Total pages in book: 55
Estimated words: 50801 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 254(@200wpm)___ 203(@250wpm)___ 169(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 50801 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 254(@200wpm)___ 203(@250wpm)___ 169(@300wpm)
“Oh!” I snap my fingers. “You’re talking about the part where you kissed me?”
He nods. “I wasn’t the only one doing the kissing.”
I stir the ice in my drink with the small straw, doing my best to not look him in the eye, scared he might see everything I’ve been hiding for so long. “You couldn’t read me after that?”
“No,” he says, his voice lowered between us.
I finally draw my gaze up to his, fire licking my veins at the tension tightening between us. The kiss plays on repeat in my mind, the way he’d held me, the way his mouth felt against mine, the way my heart races even now just thinking about it.
My eyes fall to his lips, adrenaline begging me to do it again.
“You want me to tell you?” I ask, my voice almost a whisper as I look up at him.
“More than anything,” he answers quickly, stepping closer to me, almost like he can’t help it.
I welcome the nearness, the closeness between us, allowing myself to feel every sensation as my body comes alive from just the simple act of him standing next to me.
“The first thing I thought was, holy shit, Paxton is kissing me.”
Paxton laughs. “And the second?”
“Nothing,” I say, swallowing hard.
His shoulders drop. “Nothing? Jesus, Monroe. If you want to tell me you think I’m a bad kisser—”
“No,” I cut him off, shaking my head. “I couldn’t think,” I hurry to continue. “I could only…feel.” I suck in a sharp breath. I’ve always been honest with him before when he’s asked a direct question like this—the only thing I’ve ever hidden is my feelings—so I’m not going to stop now. “It wasn’t possible to form one coherent thought when you were kissing me like you were.”
Paxton blinks a couple times. “Oh,” he says, eyes scanning my face as if he’s searching for the moment I’ll laugh and say just kidding.
I don’t.
His eyes come back to mine, all the rich browns churning with what he’s not saying.
And I can’t find my voice anymore, not after admitting what his kiss had done to me.
He parts his lips—
My phone buzzes in my pocket, jolting me. I glance at Paxton, wondering if he’ll tell me not to answer, but he nods and picks up his water, taking a drink.
I dig in my pocket, fishing out my phone in case it’s a client that needs to reschedule, but the person calling me definitely isn’t a client. It’s Liam. Again.
“Ugh,” I groan. “Can’t take a hint.”
Paxton looks at the screen, a muscle in his jaw ticking. “Don’t answer it.”
“No, I’m going to. I’m over this. He needs to stop,” I say, setting down my drink with one hand as I swipe open the call in the other. I nod to Paxton before heading through the crowded bar and outside, so I can hear him. “Hello?”
“Monroe,” he says my name on a slur, so I know he’s wasted. “Come over.”
“No,” I say firmly. “You have to stop calling me. It’s getting intense.”
“I’m sorry,” he says, dragging out his words. I can hear his friends in the background. “I really am. I shouldn’t have left you like that. I just got mad.”
“It’s fine,” I say, sighing as I walk around the building as more people are coming into the entrance. I take up a good lean around the corner, where the light is muted and I can stick to the shadows. “I don’t need an apology. I need you to stop calling. I need you to move on.”
“But we were just heating up,” he says, almost a whine.
“No, we weren’t.”
“Let’s fix that then,” he says. “Come over. We can make up.”
I roll my eyes. “Find someone else,” I say. “You know I’m not it.”
There’s a pause, and I hope to hell he’s actually thinking about leaving me alone finally.
“You definitely aren’t it,” he says, his tone harsher now. “I kept trying to give you a chance too. But no. You just…you’re too much of a prude to even try more with me. You’re a massage therapist who doesn’t like to fool around? What kind of bullshit is that? You have all this talent, and I bet you can’t even get yourself off with how uptight you are.”
Stunned silence steals through me and tears gather in the backs of my eyes. It takes me a few seconds to replay the words he just spoke, to allow them to sink in. I don’t mind fooling around, if trust had been earned. God, just because he thought since we’d dated over a month that we should’ve been sleeping together doesn’t make me a prude.
“Did you really just say that?” I snap, trying like hell to hold back the emotions threatening to spill over. He just struck hard and low, hitting me in a sore spot I’ve had for a long time.