Total pages in book: 87
Estimated words: 85135 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 426(@200wpm)___ 341(@250wpm)___ 284(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 85135 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 426(@200wpm)___ 341(@250wpm)___ 284(@300wpm)
Jacob leans down to where I’m sitting. “She’s great,” he says.
She really is. All I can do is nod. Anything else and Jacob will know more than I want to give away. Jacob slings an arm around Sutton and they head upstairs to bed.
I pull Vivian down onto my lap and she circles her arms around my neck.
“It’s been such a lovely evening,” she says. “I don’t want it to end.”
“We can stay up a little longer,” I say, not wanting the evening to end either.
Her fingers stroke the back of my neck. “Wanna show me your room?”
Our gazes lock and I try to figure out if she’s saying what I think she’s saying.
“I can,” I reply, in the most neutral tone I can manage. I’ve been consigned to Mum’s sewing room, which used to be an office, which originally was a barn across the driveway from the house. I stand and instantly miss her warmth as she slides off me. “Yeah, I really want to show you my room.” I take her hand in mine. I pat my jeans pockets to make sure I have my keys and we head out into the rain. It’s not heavy, and she doesn’t ask for an umbrella or even try and cover her hair with a hat. She’s exactly the opposite of who people would think a global singing star would be, and it’s like I’m in on the secret—the real Vivian.
Vivian has her own room in the house, but I’m really hoping her tour of mine will last the night.
“Is this where y’all toast the marshmallows?” She nods over at the firepit.
“Yeah. When it’s not raining. And given we’re in Norfolk, that’s about three days a year.”
“I like the rain,” she says as she squeezes my hand.
I open the door to my bedroom, revealing the made-up sofa bed and Mum’s sewing equipment.
“There’s not much to see,” I say, closing the door.
She laughs. “At least it’s dry.” She tilts her head as she gazes up at me. I circle her waist with my arms as she slides her palms up my chest, making my entire body shudder on the inside.
“Did you bring me in here on false pretenses?” I ask. “I thought you wanted to see my room, but it looks like you’re planning to seduce me.”
“Maybe. Or maybe I’m hoping you’ll seduce me?” She runs a finger over my lips and I close my eyes to try and control the urge I have to strip her naked and lick her from the inside of her ankle to behind her ear.
My voice drops at least an octave. “Are you sure that’s what you want?”
She nods and my skin tightens all over.
“But when we met, you were adamant—”
“Before I knew you.”
She knows exactly what to say.
“Are you sure?” she asks. “I know that before—”
I lean and press a kiss against her lips, sliding my tongue through to her soft, wet mouth. My entire body sags with relief. It’s like I’ve arrived home.
I don’t care what came before, what pledges I made about maintaining my singledom for eternity, about the fact that Vivian might change her mind tomorrow and fly back to America and break my heart in the process. Right now. Here. I just want us to be as close to each other as we can be, mentally and physically.
I smooth my hands up her back, as if I’m trying to reassure myself she’s here. With me.
As she pushes her fingers through my hair, I let out a groan. It feels so good. She feels so good. I want to stretch out these moments we’re about to have so they don’t end, so they just loop around and start again like some time-based mobius strip. There, we’d spend the rest of time together, interlocking across the driveway at my parents’ house.
“Don’t overthink this,” she whispers.
“I can’t think about anything at the moment.”
She steps back and out of my arms and strips off her shirt.
I close my eyes in a slow blink, trying to get hold of myself. It just feels like the stakes are so high and she’s so beautiful and…and I don’t want to be the good-time guy. The guy before the one she gets serious with.
“You’re overthinking,” she says.
She’s right. I’m thinking about everything.
She dips her fingers under my shirt, skating her fingertips over my scars before pushing at the fabric. I strip it off, then watch as she familiarizes herself with my uneven skin.
She leans forward and presses kisses on my torso over and over again. Something in the way she touches me clears my mind and makes me shift gear.
She’s beautiful. And half naked. And standing right in front of me.
She stands after peeling off her jeans and it’s like someone renewed my batteries. I step toward her, cupping her face, and turn us so her back is against the wall.