Total pages in book: 23
Estimated words: 21861 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 109(@200wpm)___ 87(@250wpm)___ 73(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 21861 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 109(@200wpm)___ 87(@250wpm)___ 73(@300wpm)
"Good."
She choked at this, but her husband was unaffected. Colin Soukoulis, billionaire and bully extraordinaire. Whoever would have thought?
He cupped her chin, and she immediately turned her gaze to his, having now recognized this as his silent command to look at him.
Sex, Hope had come to realize after spending just one night in her husband's arms, was not simply satisfying each other's desires. Sex illuminated. It was why she was now more aware of the little nuances in her husband's character. Sex also revealed. And sometimes, these were things that one didn't even know about one's self, like how one night alone would make her addicted to her husband's touch. But most worryingly of all, sex had the power to destroy barriers, even if these were walls that were meant to protect one's self from hurt.
"I can feel you worrying, Hope." Colin's voice was difficult to read, and this bothered her more than she was willing to admit. "Do you have any regrets?"
She shook her head. "You?"
"Only one."
Her heart threatened to crack.
"And it's the amount of time we wasted. I should have made you mine from the start."
Her husband was really a bully!
She made a face, he smirked, and the tension disappeared between them. He gripped her hair, his gaze darkening with desire. "May I?"
"You don't have to keep asking for permission," she said shakily. "I'm yours, always—"
The rest of her words was left unspoken, and all she could do was melt against his arms as Colin started kissing her with hunger that only seemed to grow moment by moment.
Twenty minutes later, they pulled into an underground parking garage beneath a gleaming glass-and-steel building in downtown Denver, and Colin reluctantly lifted his head. He watched in amusement as his wife flew into a panic when she realized they had already reached Greenbright's headquarters.
She scrambled off his lap as she frantically combed her hair through her fingers. He took pity on her and caught her wrist. "Leave it be. The office will likely be empty at this time. And even if there were—I'd like them to see you this way."
"Messy?"
"Owned."
Color burst in her cheeks. Well, then. That made it official: Colin Soukoulis was awfully good at making her feel giddy like a teenage girl.
The elevator whisked them up from the basement parking to the top floor in no time, but it was just as Colin predicted. There was no one around, and even the executive lobby was empty, the reception counter unoccupied.
His corner office was exactly what she expected. Vast space. Luxurious furniture with a masculine bent. And of course, panoramic cityscape views that only billionaire ranchers like Colin could afford.
"I'll need an hour to get my work done."
Colin's apologetic tone had Hope quickly shaking her head. "It's fine," she reassured him. "Take all the time you need."
"If you need anything, just press the Service button. We have staff on duty in the ground floor lobby."
"It's just an hour, Colin. I can entertain myself, I promise."
Colin could see that his wife found his concern amusing. But what Hope didn't know was how rare it was, this ability to entertain herself as she put it. If he were to ask, he knew she would likely say that it came with the territory, being someone in her age. But that was not true at all. He only had to be with her for days, and he already knew that Hope had always been like this.
Selfless.
That was what her ability to entertain herself boiled down to. Her willingness to understand his need to attend to an emergency. Her desire to put the people around her at ease, even when they had never felt the same care towards her. His wife was selfless, in the way the girl he once loved was selfish, and had always been so.
Hope couldn't help but notice the way his phone kept buzzing with what seemed like unanswered texts and calls. Her instincts told her this could only be one person. And the fact that Colin had no trouble ignoring Princess' demands for his attention had her heart racing and aching all at the same time.
Is this really it, God?
It had been so long since she had last prayed to Him, and only now did she realize it was because she had grown impatient. She had lost all hope of her life ever changing, of finding true love. And so she had convinced herself that God was too busy for her.
Until now.
Until this.
The day she signed up to be Colin's email bride, she had done so with the thought that their marriage came with an expiration date. But this time, it suddenly felt as if she was about to burst, and her whole being filled by what she was named for.
She suddenly had hope.
From God.
And that was the best hope there was or could ever be.