Total pages in book: 96
Estimated words: 91146 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 456(@200wpm)___ 365(@250wpm)___ 304(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 91146 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 456(@200wpm)___ 365(@250wpm)___ 304(@300wpm)
My teeth grit when Knox replies, “It’s what you love about me the most.”
Love? When has he ever used that in a sentence when referencing a woman?
“But if it will ease your conscience enough that you won’t keep me awake half the night tossing and turning, I can organize that for you.” With his hand once again possessively hovering above the curve of her ass, he guides her out of the elevator when it opens on their floor. “Though we’ll have to be mindful of fines. We promised exclusivity.”
“I’d rather face fines than public humiliation.” Nicole’s voice drops to a whisper before she asks, “What if they boo me?”
“They won’t boo you. You’re a fucking star.”
When Knox once again looks at me for backup, I give him the honesty I should have given before accepting his job offer. “You are. A real ten out of ten.” I hate lying, but my morals aren’t exactly upstanding right now, so I blurted out the first thing that popped into my head while recalling the acoustic performance she awarded me only twenty-four hours ago.
Fuck, is that all it’s been?
A measly twenty-four hours.
It seems more like a lifetime ago.
“Really?” When Nicole’s eyes land on me again, hot and heavy like she’s dying for an ounce of integrity, I lower my eyes to my feet.
If I have to be honest with her, I’ll have to be honest with everyone—Knox included.
That isn’t something I can do right now. Not when River’s guardianship is in his family’s name.
I feel Nicole’s hope fade to oblivion before she stomps away.
“Fuck me,” Knox breathes out once she is out of sight. Resting his hands on his head, he peers at the ceiling. “Way to have my back, man. How will she prep her throat before performing if she’s still not talking to me?” My silence returns his head to its original position. “You really think I’ll let anyone else in on that action?” He rocks his hips forward while pretending to grab a fistful of hair. “Jizz is better than any throat lozenge on the market.”
You’d swear I’d spent the last decade at a nunnery for how long it takes me to decipher his reply. Then, in under a second, I go from wanting to fall to his knees and beg for forgiveness for trying to ruin the best thing that’s ever happened to him, to wanting to rearrange his face with my fists.
Even if I hadn’t bedded his girl, I’d still feel the same.
Implying any of Nicole’s talents are compliments of him is as disrespectful as it gets. His… jizz didn’t give her the voice that stops you in your tracks and makes your hairs stand on end.
It didn’t make her vocal range unreachable for even the greats in the industry.
If anything, he’ll fuck it up with stupid choreography and compositions that should have been left in the eighties.
“A throat spasm will be the least of your worries if you let the public get hold of a single snippet of footage from her performance tonight. That shit was bad. Beyond bad. It looks like it came straight out of an eighties aerobic instruction video.”
“It wasn’t that bad.”
Knox grins like I’m playing when I warn, “Don’t make me dig through your old pornos to make a liar out of you. You masturbated to Susan Powter’s fitness video more than any other DVD in your stash.” I point to the door Nicole walked through only minutes ago. “She was wearing the same fucking outfit.”
“For a reason,” he says with a laugh, unable to deny my claim but for some stupid reason finding it humorous. “The eighties are making a comeback.”
“Since when?”
“I don’t know!” He throws his hands in the air, suddenly over our conversation. “Probably sometime between you bouncing on your obligations and waltzing back in like nothing’s changed.”
That’s a below-the-belt hit, and I refuse to let it slide.
Fuck him and his belief I owe him something.
It is the opposite. He owes me years—ten long fucking years—so he doesn’t get to speak to me like I’m a piece of shit his boot picked up while strolling through a dog park.
“You’ve always been a prick when things don’t go your way. Glad to see some things haven’t changed.” His expression alters when I say, “You can shove your job where the sun doesn’t shine. I’m out.”
He follows me in the direction of what I assume are the rooms since Nicole went that way. “Laken, man, I’m sorry.” He stops me from leaving by placing himself in front of me. I could push him out of the way, but his following words leave room for nothing but breathing. “She might be fucking pregnant, and I’m not handling it right, so I’m taking my shit out on the wrong person.”
“Nicole’s pregnant?”
“What?” His shock lasts for barely a second. “No.” His confession doesn’t let Nicole off the hook for straying while in a relationship, but it gives understanding as to why she did it. “It was someone I was fooling around with when we met.” He scrubs a hand down his tired face. “It was nothing serious, but it continued a couple of months into… you know…” He makes a rude gesture with his hand. “I can’t tell Nicole that, though. She’ll leave me.” For the first time tonight, the fret on his face is genuine. “I can’t live without her, Laken. She is it for me.” He locks his eyes with mine. They’re wet with moisture. “I bought a ring. I just can’t give it to her until I clear this matter up first.” He sneers “matter” like he’s talking about a business proposal and not a child. “What do you think?”