Total pages in book: 105
Estimated words: 98524 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 493(@200wpm)___ 394(@250wpm)___ 328(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 98524 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 493(@200wpm)___ 394(@250wpm)___ 328(@300wpm)
I laughed. “I promise I won’t.”
“Good.” He laid a kiss on my lips, and I sighed behind it.
Damn, I missed his lips. It’d been a solid week since I’d last felt them. Perfectly supple and full. He was a damn good kisser too. I laced my arms around the back of his neck, deepening the kiss.
“Oh, and also,” I said when our lips separated. “I think your mom might hate me.”
“She does not hate you. She is just protective.”
“But you noticed that on the plane, right? She didn’t act that way toward me at Aleesa’s party.”
“No, she did not. She tends to get hostile when she thinks my nannies are seeking more. Many in the past have tried it—wanting to get closer to me, clearly all for one thing.”
“You don’t think that about me, do you?”
“Absolutely not. You have been the most genuine of all of them.”
“Did you do anything with any of them?” I couldn’t help but ask. It was going to kill me not to know.
“Hell, no.”
“Swear.”
“I swear. You are the only one I have ever felt anything for. But even if our circumstances were different, I am certain we would have connected in some other way.”
“Aw. That’s a sweet way of looking at it.”
“Daddy!” Aleesa squealed from the living room. “iPad is dead!”
He let out a weary chuckle. “Let me get to her.” He placed another kiss on my lips, one that was so deep and passionate my toes curled in my sneakers. “You go ahead and freshen up. I will get her ready.”
“Okay.” I drew my bottom lip in, sinking my teeth into it.
I watched him make his way toward the door but was surprised when he stopped, twisted around again, and came back to me. He gathered my face in his large hands and brought his mouth down to kiss me one more time.
I melted in that moment like butter in a skillet. I gave in and kissed him back, laughing behind it.
“You’re much more romantic than I expected, Valdez,” I murmured when he let me go.
His thumb skimmed my bottom lip, and he wore a smirk that was too sexy for his own good. “There are a lot of things about me that are unexpected, amor. You just have to stick around long enough to see what they are.”
Twenty-Seven
Octavia
Dinner was impeccable, of course. I’d expected nothing less from one of the pickiest men I’d ever dealt with.
The picky man that I couldn’t stop looking at or thinking about.
Paola still gave me the cold shoulder or ignored me altogether. I didn’t know what the hell her problem was or why she was making sudden assumptions about me. Catalina, on the other hand, had no problem chatting me up and even shared some of her chocolate cake with me.
After eating, Catalina and Paola decided to take a walk to burn a few calories and to sightsee. Javier, Aleesa, and I were picked up in a black car that took us to a massive bookstore on Broadway.
Javier led Aleesa to the children’s section right away. I was about to follow them when a book on one of the stands caught my eye. This had been bound to happen. Of course I was going to get distracted. I was a bookworm in a store full of books.
I wasn’t sure how long I stood at that section, browsing every romance-novel cover and debating on which I wanted to take with me. There were so many options—too many, really. The books I decided to grab were gorgeous and had amazing premises and plots. At one point, I wondered if it would’ve been too much to buy six of them.
“Just one,” I told myself as I picked up one of the novels and scanned the back cover again. Besides, I didn’t have enough space in my suitcase for six.
“It’s me,” Javier called, causing me to spin around. He wove his way through the aisle with Aleesa on his shoulders. There were no books in either of their hands. “Just letting you know I’m approaching.”
I held the book to my chest with a grin. “Thank you for that.”
He gave me a nod and a half smile.
“Did you find anything for Leesa?”
“No.” A deep sigh left him as he removed her from his shoulders and placed her feet on the ground. “All she cares about are the toys.”
“Of course she does.” I laughed. “Let me give her a try.”
I collected her hand, and we made our way through the aisles until we came across the children’s section. There were so many books lined up on the shelves. I could see how this could be overwhelming for a four-year-old.
“Here, Leesa. How about this?” I plucked a book titled Night Owl Kisses.
Aleesa gave it a scan, then nodded. “Yes. I like ow’s.”
“Okay, great. What else do you like?”