Total pages in book: 41
Estimated words: 37270 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 186(@200wpm)___ 149(@250wpm)___ 124(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 37270 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 186(@200wpm)___ 149(@250wpm)___ 124(@300wpm)
It answers all my questions and resolves any doubts I might have formed as I feel my deep rumbling sound of approval as I linger with her hand to my lips.
She needs me as much as I need her, and I have plenty of places other than her hand I’d like to bury my face right now.
First things first. This is a slow-burn kinda deal—a forever deal in the making. I can’t afford to ruin anything. I have to be the perfect host and also the perfect gentleman. A girl as special as Melissa doesn’t deserve anything less, and a girl like her? She’s the only thing a guy who has everything could ever want. I feel like I’ve stumbled across the one thing I’ve missed in twenty years of acquiring everything I’ve ever desired. None of it even comes close to the feeling she’s stirred up inside me.
Forcing myself to ease back from her and trying hard to act natural, I notice her almost panting breath and flushed features. That ample chest of hers heaves up and down under her cardigan. The long sleeves she has on underneath, and the fact it’s a hundred degrees gives me a new reason to get her out of those clothes and soon.
“Is the A/C on in here?” she finally gasps, absently clutching at her throat and stabbing the console of buttons on the armrest beside her.
It’s a little chilly in the car, but I know the heat she’s referring to. It has nothing to do with the weather.
“You dressed for a long flight, I’m assuming. Not the Sydney summer day you were heading toward?” I observe with a grin, stealing another sweep of her body with my eyes before I crack the window again. The blast of warm air from outside is my little way of letting her know that the air conditioning works fine.
God knows those saucer-sized nipples of hers are as stiff as if we were in the arctic. So, I don’t buy it she feels “hot” on account of the temperature outside.
“That, plus I burn super easy,” she says automatically, her face seeming to redden a darker shade at the mention of the sun.
“It is different down here… the sun, I mean.” I agree with her, swallowing hard as I fight the urge to keep staring. To reach out to her again.
The large rear seats suddenly feel smaller, like we’re slowly being pulled closer together by something, like it or not. Or maybe that’s just wishful thinking.
She nervously makes a little small talk. She tries to anyway, but I wave off her questions about my business and her dad. I’d much rather she tell me about her flight and her impressions of Australia so far. Anything to hear her voice and have her close to me.
Hopefully, she’d like to see Sydney, so I can show her the experience she deserves. It’s clear after a few minutes her dad hasn’t told her everything. It’s something my gut picks up on, and it gives me an uneasy feeling.
“It’s a big step,” I venture, figuring I may as well tackle this head-on. Her confused expression makes my stomach sink a little, but only because it means she might not be staying for long.
“What do you mean?” she asks.
“Nothing,” I reply instantly, figuring I’d better not get her dad in any deeper than he already is. The deal we have on the table is that he’s selling his house in the States and his business and merging a part of it with one of the companies I have here.
That means if Melissa isn’t coming here for good, she has something or someone else she’d rather be with.
“You mean flying solo?” she asks, deciding in her mind that must be what I mean, her coming all this way by herself.
My mouth forms into a crooked smile.
I mean moving to Australia so I can have you as my own every day.
“I guess,” I murmur, listening without looking at her as she tells me all about the flight and the trip to the airport, but there’s no mention of anyone else. No real future plans.
Maybe Steve hasn’t found the right moment to tell her about his big move. It sets me on edge because if Steve’s changed his mind, I kinda need to know. It’s not a huge deal for me, more to help a buddy, but if he’s backing out, just say so. If he’s planning on waiting for Melissa to find out on her own, I kind of have a problem with that, too.
The car slows and, glancing out the window, I can see the driver’s pulled up to the front entrance of a three-star hotel chain.
“This is me,” Melissa says, sounding apprehensive but probably relieved at the thought of a cool shower and a change of clothes. She probably wants a rest after that flight, but I’m not ready to dump and run. I’m sure of something else, too.