Total pages in book: 58
Estimated words: 53466 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 267(@200wpm)___ 214(@250wpm)___ 178(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 53466 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 267(@200wpm)___ 214(@250wpm)___ 178(@300wpm)
I swallow hard, knowing I ought to turn around and leave, not listen in on a private conversation. Eavesdropping is wrong but my feet remain planted firmly on the floor.
“I know,” he goes on. “I was looking forward to it, too, but duty calls.”
And that’s what I am to him, I think, my stomach rolling. A job. Nothing more. Tears prickle in my eyes as I realize I’ve let myself begin to care. I shouldn’t have pushed him, and I don’t need to hear any more.
I spin around, intending to run back to my room, but I slip on the hardwood floor. I grab for the nearest thing to stop my fall, muttering a shriek as my palm hits the corner of the wall and pain shoots through my hand before I fall down in a humiliating heap.
“Shit. Ava, gotta call you back.” He strides over to me. “Summer?” Ben looms over me, staring at me with concern. “You okay?” He holds out a hand to help me up.
“I tripped. I mean, slipped.” My face flames with heat as I let him pull me to my feet. “I fell,” I say lamely.
“Are you hurt?”
I shake my head. “Nothing but my pride. Go ahead and call your—call Ava back.”
A hint of something flashes across his face, but as usual, he is too skilled at hiding his feelings.
He narrows his gaze. “Please finish that statement. You said, ‘Go ahead and call your—’ My what, Summer? Who do you think Ava is to me?” he asks, his voice taking on what sounds like a … hurt edge.
“How should I know?” I hedge, knowing I don’t have long before I have to confess.
“You don’t have to know,” he says. “You just need to tell me what went through your mind.”
I pout, pursing my lips together hard before forcing out the words. “Well, you don’t have a sister, so I assume Ava is your girlfriend.”
He cocks an eyebrow, a true angry scowl on his handsome face. “You think so little of me that you believe I’d sleep with you if I had a girlfriend?” He folds his arms across his chest in a defensive gesture. “I’m offended, Summer.”
I wince, realizing he is right. I took his absence this morning as deliberate, heard his call to a woman, and jumped to all the worst possible conclusions.
“I’m sorry.” I wrap my arms around my waist. “That wasn’t nice of me. It’s just that I heard you say her name, and I was—”
“Jealous?” he asks, nailing the unwanted, embarrassing emotion.
“Yes,” I admit.
His gaze softens. “Thank you for being honest.” He reaches out and taps my nose. “But the fact is, you have no reason to be. You consume my thoughts, and my body craves only you.”
My mouth goes dry, and my panties immediately grow damp at his light touch and seductive words. “Oh.”
“My days of pulling away are over. Next time I kiss you or put my hands on you, I won’t be stopping.”
“But … you weren’t in bed when I woke up, so I assumed you had second thoughts, considering I snuck into your bed last night.”
“My boss called and I didn’t want to wake you, so I answered out here. Then I made us coffee.” He gestures toward the kitchen. “Summer, listen.” He grasps both my hands in his. “I’m a grown man. I own my choices. You might have crawled into my bed, but I wanted you, too. And I can admit, I can’t resist you now.”
* * *
Ben
I had time to think while Summer slept, and I knew I had to come to terms with my need and desire for her. I might not want to repeat past mistakes, might not want to be like my old man, might not want to deal with the inevitable heartbreak when she leaves on a world tour and becomes a superstar … but I can’t resist her. And that little fact, although it doesn’t change my fears, supersedes them. As long as we come to an understanding about what this thing between us is … and isn’t.
At my admission, her eyes open wide and her mouth parts in a sexy little O. I can’t help but chuckle at her astonished expression, not that I blame her. She has every right to think I have been withdrawing from her. And though a part of me wants to do just that and protect my heart, I can’t keep doing the push-pull dance that hurts her. Hell, it hurts us both.
As much as I owe her an explanation for my earlier behavior, it entails a gut-wrenching, reaching-into-my-soul accounting of why I kept my distance to begin with. And I don’t like to revisit my childhood and my parents’ marriage, mostly because watching things play out between them hurt and ultimately skewed my views on life and love.