Total pages in book: 100
Estimated words: 97364 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 487(@200wpm)___ 389(@250wpm)___ 325(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 97364 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 487(@200wpm)___ 389(@250wpm)___ 325(@300wpm)
Nolan chuckles with a slight head shake. “I’ll be up the way, getting a beer. Call me when you get this settled.”
I still don’t have a mobile but saying that would break my concentration. Nothing can distract me from plotting Theodore Reed’s death.
The door clicks and Theo steps toward me. I step back.
“Where’s your fiancé?”
“Daniel is in London, but he’s not my fiancé. I broke off my engagement six months ago.”
Theo takes another step. I don’t move; instead, I hug the peace lily tighter.
“You gave me the plant.”
I shake my head. “You rejected her, so she’s mine.”
“You abandoned her.” He takes another step.
I can’t breathe with him towering over me. “You rejected me. You basically spat on my face and dumped me. Then you fucked that tart and gave her my peace lily.”
He laughs—the nerve of him.
“Why do you always think I’m fucking her?”
My jaw drops as my head juts toward him. “Are you serious?” I stomp past him and slam the lily onto the worktop. It’s not my intention to release my frustration on Phoebe, but this man is monumentally irritating.
“Sorry.” I plant my fists on my hips. “But if I’m not mistaken, that’s what you implied when you first brought her here. The night your maid cooked dinner.”
“I didn’t fuck her that night. I told you that.”
“But you did today.”
He shakes his head, pumping his fists at his sides, the muscles along his tatted arms flexing over and over. “She showed up unexpected. Yes, she wanted to ‘fuck,’ but we didn’t. I told her I’m moving. She seemed to like the plant, so I told her to take it. You were gone. What did it matter?”
My name is Scarlet Stone, and I’ve been told I have a fiery personality when it comes to men. Of course, the only people who tell me that are men.
“Gone? GONE!?” I throw my hands in the air. Then I press my palms to the side of my head. “I’ve been here! I’ve been waiting for you. I destroyed a good man to prove my love for you. I laid my heart at your feet and you stomped the living shit out of it. The day I found out I had a second chance at life, with endless possibilities, the only—only thing I knew for certain was…” my voice cracks just like my heart “…that I wanted you.”
With one blink, the last shred of my composure evaporates. I didn’t think I possibly had anything else to lay on the line. I was wrong. So here it goes.
“I know the words…” I can’t stop my voice from shaking, my tears from falling “…were lies. I didn’t want us to be anything because I really felt I had nothing to give, especially time. But what happened—every undefined moment—was the most honest thing I have ever experienced. For me, nothing has ever been more true.”
There it is. No regrets. I’m counting breaths not seconds. I will no longer waste a single one on something that is not real. No more hiding behind lies and fear. Cancer or not, I could die tomorrow, and I can’t imagine taking a single unspoken emotion to my grave.
I wish he’d say something. Every inch of me feels cut open, exposed … completely raw.
“Thirty-six,” he whispers. “That’s how many minutes passed between Daniel telling me you had terminal cancer and you telling both of us that you were going to live.”
A shaky breath sends a shiver down my spine as he erases the space between us, one slow step at a time.
“For thirty-six minutes I couldn’t find one single breath to take. For thirty-six minutes …” He swallows hard, clenching his jaw.
My palm presses to his cheek. He closes his eyes and leans into my touch, his hand gently encircling my wrist.
“Tell me something real,” I whisper.
“I spent thirty-six minutes contemplating putting a bullet in my own head.” He opens his eyes.
Breathe, Scarlet.
I can’t count breaths if I can’t remember how to breathe.
“B-but you said … you didn’t love me.”
Theo cups the back of my neck and presses his forehead to mine. “I lied.”
I fist his shirt. “Say it, and … mean it.”
His lips brush mine.
I inch back, shaking my head. “Say it.”
He reaches for my lips again, his hold on my neck tightening.
My hands release his shirt then push against his chest. “Say. It.”
Theo growls, backing me into the wall, towering over me. Before I can protest, his mouth is on mine, our tongues vying for control of something that we both know can never truly be controlled.
“N-n-no!” I rip my lips from his, turning my head to the side to catch my breath.
He grabs my head and crashes his mouth to mine again. “N-no!” I yank his hair. “Say—”
His lips attack mine again.
I wriggle out of his hold once more. “SAY IT!”