Total pages in book: 88
Estimated words: 82651 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 413(@200wpm)___ 331(@250wpm)___ 276(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 82651 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 413(@200wpm)___ 331(@250wpm)___ 276(@300wpm)
Finally he’s gone and Stephanie closes the door to lean back against it. She has a smile on her face that I’ve never seen on another woman, and it feels like an invisible hand has reached inside my chest and is squeezing my heart.
She is totally fucking gone for my brother.
Just gone.
When she finally seems to come back into focus, she turns her face my way and grins. “Your brother is amazing.”
“He’s all right,” I say with a laugh. “Now…are you hungry? Want some tea? Your wish is my command.”
Stephanie pushes away from the door and snags her purse sitting on a small table there. With mischief in her eyes, she says, “I want to go out to breakfast.”
“No way,” I say with a firm shake of my head. “Lucas said you were to rest.”
Her eyes practically twinkle with evilness. “Lucas isn’t my boss. Neither are you. Now let’s go.”
—
With a sigh, I stir my cup of coffee and just stare at the happiness sitting across from me. We hit a local diner within easy walking distance of Stephanie’s apartment, and she ate a hearty breakfast. She gave me a play-by-play of what happened yesterday when Lucas showed up at her apartment. She also admitted to me with red cheeks that she had been acting pretty foolish and she was more than grateful that he came.
“You two are great together,” I say with a dopey smile on my face. “And just so you know, I plan on spoiling my niece or nephew ridiculously, so get used to it.”
“Noted,” Stephanie says with a sharp nod of her head. She picks up her tea and holds it in front of her mouth, both elbows resting on the table as she peers at me over the rim. “Can I ask you a personal question?”
“Sure,” I say with a shrug and a smile.
“Is there something going on between you and Van?” she asks hesitantly.
The smile slides off my face and I can feel my cheeks heat up.
“Never mind,” she says with a smirk. “Your face says it all.”
“Oh God,” I say as I put my forehead in my palm and groan. When I look back up at her with wide eyes, I ask, “How could you possibly know?”
Stephanie takes a sip of her tea and then sets the cup down to the side. She leans forward, putting her good arm on the table, the other resting over it lightly. “Lucas told me about you kissing Van in that bar to stop him from sleeping with some chick.”
My mouth drops open in astonishment. “He told you about that?”
“Oh, don’t worry,” Stephanie says. “He doesn’t think there’s anything going on between you two. In fact, he said you only did it to shock him. A deterrent so to speak.”
I shake my head hard. “No, not about the kiss…he told you about why he was in that bar? Um…you know…to um…”
“Hook up with a woman?” she asks as she wrinkles her nose. “Yes, your brother believes in transparency, I guess.”
“He didn’t,” I say as I stare her dead in the eye. “Hook up with that woman. Any woman. I know you two were broken up, but he remained faithful.”
“Well, he did go to that woman’s house,” she says wryly.
“Holy fuck,” I gasp. “He did? He didn’t tell me that. Only that nothing happened.”
Stephanie gives me a wan smile. “I could have done without the details, but there may have been some groping going on, but he just couldn’t go through with it. I’m cool with it.”
“Are you really?” I ask, narrowing my eyes at her. Studying her carefully to make sure that there is nothing that’s going to mar their beautiful relationship.
“Really,” she says with a firm nod, and then turns the tables back on me. “Now tell me about Van. Lucas is convinced that kiss was just a ploy you used, but I saw something on your face that night we grilled out steaks. You have feelings for him.”
“No,” I say adamantly with another shake of my head. “I lust for him. I don’t have feelings.”
Stephanie cocks an eyebrow at me with skepticism.
“Seriously,” I tell her. “It’s just sex. Dirty, secret sex, and honestly, I can’t get enough of him. He’s so damn good too. I’ve never been with someone like him. He’s so demanding, and alpha, and he does things to me that have me seeing stars, and—”
Stephanie holds up her right hand, palm out, and my mouth snaps shut.
“Okay,” she says carefully. “You’re telling me more than I needed to know, and that’s cool. I like sex a lot too.”
“Well, I don’t want to hear about your sexcapades with my brother,” I interject hastily.
“Yeah, wasn’t going to tell you that,” she deadpans. “But seriously…it’s just sex with you and Van?”
“Well, I mean…he’s such a mystery, and yeah, I’d like to crack him open and analyze what makes him tick.”