Total pages in book: 23
Estimated words: 21547 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 108(@200wpm)___ 86(@250wpm)___ 72(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 21547 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 108(@200wpm)___ 86(@250wpm)___ 72(@300wpm)
I roll my eyes and wrap my arms around his neck. “So... don’t you think you should finish the conversation?”
He nuzzles his nose against the side of my neck. “I would have if my wife would behave like she’s supposed to.”
I bring my shoulders up when his nose tickles me. I’m trying not to laugh at his antics, but it’s getting ridiculous at this point. “Behave? I was literally stretching.”
He pulls back and looks me in the eye. “Yeah, but I know you. What were you planning to do after that?”
I look across the room, unable to lie to him when he’s looking at me with so much love on his face. “Nothing.”
He nods. “Okay. So you weren’t going to try and clean up or help with dinner? You were going to stretch and sit back down?”
I lean in and kiss him. How could I not when he’s being so protective? I pull back and search his eyes. “The doctor said to slow down. He didn’t say that I needed to stay off my feet or take time off my job. It’s okay for me to stretch, work, and straighten up the house.”
“But why would you? You have me for that.”
I shift on his lap, and sure enough, he’s hard underneath me. “But why would I want you to do those things when there are other things I’d like you to be doing?”
I lean forward and press my lips to his. I thread my fingers through the hair at his nape. He cut it last week, and I’d be lying if I said I didn’t miss his long hair. His hands stroke up and down my back, and I turn in his lap, straddling him, trying to get him exactly where I want him.
He gently releases my lips and stares back at me hungrily. “You’re trying to get my mind off things.”
I laugh. “No I’m not. I’m kissing my husband.”
He leans his forehead against mine and sighs. “What’s wrong?”
He pulls back and tilts his head. “I fucked up, Nikki. When I forced you out of the hospital that day. It was the stupidest thing I’d ever done, and if I could go back and change it, I would.”
I rub my hand over his chest, right over his heart. “It’s okay, you know. I’ve forgiven you, and we’ve already moved past it.”
His eyes clench shut as if he’s physically in pain. “All that time wasted.”
I cup his face and search his eyes. Ethan no longer cares what people think about his scars. Heck, I don’t even think he worries about them anymore. Once he believed that I still loved him scars and all, nothing else seemed to matter. But he can’t seem to forgive himself for what he did to me. “The way I look at it, you needed time to heal. If nothing else, we appreciate this life we have together way more and maybe the hell we went through, well, when I was backstage at the auction—”
He groans. “Fuck, let’s not talk about the auction. I still have nightmares of the man grunting behind me, thinking he could have you.”
I stroke his arm to calm him down. I had no idea that he’d be as possessive as he’s turned out to be. He hates when other men look at me. “Seriously, I know you do, but listen. I met a woman at the auction, and she was talking about how everything happens for a reason. There’s a reason you pushed me away just like there’s a reason why we’re here together now. I love you, Ethan, and I don’t regret a thing.” I lean back and put a hand over my rounded belly. “I mean, look what we made. There’s no regrets... just happiness.”
He covers my hand with his. “Fuck, what did I do to deserve you?”
I laugh and can’t help but poke a little fun at him. “Well, you did pay twenty million dollars for me.”
He wraps his hand around the back of my neck and whispers to me, “And it was the best money I ever spent.”
I settle into his lap and know that dinner, his phone call, and straightening the house will have to wait because every second with Ethan is worth cherishing.