Total pages in book: 121
Estimated words: 119548 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 598(@200wpm)___ 478(@250wpm)___ 398(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 119548 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 598(@200wpm)___ 478(@250wpm)___ 398(@300wpm)
This…
This was dangerous.
“What are you—”
He lowered his face closer to mine and gripped my waist. His thumb caressed my skin slowly, almost in a taunt, daring me to fight him.
Sparks flew across my skin. My chest heaved as I drew in a deep breath, and as those sparks all gathered between my legs and made my clit hum to life, I squeezed my thighs together.
Oh, golly.
I’m turned on.
By Fred.
“Get off,” I whispered.
“Why do you keep staring?” he asked, his eyes fixed firmly onto me.
I turned my head, focusing my attention on a spot on the carved headboard. “I told you: You’re imagining it.”
“Delilah.” He gripped my chin and forced my head back, making our gazes collide.
There was a heat in his eyes, one that danced through my own body. For a moment, my whole world froze, and all that existed was him leaning over me, pinning my hands down, cupping my jaw, staring into my eyes like he could only see me.
And my heart—my guilty, traitorous, confused little heart—fluttered.
Just once.
Barely there.
Like a newly emerged butterfly stretching its wings, something crawled out from the deepest depths of my soul and fluttered into existence.
Something—a feeling—that could never, ever be put back.
Fred’s hold on my wrists tightened the tiniest amount, and his jaw ticked as he clenched it.
Did he feel it, too? This unnamed, unrecognisable wisp of something enticingly alluring yet terrifying?
My gaze broke free of his and flicked down.
His pyjama bottoms were bulging. Obviously so. The line of his erection was clear to see pressed against the thin cotton, with the head of his cock pressing against the low-slung waistband.
I snapped my eyes back up to his. “Fred, are you attracted to me?”
He blinked as if he couldn’t believe I’d just asked that. To be fair, I couldn’t believe I had, so he wasn’t alone in that.
“Wh—what are you saying?”
Well, I’d done it now.
Might as well dig my grave before throwing myself into it.
“You’re hard.” I swallowed, clenching my thighs together once more.
“How do you—”
“It’s not that difficult to miss.” My voice shook a little.
His cheeks flushed, and seeing his usually pale skin spark to life with embarrassment made my breath catch in my throat.
Shit.
I wanted to kiss him.
I wanted him to kiss me.
A proper kiss. A real kiss. One that I’d feel on my lips for days.
Just… kiss me for a second. One crazy second.
He released me, quickly pushing himself up and away from my body. It was as if a cold gust of wind whooshed over my body with his absence, and I quickly sat up, reaching for him.
I grabbed his hand and forced him to stop. “Fred.”
He covered the lower half of his face with his hand and refused to look at me. “Drop it.”
“No. We have to—”
“Drop it, Delilah!” He shook his arm.
I let go of his wrist with the force of his gesture but quickly grabbed his arm again, jumping off the bed to do so. “Is it because of me?”
“Fuck, yes!”
This time when he shook me off, I let him.
Because I couldn’t move.
I was frozen, rooted to the spot, completely immobile.
But my brain? That was going at a thousand miles a minute. Those two words rattled around like an echo in a cave, and all I could do was stare at him, blinking frantically.
“What? Don’t like the answer?” His voice was tinged with a bitterness that licked at the air around us. “That’s why I told you to drop it. But you just kept pushing.”
“No, I—” I paused, then ran my fingers through my hair, dipping my chin and focusing on the rug. “I didn’t think you’d admit it,” I murmured.
It was his turn to still. “Is that what you’ve been doing? Seeing if I wake up with a bloody erection?”
“You acted so weird the other day, and Lucy suggested it might be that, so…” I trailed off, shifting my weight from one foot to the other.
Fred hooked two fingers under my chin and forced me to meet his gaze. “Have you been talking to your sister about me?”
“Um.” Heat rose in my face, matching his pink cheeks. “You snapped at me, and it was weird, so…”
“I thought we’d moved past that, what with the tub of ice-cream with your name written on it in Sharpie and new memory foam insoles for your work shoes.”
“And it’s been three business days, so I forgive you,” I countered. “But I just… needed some advice from someone who’s been in this situation, that’s all.”
“I don’t think anyone has pretended to be in love with and marry their best friend to fulfil their grandmother’s dying wish,” he said somewhat dryly.
“Marriage, you pillock!” I shoved his hand off me and put a little distance between us. “It’s an adjustment, real or fake, and I needed someone to speak to. She’s the one who mentioned your penis first.”