Total pages in book: 22
Estimated words: 20639 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 103(@200wpm)___ 83(@250wpm)___ 69(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 20639 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 103(@200wpm)___ 83(@250wpm)___ 69(@300wpm)
I stop and shake my head.
Dustin stands up and moves in front of me. “You felt what?”
I search his face and shrug, not wanting to put voice to my thoughts.
He gets defensive and shakes his head. “I never took a dime of your money, Annie. I wanted—”
I cut him off. “I know that. I meant that when I was with you, it was the first time I’d felt wanted. I truly felt you were with me because you wanted to be.”
He reaches for my hand. “I did… I do.”
I let him hold my hand, relishing his touch, and then pull away. “I was naïve. I thought you loved me.”
His voice drops a full octave. “I do.”
I suck in a breath. This is the closest he’s come to saying the words, but it’s not enough. “This isn’t love, Dustin. We have separate lives, and the only time we were truly together was in the bedroom.”
He’s struggling to find the words, but it’s just too little too late. Pain etches my heart, and I suck in a breath. “It doesn’t matter. None of this does. It’s over… or it will be in a month.”
I walk away, unable to stand here a second longer. “I’m going to bed.”
I get almost to the door when he says my name. “Annie.”
With one foot inside, I stop. “What is it, Dustin?”
His voice is tight. “In our bed, Annie. You know the deal.”
It’s like a punch to the gut. It’s like he hasn’t heard a thing I’ve been trying to say to him. He just wants me in his bed. That’s all he cares about.
I don’t answer him. Instead I let the door slam behind me, and I walk through the living room and down the hall to our bedroom. My clothes have all been hung in the closet. I don’t even have to open the drawer to know that my underwear, pajamas, and socks are all in the same four drawers I had before. It’s almost like I never left, and it pains me to think that things are just going to go back to the way they were.
Can I deal with thirty days of this? At least before, we had great sex, and now that’s not even in the mix. I want to, and it wouldn’t take much for him to convince me to make love with him, but I also know that it’s just going to make this so much harder if I do.
I go to the bathroom, pull my clothes off, and turn on the shower. I don’t wait for it to warm up, and the cold spray has me sucking in a breath.
When the water turns hot, I wash my hair and my body and take my time shaving. I want to stay in here and avoid what’s outside the door for as long as I can. When the water starts to turn cold, I shut it off.
I step out of the shower and listen intently, trying to see if Dustin has come back into the house or not. There’s no sound, and I breathe out a sigh of relief. I towel dry my hair, then my body, and wrap a towel around myself. I should have brought pajamas in here with me.
I suck in a breath and crack the door open. The bedroom is empty, so I walk over to the dresser and pull the drawer open. As soon as I do, Dustin walks in, stopping right next to me. My eyes flick to his, and the desire is instant. I can see it in his face, and I know it’s reflected in mine. I grab a pajama shirt, which is just one of his old shirts, and a pair of underwear. I avoid his gaze. “Sorry, I forgot to take clothes in with me.”
I don’t wait for him to answer. I step into the bathroom and quickly get dressed. I brush my hair, blow dry it, and when I have no more excuses to hide, I step out.
Dustin is sitting on the edge of the bed, elbows on his knees. He lifts his head to look at me. “Annie, we need to talk.”
CHAPTER 9
DUSTIN
I’m a hard man. My whole life I’ve kept things bottled up. I’ve never been vulnerable. Hell, I didn’t even know what that word truly meant until now.
But I have to try because I can’t lose Annie.
I need to lay it all on the line and see if we can make this work. I can’t lose her, and if I do, I’m going to spend the rest of my life regretting it.
While she was in the bathroom, I tried to come up with a plan, but now that she’s standing in front of me, it’s like my mind has gone blank. I wish I could lay her back on our bed and just show her, but that hasn’t worked well for me in the past. I need to do more.