Total pages in book: 66
Estimated words: 62197 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 311(@200wpm)___ 249(@250wpm)___ 207(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 62197 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 311(@200wpm)___ 249(@250wpm)___ 207(@300wpm)
She was going to die. I bit my bottom lip while trying to hear what she said, but I couldn’t make it out.
“Yes,” he replied. “I wanted Noa to myself tonight. I hope that’s okay. She’s safely at the hotel in a suite I booked for the two of us, overlooking Times Square. You can enjoy your evening. I’ll take care of her.”
He paused, and I could hear her talking, but still, I could only make out a few words.
“With my life,” he replied. “And, Jellie, no more setups. Noa isn’t available. She’s mine.”
He held out the phone to me then without waiting on her response to that.
Oh good Lord, she was going to flip out about this. How would I ever get off the phone with her?
“Hey,” I said, not sure what else to say.
“Noa Raines, what in the actual hell?! That is tattoo guy! Muscled, badass tattoo guy! You have been lying to me! He came to get you. He called you his!” She was shouting, but there was an excitement to her tone.
“It’s been complicated.” That wasn’t going to calm her down, but I didn’t have the time to waste talking about this right now.
“How did he even get into the party? Did he call you and you went out to meet him? And he got a room here? That’s not possible.”
She was prattling on with one question after another. If I didn’t stop her, this would go on all night.
“Jellie, I will talk to you about this tomorrow. It’s New Year’s Eve. I want to … enjoy the rest of it with Ransom.”
“You’re happy then? Is he why you’ve been upset?”
I should have known that she hadn’t bought my fake attempt at appearing normal.
“Yes. But we’ve worked things out.”
There was a pause.
“Okay. But tomorrow, you have to give me every detail. All of it.”
I knew I couldn’t do that, but I smiled. “I will.”
“Whew. I have so many questions right now. Just know that the fact that I am holding them all in is due to my love for you,” she told me, sounding exasperated.
“Thank you.”
“Happy New Year, Noa.”
“Happy New Year,” I replied before ending the call.
Ransom took my phone and placed it on the table, then picked up the champagne flute he’d poured me earlier and handed it to me.
“I won’t actually tell her everything,” I assured him.
His gaze met mine. “I know. But I don’t mind if you want to share just how hard I make you come. I’d like the brother to be made aware that I’ve already claimed this pussy. He needs to go sniffing elsewhere.”
I had to cover my mouth to keep from spitting the champagne I’d just taken a sip of. My eyes watered as some went up my nose and burned. He smirked as he watched me.
“Might as well have her spread the word to the other brother, too, in case he has any intentions of trying to move in on what belongs to me.”
“I told you they were like my brothers.”
He shook his head. “No, baby. No straight man is going to think of a woman who looks like you as his sister if they aren’t related,” he told me as he wrapped a strand of my hair around his finger. “But damn if I don’t love how fucking naive you are. It’s cute.”
I narrowed my eyes. “I am not naive.”
“Yeah, Shakespeare, you are. Trusting, kind, thoughtful, witty, smart, adorable, sexy as hell, and incredibly naive.” He reached over with his other hand and pinched my chin, tilting my head back further. “You’re fucking precious.”
Okay, so maybe I could live with being called naive. My stomach fluttered, and every cell in my body tingled. Oh, what my sixteen-year-old self would have thought if she’d known one day that Ransom Carver would call her all of those things. I smiled, thinking about her, the girl I had once been. She was so lost and broken, but she’d been a fighter.
If only I could go back and tell her how proud I was of her and what all she would overcome.
“All I have is tonight,” he said huskily. “I’ll have to go handle things in the morning. You might not hear from me for a while. But you will be all I think about. I’ll watch over you. I’ll know where you are and if you need me. But I can’t be with you. Not right now. I just need you to trust me.”
I swallowed as my throat began to tighten. What was it he had to do? After all this, I had thought he’d be coming back to my apartment and staying for a couple of days.
“Your number was disconnected,” I told him.
He’d not explained that. Actually, there was a lot he hadn’t explained, but I was going to leave it for tomorrow. I had wanted tonight to be magical. But if he wasn’t going to be here …