Total pages in book: 84
Estimated words: 79587 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 398(@200wpm)___ 318(@250wpm)___ 265(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 79587 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 398(@200wpm)___ 318(@250wpm)___ 265(@300wpm)
“That’s what my family will find believable, and that’s what this is all about,” Mattie said firmly. “So call me ‘Mattie’ or ‘baby’ and I’ll call you Grath or ‘honey’.”
“Honey?” he protested, frowning. “Isn’t that the vomit produced by pollinating Earth insects?”
“Well, yes—honey is technically bee vomit,” Mattie admitted. “But it’s also a sweet nickname that human couples call each other.”
“Should I call you ‘my little bee vomit’ too, then?” Grath arched an eyebrow at her. “Or just stick to referring to you as though you were an infant?”
Mattie threw up her hands.
“Look, I can’t pretend that some Earth customs aren’t weird but you can say that about any culture! I’m here trying to brief you on what to expect and the best way to fool my family. Now are you going to be serious or not?”
“I’m perfectly serious,” Grath assured her. “Baby,” he added, for good measure.
“All right.” Mattie took a deep breath, trying to reign in her temper. Why did she let the big Hybrid push her buttons? She needed to keep calm. “All right,” she said again. “Now that we know what to call each other, we need to talk about how to act.”
“All right.” He shrugged, his broad shoulders rolling. “How should we act? Should I be utterly fucking besotted by you or what?”
Mattie bristled.
“No, you don’t have to act ‘utterly besotted’ but it would be nice if you didn’t flinch away from me like I have the plague every time I get anywhere near you.” This had been a sore spot with her for months—it was good to finally put it out there. But Grath seemed to feel otherwise.
“What? I don’t do that!” he protested.
“Yes, you do!” Mattie exclaimed. “And don’t think I haven’t noticed. The minute I get anywhere close to you, you step away and make an effort to put space between us. Now I know I’m not your type—”
“What do you know about my type?” Grath growled, his voice dangerously low.
Mattie shrugged uneasily.
“I just assumed you didn’t like girls with extra curves. Or else maybe you didn’t like my, uh, scent or something. Since Hybrids are supposed to have such a sensitive sense of smell.”
His black eyes widened in apparent amusement.
“You think I think you stink?” he demanded, a rumble of laughter coming from deep in his chest.
“I don’t know, all right?” Mattie exclaimed. “But there’s got to be some reason you’re always edging away from me like I have the plague and you’re afraid you might catch it! I just want to be sure you don’t act like that around my family or my mom and my Grandma Thelma are going to know we’re faking it immediately!”
“Come here, little girl,” Grath growled. “I mean, baby,” he corrected quickly, gesturing for her to come stand between his spread thighs.
Mattie edged closer to him nervously. Even sitting down he was so big it was a bit overwhelming to be right up next to him. Still, she wasn’t going to be a coward—not when so much was on the line. Resolutely, she came to stand between his legs and stared into his midnight eyes.
“Let’s get a few things straight,” Grath told her, returning her gaze. “First of all, I fucking love your curves—you’re fucking gorgeous and I’m pretty sure you know it. Second,” he went on, before Mattie could get out a word. “Your scent is intoxicating. It’s so utterly feminine it takes my breath away every time I’m near you.”
Mattie wasn’t sure what to say to this.
“I…um…I think that’s the first nice thing you’ve ever said to me,” she finally managed to get out. “But if you like the way I look and the way I smell, why are you always putting distance between us?”
His eyes slid away from hers.
“I have my reasons,” he muttered.
“Any you’d care to share?” Mattie arched an eyebrow at him.
“No,” he growled, frowning. “You don’t need to know, little girl…baby,” he corrected himself.
Mattie sighed.
“All right—I’ll leave that alone. But you’ve got to stop scowling at me like that or my family is never going to buy that we’re dating.”
He frowned.
“I thought we were supposed to be engaged to be Joined?”
“I don’t think so.” Mattie shook her head. “See, if you’re my ‘fiancé,’ I’ll have to dig up an engagement ring somewhere. Also, my Mom and Grandma are going to be completely devastated when I tell them we ‘broke up’ a few weeks down the line. Whereas if we’re just dating, well, that’s a much less serious thing. It won’t set expectations unreasonably high.”
“Okay, so we’re not ‘engaged’ we’re just ‘dating,” Grath growled. “Also, I’m supposed to call you ‘baby’ and not ‘scowl’ at you. Is there anything else?”
“Yes.” Mattie took a deep breath to steady her nerves. “We need to show at least some physical affection for each other. My family are very touchy-feely people—they’re going to expect it.”