Total pages in book: 112
Estimated words: 107687 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 538(@200wpm)___ 431(@250wpm)___ 359(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 107687 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 538(@200wpm)___ 431(@250wpm)___ 359(@300wpm)
Her brows come in. “What changed? Because you made it very clear what you wanted to do, and then you didn’t follow through.”
I can’t help but smile at that. I love how she doesn’t take my shit. “Outside shit happened.”
“I thought the outside didn’t matter? I thought you didn’t care what people thought?”
“I don’t.”
“Then I need more than that. Are you talking about my peepaw?”
“He’s part of it,” I answer, holding her gaze. “Then Elli and my parents got in my head, and the thing is, I don’t know what to do. I have these people telling me Davenport will ruin me, and a part of me doesn’t care. But then the part that has worked so hard for my career does. I don’t want to hurt you. You know I’ve never been in a serious relationship, right?”
She shrugs. “Why would I care? Your past doesn’t mean anything to me. It’s how you treat me now. And before two days ago, you never treated me with anything but respect.”
I swallow hard.
“My peepaw will not do anything to you, because if he does, he’ll lose me. And I know he doesn’t want that.”
Jesus, this is the Janie that gets my engines burning.
“I don’t want that. I know you love him deeply.”
“I do, but I refuse to let anyone make a choice for me. To try to force me not to feel things for you because he’s scared of you hurting me. That’s unfair and wrong. I can make my own decisions.”
“Absolutely, you can. But you haven’t been in this business long enough. Some owners are like that.”
“Well, that’s not the owner I’m working for,” she says. “I won’t let him ruin you, Dimitri. I won’t.”
“You can’t promise that.”
“I am well aware of that, but I’ll try. Even if we walk away from each other right now, I will make sure I do everything I can to help you succeed.”
My heart swells in my chest. I don’t deserve her. “Austen—”
“As much as I don’t want to walk away from you, as much as I don’t want to walk away from whatever we have here, I will if it means you think you need that to succeed.”
“I never thought I wouldn’t succeed. I know I will. But I don’t want this to come back on you.”
“It won’t,” she insists. “How will it, when I won’t allow it?”
“Austen, you can’t say that. You don’t know how they do things.”
“Then I don’t want to be a part of it,” she says simply. “I want you to have your dreams. I will support whatever you want to do, and if that means me walking away from the business, I will.”
“For me?”
She pauses, her eyes so confident, but I can see the fear. “Yes.”
“Austen, that’s crazy.”
“Is it? Or am I standing up for what I believe in? For who I believe in?”
Heart. Relax, you overreacting thing. “I can’t let you walk away from this. You’ve worked so hard.”
“Then I need you to be honest with me. Tell me what you want to do here.”
“I’m trying,” I say, my voice rough.
“Try harder,” she demands, and my cock throbs in my girdle. “Because I can tell you right now, I have lived my whole life being told what to do, how to dress, how to breathe, and I never had the chance to make my own choices. But you…you make me feel things I never even thought I could.” She moves closer, the boards the only thing between us. “I want you to have your career, Dimitri. I do. But if I can be honest, and a tad bit selfish, I want you to want me too.”
My stomach clenches. “Janie, I do want you.” Her face flushes, and my heart sings for her. “I don’t want you to walk away from the business, but I sure as hell don’t want you to walk away from me.”
“I’m not,” she whispers, and then she reaches out, taking my jaw in her hand. Her palm burns my skin, and I crave it. I lean into her hand, my eyes drifting shut. “I’m right here.”
I open my eyes to find her lips parted. Ready for me to take. Everything inside me goes taut, my heart starts beating erratically in my chest, and thinking logically isn’t an option. I know I need to. I want to. But under her gaze, those lips like that…yeah, I can’t. I’m not sure if that’s my brain, my heart, or my cock thinking, but I don’t care. I couldn’t care if I tried. I need her.
“I don’t want to hurt you,” I whisper against her lips, my heart jackhammering in my chest.
“Then don’t.”
I struggle with my feelings. “Do you just want to fuck, Austen, or is it more?”
Her eyes darken, searching mine. “You can’t expect me to answer that when I don’t know how you feel.”