Total pages in book: 95
Estimated words: 90085 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 450(@200wpm)___ 360(@250wpm)___ 300(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 90085 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 450(@200wpm)___ 360(@250wpm)___ 300(@300wpm)
Her breathing hitched, and her eyes widened. “Uh,” she breathed. “I, uh, want to be friends too. And I can’t promise I won’t develop an attachment if we do sexual things…” She trailed off and blushed. “But I won’t let it change things. Between us and our friendship.”
So, that was a yes? Right?
I was struggling to concentrate. Her lips were distracting me.
“We’re good then? I’m forgiven?”
She nodded.
“And we can still mess around?”
Another nod.
I was tempted to push her back and rip off her pajama shorts, but she hadn’t eaten yet.
“Good,” I said, tearing my eyes off her mouth. That was a no-go zone, and I should probably bring that up. “It’s best we don’t kiss. At least on the mouth,” I added with a flirty grin.
She licked her lips, and I wanted to groan.
“Okay.”
The disappointment in her eyes didn’t help. I already wanted her mouth. But not getting everything I wanted would protect her. I’d hurt her once, and I fucking refused to do it again.
“Um, could you…start sleeping in the bed with me? I don’t wake up every time the wind blows when you’re in there. And I’m tired.”
Because of the fucker who hadn’t shown up again. He’d gone silent. The car that had been at the Bed and Breakfast was an employee who had been doing a grocery run and forgotten something. We had no lead. Not one damn thing.
“Only if you sleep naked,” I teased, wanting to lighten the mood.
She bit her bottom lip, and I couldn’t tell if it was from being nervous or if it was from excitement.
“Really?” she asked.
“We can compromise. Wear the silky pajama shorts thingy, but no panties.”
Her breathing hitched, and then…she nodded.
Thirty-Two
Montana
This would be one of those things I looked back on one day, and it was either a fond memory or the one that forever haunted me. All I knew was that I had been miserable when Than and I weren’t speaking. His silence and the loss of the tiny taste of friendship we’d developed was hard. Something I’d only had for such a short time shouldn’t be that difficult to lose, but then Than Carver was special. I imagined he had a trail of hearts he’d broken that was miles long.
He had been honest from the start. He wasn’t leading me on or promising me anything. Just friendship. And until I left this place, I wanted that and him. At least the parts of him he was willing to give me. Momma would be shaking her head if she knew what I had agreed to. Telling me that I was being stupid, and maybe I was. But this was my mistake to make.
I was walking into this with my eyes open. No matter how this ended, Than would never be a regret. It just seemed impossible. Especially when he smiled at me and held me against him, like he had on the sofa tonight. His fingers brushing little patterns on my upper arm, where his hand rested while we watched a movie, had kept me from really paying attention to anything other than him. I liked being with him.
Pulling back the curtain that separated the bedroom from the bathroom, I paused for a moment at the sight of Than lying on the bed in only a pair of black boxers with his hands behind his head. He turned to look my way, and his gaze as it drifted down my body sent a warm rush through me.
“Remember our agreement,” he said. “There’d better not be panties under those shorts.”
Grinning, I walked over to the bed. “Well, you have on underwear.”
“Six, if you wanted me naked, all you had to do was ask,” he said while pulling back the covers for me.
I rolled my eyes at his comment and slipped beneath the sheet and blanket. Than stood, maneuvered his body so he could do the same, and then he was there. Beside me. His warm, hard body against mine. I shivered as his hand slid down my back to cup my butt and pull me closer to him.
“Mmm, this is a hell of a lot better than the sofa,” he murmured, burying his nose in my hair and inhaling.
I slid my hand up his biceps and rested it there. Thoughts of him being over me and how the muscles in his arm had flexed turned into me thinking about how he’d look if he’d gone in all the way.
He brushed my hair away from my neck, then pressed his lips to the area just below my ear before moving down to the curve of my neck. While he continued to lick, nibble, and kiss that specific spot, he slid one hand inside my bottoms so that he was squeezing my bare butt. With his other hand, he grabbed my thigh and hitched my leg over his hip, causing my entire body to be pressed against his.