Total pages in book: 106
Estimated words: 98643 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 493(@200wpm)___ 395(@250wpm)___ 329(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 98643 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 493(@200wpm)___ 395(@250wpm)___ 329(@300wpm)
“I don’t under—”
“Guys like… like from the other day. They don’t even bother to try and hide who they are.”
“And I do?” I asked in disappointment.
“I don’t know. I’ve met some of the best of them… guys who say one thing but mean another. The ones whose blinders come off when they realize the lips wrapped—” The young man stopped abruptly but I knew what he was going to say. How many times had men taken advantage of his effeminate appearance so they could play the “not really gay” card when they were done using him?
I nodded even as it stung to know that I fell into the second group that deemed me as the what you see is whatever you want to see kind of guy. “I’m sorry,” I said as I dropped my eyes to the two mugs sitting in the center of the table. Something about them made my chest hurt. I was still rubbing my thumb over the slim wrist my fingers were still loosely wrapped around.
No further explanation seemed necessary. I was sorry about a lot of things, but many of them had nothing to do with him or anything I’d done to him directly. I’d set my life up in a way that was purposefully designed to keep people at arm’s length and yet the first time I’d touched him, I’d touched him.
Just like he’d touched me.
I couldn’t let that happen ever again and yet I couldn’t force myself to release him.
“You need to make sure someone checks in on you every half hour or so for the next several hours. If you fall asleep or pass out, it could mean—"
“Brain bleed,” I finished for him. “I should get out there and introduce myself,” I said awkwardly, but for the life of me, I couldn’t understand what made me add, “You said the next time you thanked me you’d make sure I’d know what was between your legs. What happens when it’s the other way around?”
“Huh?”
My eyes moved from the mugs to his wrist. He had some abrasions on the heel of his palm, probably from trying to catch himself when those three assholes had shoved him to the ground.
“What about when I need to thank you?” I asked. My words were met with dead silence, but I could feel his pulse point begin to beat harder as I stroked my thumb over the span of his wrist.
I dropped my mouth to the inside of it and placed a soft kiss there. The softest of whimpers fell from his mouth as the simple kiss I’d intended turned into something else. As my lips grazed the skin of his hand, I cast a glance up and saw those green eyes were hidden from view and the arch of his neck seemed to be calling for its share of kisses.
It was then that I knew I had him. He was too damn responsive to hide his desire, but more importantly, he didn’t try to hide it. I wanted to pull him down so he’d be straddling me. The chemistry between us was undeniable, so anything we did, from the gentlest caress to the deepest needy kiss, would end up with him flat on his back on the kitchen table, those slim legs of his wrapped around my hips and his gorgeous green eyes glassy with need as I reached for my belt.
As pleasant as the image was, it was also a very serious problem.
I’d already kissed him once and it was all I could think about. Every day, every night. I hated that because it wasn’t something I wanted in the long run.
I’d liked hooking up with strange guys in my past life, but sex was barely a blip on my radar these days. The life I’d chosen for myself didn’t have room for a sex life and something told me that even if it did, fucking this young man once wouldn’t be enough. Just like kissing him once wasn’t enough. I was already too invested in him and I couldn’t let that go any further. So instead of pulling him onto my lap, I reached into my jacket pocket to retrieve an item that I placed in his palm and then closed his fingers around it. The move had him catching his breath and opening his eyes.
“I think this is going to look beautiful on you,” I told him. As he opened his palm, I stood and eased my hat onto my head. I dropped a kiss to the top of his. “‘Mr. Fuck You’ isn’t going to work for me, so until you’re ready to trust me with your real name, I’ll have to come up with something else.” I paused for a moment before my runaway mouth said, “Thank you, sweetheart.”
Chapter Four
JULES
So it was true.