Total pages in book: 26
Estimated words: 25205 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 126(@200wpm)___ 101(@250wpm)___ 84(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 25205 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 126(@200wpm)___ 101(@250wpm)___ 84(@300wpm)
I press the backs of my hands to my cheeks. They’re on fire. I’m tingling from head to toe. My thighs are damp, and even though I haven’t had any experience with men, I know what that means.
I grew up in a mansion like most people only see in movies. A mansion with a north, south, east, and west wing. With a housekeeper and a driver and a security team that obeyed my father, who barked commands at them like a general. It’s because of him that I’ve never had a boyfriend, never been kissed, gone to a school dance, or done any of the things an eighteen-year-old girl should have done by now.
The only men who have been around me are my father’s employees, or the most harmless guys from school that were vetted multiple times by Dad before being allowed to hang out with me. Most of them weren’t interested in me–or girls in general.
And now there’s him.
Nash.
A mechanic who fixes engines with his bare hands and isn’t afraid to ask me if I’m a “good girl” or not.
Letting out a moan, I flop down on the couch and drag a pillow over my face. I’m all on my own out here now. No dad to “protect” me from the hunk of a man who has promised to fix my car.
As soon as I turned eighteen, I moved out here to my grandmother’s old cottage so I could be on my own. No more living under Dad’s thumb or the shadow of Mom’s neglect.
I thought I could handle it. And I was having a fine time.
Until today.
He’s going to ruin me–maybe everything. And the worst part? I actually want him to.
I’m trying to think some sense into myself when my phone buzzes. It’s a text from Emily, my cousin and best friend:
Bonfire at the lake tonight. Be there or be dead.
I stare back at the screen for a moment like I’ve forgotten how to exist in the normal world away from Nash.
Emily’s my cousin on my mother’s side, and the only girl in the family who didn’t end up married off before twenty-one. We grew up like sisters, and I absolutely adore her. She’s loud, wild, and goes hard with fashion and makeup. She’s everything I’m not and was never allowed to be.
I should say yes, but my encounter with Nash at the garage still has me feeling stunned. I lie there a moment until my phone buzzes again:
Hello!? Are you asleep!?
Smiling, I text back:
Okay, but I think I’ll need a ride.
A few hours later, I’m still trying to calm down as Emily and I pull up at the lake. The fire’s already going, and I can see the outline of people clustered around as we hop out of her car.
Still no call from Nash. He said he’d get to my car today. Maybe he got busy. He does have an entire business to run, and it’s not like he’s employed by my father.
“Where’s your head tonight?” Emily asks, practically reading my mind like she always does. “You have another fight with your dad or something?”
I shake my head. “No. Just…worried about my car.” I’ve chosen not to tell her about Nash. I’m not sure why. I never hide things from Emily, but right now, my encounter feels a bit like a secret–a secret I’d like to keep to myself for as long as possible.
“Your parents will pay the bill if you ask them,” she scoffs.
“Yeah, I know. But it’s Grandma’s car, and I want to make sure it stays in good shape.”
We start to walk down the grassy slope to the fire, and that’s when I see some guy wearing cowboy boots and a tank top start to walk toward us. He’s got a glint in his eye, and Emily giggles at me. “Tyler. My date for tonight. Isn’t he hot!? He plays football.”
I shrug. He’s okay. But compared to Nash, he looks like a boy.
“And…” Emily points to a guy walking beside him, wearing a red Polo shirt and Bermuda shorts with flip-flops. “Your date. His name’s Arthur.”
I sigh and stop dead in my tracks. “You’re kidding, right, Emily? If I’d known you’d set me up with Mini-Trump I would never have come out tonight.”
“I know,” she laughs. “Which is precisely why I didn’t tell you!”
I want to protest more, but the guys have already reached us.
“Sup, Em.” Tyler smiles. She smiles back.
“Arthur, this is Grace,” she says. “Grace, this is Arthur.”
“You didn’t tell me your friend was such a babe,” Arthur snorts, sounding like he’s already had a few. “You don’t have an O.F. do you? Cause I’d definitely subscribe to that!”
Emily winces beside me, clearly already regretting her invitation.
“Why don’t we go down to the bonfire?” Tyler suggests. Arthur slides up beside me and slips an arm around my waist. He smells like cigarettes and beer, and I immediately recoil, but he holds firm, like he thinks he has some right to my body or something.