Total pages in book: 94
Estimated words: 92371 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 462(@200wpm)___ 369(@250wpm)___ 308(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 92371 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 462(@200wpm)___ 369(@250wpm)___ 308(@300wpm)
“Geesh.” I scratched the back of my head. “I wish I’d known that. We would have done it in the bed instead of nailing your royal ass to the desk.”
Alice snorted, covering her mouth, eyes wide.
“So, Princess Alice, since you don’t have a job, do you have any talents I should know about?” I plucked my helmet from the hook and tightened the strap.
She lifted a shoulder. “Oh, you know … nothing much. I’m good at synchronized or artistic swimming. I stole a turtle when I was eight. And in high school, I played Hermia in A Midsummer Night’s Dream.”
I raised an eyebrow at her as she tipped her chin up, grin brimming with confidence. Was she toying with me? “Are we playing two truths and a lie?” I asked, fitting the helmet on her head, then checking the strap and removing it to tighten it a bit more.
“Do two of my talents sound like lies?”
I laughed. “Maybe. Although, I’m not sure stealing turtles is considered a talent. Did you get caught?”
“No. That’s why it’s a talent.” She tipped her chin up for me to fasten the helmet.
I latched it, then patted the top twice. “I’ve never seen or read A Midsummer Night’s Dream, so I don’t know if Hermia is a good part.”
“Yes.” She headed into the alley where I had the bike next to my car, and she lifted her leg over the bar. “Hermia was a courageous woman in love with Lysander, but her father wanted her to marry Demetrius. She basically had to fight the patriarchy, then deal with the man of her dreams being given a love potion that made him fall in love with her friend. It was such a beautiful mess.”
“I’m not a fan of Shakespeare.”
“Well, you’re just saying that because you never met the guy, and you probably skipped all Shakespeare’s stories in favor of google search summaries.”
She pegged me correctly, but I wasn’t going down that easily.
“No one who has attended school in the twenty-first century has read anything but summaries of Shakespeare, or Dickens for that matter. It’s basically the entire purpose of the internet.”
She rolled her eyes.
“Need me to adjust the seat?” I held the bike while she sat on it, feet pressed to the pedals.
“Nope. Feels pretty good.” She slid off the seat and slipped on her sunglasses.
“Cool. Well, enjoy your ride.”
“Thanks.” She grabbed my shirt and pulled me to her while wearing a grin.
“Ouch,” I said when she tried to kiss me because the helmet’s sun visor hit my forehead.
“Oh, sorry.” She snorted.
I rubbed my forehead.
She giggled. “I was going to kiss you.”
“Yeah, I caught that.”
Alice unlatched her helmet and hung it from the handlebar. Then she lifted onto her toes and grabbed the back of my neck so she could kiss my forehead where the visor hit it. But I didn’t need my boo-boo kissed; I needed to taste the inside of her mouth, so I did just that.
“Hi,” I whispered over her lips, then kissed her. And before I knew it, the bike fell on its side as I pulled her to my body.
She kissed me back with just as much fervor. Everything about Alice was unexpected and exciting. And I felt about her the way she felt about wine for breakfast: when in Rome …
“In …” She broke the kiss and panted while I kissed down her neck. “Inside.”
There was no need to ask me twice. I carried her into the garage and pushed the button for the door to close. She released her arms and legs from me, sliding to her feet, and turned toward the door to the backyard. I kissed her neck and snaked my hand down the front of her shorts, pressing my chest to her back.
Her breath caught, then she moaned, “Oh god, Murphy,” pressing her hands to the door.
I peeled her leggings and underwear down her legs, removing one of her shoes to free that leg. My patience vanished, hands just as eager to touch her as they were to unfasten my jeans. Gripping her beautiful ass, I spread her open and thrust inside of her.
“Murphy,” she chanted my name, arching her back and grinding into me while her fingernails scraped along the door.
It was sexy, spontaneous, and a little unhinged. I liked Alice’s unreal life just as much as my hands liked the feel of her breasts and taut nipples as I shoved her sports bra up her chest to release them.
When it was over, I hugged her back to my chest to keep her upright as her knees wobbled. “My god that was good,” I said between labored breaths.
“So good …” she mumbled with a long exhale.
I tucked myself back into my underwear before helping her get her leggings back on.
“For the record,” she said, turning toward me and adjusting her sports bra to cover her breasts again, “I meant inside the house.”