Total pages in book: 25
Estimated words: 23292 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 116(@200wpm)___ 93(@250wpm)___ 78(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 23292 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 116(@200wpm)___ 93(@250wpm)___ 78(@300wpm)
“Wait, I’m not dancing with you,” she says abruptly, and her feet stop just at the edge.
“That’s okay, you don’t have to.” I shrug, and the second she relaxes, I grab her by the hips and practically lift her onto the dance floor. “I’ll do the dancing for the both of us.”
“You tricked me.” She narrows her eyes, and I want to laugh at how adorable she is when she’s mad. She’s like a wet kitten, but I don’t dare tell her that.
“It’s Halloween. Tricks and treats are part of it. Besides, this is the only way I can touch you in front of your family without them making a scene.”
Her lips part, and I see a slight hesitation there. “You can put me down. I won’t run.”
“Can’t take the chance.” I shake my head. Never mind that I love having an excuse to hold her in my arms.
Her feet float above the dance floor as I spin us around in the crowd.
“Fine,” she huffs and her arms go around my neck. “Why don’t you tell me what it is you need me to do? And why do I have to stay at your house?”
“My contractor is like a wrecking ball in a glass house. I need someone with a more precise knowledge of gardening that can go in with a delicate approach.”
She snorts and rolls her eyes. “Delicate? I think you’ve got me all wrong, Flynn.”
The sound of my name in that voice is almost enough to make me drop her. Almost. Instead, I tighten my hold on her and lean in so that my mouth is close to her ear.
“I think I’ve got you exactly where I want you.”
She’s quiet before she clears her throat and pretends she doesn’t feel the heat between us. For so long, I’ve had to keep my distance, and even though it was self-imposed, it was torture. After the accident, I had to give her time to heal, but I’d hoped after long enough she’d come to me. I should have known better. Zelly never does what I expect of her or does things the easy way. No, she’ll purposely be difficult just to see how much someone can withstand. That’s one of the things I love most about her. She doesn’t give in or back down but instead challenges me. It’s the reason I fell in love with her to begin with.
“Fine, I’ll do it but only because I could really use a break from Janet.”
I snicker at the use of her mother’s first name. “She really hates when I call her that.”
“She really, really does,” Zelly agrees, and when I look at her I see the corner of her mouth turn up in a half-smile.
With the way she scowled at me recently, I’ll take that tiny little hint of a smile as a win.
One song turns into another, and before I realize it, we’ve been dancing for what feels like hours. I do my best to keep the conversation light by asking her about her garden and the best way to grow certain things. Zelly is a wealth of knowledge on the subject, and it seems like that’s what she loves talking about. It’s a safe subject for her, so she offers up information without me asking a question and gives tips without a prompt to do so.
The more we dance and the more she talks, the softer she becomes in my arms. She must not even realize that her fingers on the back of my neck have been lazily stroking me there. Meanwhile, I’m hyper aware of every touch and lush curve pressed against my body. My hands have gradually moved from her hips to her back, and at first she tensed at the contact but then eventually settled against me.
More than once, my lips have grazed her ear when I’ve leaned close to tell her something over the loud music. It left a tingling sensation on my mouth, and I hope it never goes away. I want her to mark me in every way imaginable.
“I think you’ve monopolized enough of my daughter's night,” I hear Janet say from behind me.
Turning around, I place Zelly on her feet because now is not the time or place to make a stance. Anything I do could have her mother keeping her from coming to my house, and I won’t risk that. Not when I’m so close.
“Zelly, there are a few men I’d like you to meet.” Janet quickly cuts her eyes to me before pushing Zelly in the direction of her brother and Ella. “Let Leo introduce you. I’d like a word alone with Flynn.”
“Come on, Janet, you can have more than one word. How about two?” I say, and Zelly gives me a look I can’t decipher before she goes to join her brother and sister-in-law.