Total pages in book: 34
Estimated words: 32067 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 160(@200wpm)___ 128(@250wpm)___ 107(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 32067 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 160(@200wpm)___ 128(@250wpm)___ 107(@300wpm)
“Fuck, I’m practically rattling around my mansion at the moment,” Barrett says ruefully. “My two sons are in college, so it’s just me at a huge fucking estate by myself.”
I shake my head furiously.
“No, that’s not necessary. Sylvester and I are happy here, and we don’t need to move. It’s fine.”
The two men share a look before Cross takes one of my small hands in his.
“I know this isn’t easy to hear, Misty, but we’d like to resume relations with you. It was unexpected to see you again, but Barrett and I are men who make the most of the opportunities thrown our way, and we’d like to see you again. You are the mother of our child.”
I squint, not sure if I’m hearing right.
“You mean, romantically? Or for sex? Friendship? Co-parenting? I don’t understand what you’re saying.”
Barrett takes my other hand then, his blue eyes intense.
“Any and all of the above. We’ve been thinking non-stop about you, Misty, since that weekend two years ago. You’re the girl that got away, and we’ve kicked ourselves again and again for letting that happen. But now that the universe has given us a second chance, you can bet that we’re not going to fuck it up. We want you, Misty Earnshaw, in every way imaginable.”
I stare at the two handsome CEO’s, unable to believe my ears.
“But why didn’t you look for me then? Why did you let me get away if you thought I was the one?”
The two men share another look before speaking.
“Because you deserve better than us,” Chris says in a quiet voice. “You’re young, beautiful, and sweet, Misty. We wanted you to meet a nice man who’d give you babies while living in a house with a white picket fence. We wanted your life to be filled with rainbows and dreams.”
“Okay, maybe rainbows and dreams are a little over the top,” Barrett acknowledges with a wry grin. “But the sentiment is spot on. You deserve better than two assholes with baggage. I’m divorced with kids, and Chris has his own shit to deal with. But even that aside, we’re forty five year old motherfuckers with a lot of experience. We’ve had the shit kicked out of us, but we’ve also kicked the shit out of other people, and you deserve better, honey. The world is your oyster, and we want you to see it with innocent eyes, instead of corrupting you with our influence.”
I stare at them.
“You’re not corrupt.”
Both men shake their heads, harsh streaks on their cheekbones.
“You don’t get to where we are in life by taking it easy,” Cross drawls.
“We’ve definitely done our share of dirty deals,” Barrett growls. “It’s knives out, honey. That’s the only way we know.”
Still, I’m not convinced.
“But you could have looked for me.”
“We could have,” Cross acknowledges, “but it hurt to know you were out there, probably dating a nice young man and settling down into your dream home. So we forced ourselves not to look in order to keep our sanity. It would have driven us insane.”
“But all that’s water under the bridge,” Barrett says in a rough voice, his blue eyes piercing. “You’re ours now. You’ve had our son. We want you, Misty, in every sense of the word, and we’ll move Heaven and Earth to have you. We also want more children, if you’re amenable.”
More children? I pause, my heart thrumming in my chest. On the one hand it’s tempting because the two alpha males are insanely handsome and powerful. It would be so easy to give myself over to Barrett and Cross, and to let my lovers look after me as I revel in the lap of luxury. Yet I’ve been taking care of myself for years now because of my history in foster care, and I can’t give up my independence just like that. There’s been too much hardship in my life, and too many challenges to overcome. As a result, I keep my expression neutral while folding my arms over my chest.
“I’ll think about it,” I say in a simple tone. “Thanks for your offer, and thanks for stopping by.”
The men stare, their expressions a bit disbelieving.
“Okay,” Barrett says in a low voice. “How long do you think you need to think things through? Can we at least help you move somewhere nicer? I’ll pay the fee for breaking the lease. Money is no object, sweetheart.”
I shake my head, my expression neutral.
“No, no need. I just want to be by myself for a while in order to get clarity. Things have moved so fast for all of us, and I need some breathing room just to mull things over. You do too, right?”
The two men stare at me.
“No, we don’t,” Cross rasps. “We know what we want.”
“What we want is you,” Barrett emphasizes. “You and the child both.”