Total pages in book: 24
Estimated words: 22950 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 115(@200wpm)___ 92(@250wpm)___ 77(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 22950 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 115(@200wpm)___ 92(@250wpm)___ 77(@300wpm)
“Do you want something to drink?” she asks, turning on her bare heel and sauntering in the direction of the kitchen. I follow in her wake, watching her butt twitch in those little red bun huggers and observe her chug from a bottle of water in the fridge.
When she’s done, she nods at the fridge with a questioningly look and I shake my head. “Nothing for me, thanks,” I say, leaning forward across the granite island. “So, tell me, Ophelia—”
“Uh uh. You already grilled me. It’s my turn.” She leans back against the fridge and seems to brace herself. “Why were you in prison?”
“Arson,” I say without hesitation. “Is that better or worse than you were thinking?”
A beat passes. “I don’t know. Did anyone die?”
“No.”
Her shoulders relax. “Will you tell me what happened?”
I nod, suddenly on shaky ground. I’ve told no one about the incident in a damn long while. Seven long years. And I’ve never given a fuck about anyone’s opinion about what I did until now. “Long story short, I worked for a car parts manufacturer. We exported those parts internationally.” Anger rises up inside me like dough in the oven. “Found out the scumbag owner was shipping women, too. Sending them off to be sold and—” I stop with a ground out curse. “He made me a part of something without my knowledge. Something sick. My temper didn’t stop to ask questions, princess. I set fire to the whole goddamn facility. After hours, so no one got hurt. It was the fastest way to put him out of business. He was arrested and charged. The two dozen women being held were freed. But apparently calling the authorities would have been a better move for me. Law enforcement tends to frown on a fifty-thousand-square-foot-structure fire.”
Ophelia is quiet a moment. “You saved those women.”
“Not enough of them.”
She pushes off the fridge and starts to come toward me. “Do you still feel guilty?”
I grunt out a yes.
“I’m sorry. It’s not fair.” Having reached me, she slides a cautious hand up my chest. “It’s not right for an honorable man to be labeled dishonorable.”
It feels so good to have her hand on me, my eyes close on their own. “Right now, I’m only concerned what you think.”
Her tone is pure innocence when she confesses in a whisper, “I think I’d have burned that motherfucker down, too.”
In the wake of my shock, my dick gets good and hard. This girl. She’s a firecracker. I want to lay her down and revel in her. Stoke that fire. Watch it burn. “My turn for a question,” I rasp. “Keep your hands on me while I ask it.”
She adds her second hand and her palms stroke up and over my pecs in tandem. She’s killing me and has no clue. “What do you want to know?”
“Why didn’t you tell me who you were? When we met.” Ophelia visibly clams up. Her hands drop away from my chest and I have to wrap an arm around the small of her back to keep her close. “Princess.”
“God. You’re supposed to start with softball questions. Favorite band, favorite food…”
“I raw dogged you on my mother’s couch before I knew your name, little girl. We’ve been playing hardball since the start.”
Her mouth falls open. “Raw dogged? What is that?”
“I took you without a rubber.”
“Oh my God.” Face turning pink, she stares off into space. “Am I pregnant?”
“Lord, I hope so.”
She stares up at me dumbfounded. “I’m supposed to go to Princeton in the fall.”
It’s a slug to the gut. New Jersey is a long way from Michigan, where I’m headed soon. “That’s a dream of yours, I suppose?”
Ophelia is quiet so long, I’m not sure she’s going to answer me. “No, not at all,” she finally whispers. “I didn’t even get in on my own merit. I never do anything on my own. I’m just an overindulged brat. Why didn’t you realize that right away and leave me alone?”
Now we’re getting somewhere. “First of all, I’ve got no plans to leave you alone, so get used to it. Second, there aren’t many overindulged brats who do their housekeeper’s chores and drive to Queens to pick up medicine.”
She scoffs. “Those are only little things.”
“No, princess. They’re not. They tell me exactly who you are.” I pluck her up by the waist and settle her on the kitchen island. “Did you really think if you pretended to be a snotty rich girl earlier that I’d turn tail and drop you like a bad habit?”
“Yes.” Her eyes are troubled. “That’s exactly what you should do.”
“Why?”
She presses her lips together and doesn’t answer.
“You want to go to Princeton, we’ll make it work. I’ll make any situation work as long as you’re mine.” I run my hands up her thighs, teasing the hem of her shorts with my thumbs. “I’m not a man without a plan. If you just put your trust in me, I’ll give you everything in time.”