeah… I was seventeen. Of course I was in love with him.”
I hate that stranger from Dalton’s past so fucking much. May there be lead in his piping and asbestos in his walls.
“Was he that first guy you were with? Sounds like you have plenty of experience,” I say, leaning closer and grabbing my coffee.
Dalton laughs. “No, I was fourteen and didn’t know what the fuck I was doing with my first. But won’t lie, I got a lot of notches on my bedpost since then. How about you? Who was your first crush?” he asks like it’s no big deal to talk like this to me.
Like we’re on a date in Central Park among gentle snow, not that he’s kind of my hostage. Then again… what would I know? I’ve had some hookups, but I’ve never been on a date. Isn’t this exactly what someone would say is romantic? We’re having coffees, watching the far-off skyscrapers, my hand is in his pocket.
“My father’s bodyguard. I had many very… explicit fantasies about him when I was a teenager,” I admit as my head drifts to Dalton’s shoulder. “He was built a bit like you. But you’re taller.”
Dalton’s grin widens and he has another sip of coffee. “Okay. Now I know what job I want in the future. It’s so obvious now that I think about it.”
“My father’s dead. He doesn’t need a bodyguard,” I say, shaking my head, but my heart leaps even though this isn’t appropriate.
“There you are! I knew it!” My mother’s screech pulls me off the cozy cloud I’m on, and I jump to my feet so fast my sandwich rolls to the ground, falling apart at my feet.
“What… Mother? What are you doing here?”
Chapter 17
Dalton
I get up, following Corvus’s lead, to spot his mother heading our way like a rocket about to explode. She’s dressed in an off-white coat with fur trims, and strands of blonde hair dance around her uncannily young face where they’d escaped from underneath a woolen hat.
Her gaze scrapes over me, but her attention is instantly back on her son. “What am I doing here? I wouldn’t be here if you had the decency to answer my calls! Mrs. Patton told me there was a fire in your house! I’ve just come back from Aspen, and you didn’t even tell me any of this? Why am I getting this wall of silence? I don’t deserve that. You think you can evade me? Your mother? I know you jog here, and my instincts led me straight to you,” she claims, pointing her nose toward the sky.
Corvus’s hands are clasped behind him, and I see them twist as he chews on her words.
“I wanted to give you the attention you need. I couldn’t do that while I was running errands,” he finally tells her, even though the errands consisted of spending time with me.
“It’s nice to meet you under better circumstances Mrs. Van der Horn,” I say and hold my hand out to shake hers. “It’s all probably my fault. I ended up in the hospital yesterday, so Corvus was a bit frantic.”
I want to be ahead of the game and show myself to her from a good side. She’ll be my mother-in-law after all, as strange as that is. I’ve barely had time to adjust to the idea that I’m getting married soon, so these are uncharted waters. I’ve never had a boyfriend who’d want to introduce me to his parents.
I’m relieved when she does squeeze my hand. “It’s about time I get to meet you as well. I couldn’t believe Corvus kept such a big part of his life secret from me.”
Corvus shakes his head. “I wasn’t ready—”
“Excuses!” she says in a dramatic voice and looks away as she holds her arms under her bust. “Your cousin married a man last year, and I cheered for him! Wasn’t that the perfect time to tell me the truth in confidence? I will have you know I am excellent at keeping secrets.”
I smile and stroke Corvus’s shoulder. “Guess it runs in the family?”
She squints at me and prods my chest with her finger. Uh-oh. “And you are another matter altogether. A gambler, Corvus? Really? He doesn’t even have his own money to lose.”
A painful reminder of the wealth gap between us that’s more like a canyon. I’m the one who was pushed into this relationship, gagged and bound, yet here I am, worried if I’m good enough for Corvus. And pretty sure I’m not. I might be a good time, but when push comes to shove, will I be good enough to marry?