Total pages in book: 113
Estimated words: 110360 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 552(@200wpm)___ 441(@250wpm)___ 368(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 110360 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 552(@200wpm)___ 441(@250wpm)___ 368(@300wpm)
“C’mere, babe.”
28
DEVON
With no hesitation, Lofton dashed across the room and slammed into my chest.
The impact knocked the air from my lungs, but I didn’t care about anything other than having her in my arms again.
Her panic was thick. Like somehow my mistakes had become her own.
I hated seeing her like that, but my relief was unrivaled as she wrapped her arms around my waist, her body pressing against me as if she could become part of me if she just got close enough.
And Christ, I wanted to let her try.
With one hand cupping the back of her head, the other flat against her spine, I drew her deeper into my curve.
A tremor ran through her body.
Or maybe it was mine.
I couldn’t tell anymore.
“I’m sorry,” she cried into my chest.
“Babe.” I pulled her tighter. “Stop apologizing. This is on me.”
“I compared you to Sebastian,” she confessed as if maybe I hadn’t been present in the driveway.
I smoothed down the back of her hair. “I know.”
“That’s not you. You’re nothing like him.”
“I know that too.” I pressed a kiss to the top of her head, letting it linger longer than necessary.
Because I needed it.
The contact, the connection, but mostly just her.
“You don’t have to apologize. Shit got heated. I cut you deep and then handled it wrong. But I’m here, babe. Holding on with both hands. Never letting go.”
“No,” she croaked. “Don’t be sweet about this. I said some really shitty stuff. What happened to Devon Grant the asshole?”
I chuckled. “Not a fan of sleeping on the couch, babe. Figure I should retire that side of me when I’m with you.”
She exhaled hard against my chest, her arms tightening around me. “Devon, I—”
“Shhh. I’m right here. We’ll work through this. I’m not going anywhere.”
And for a moment we just stood there in the middle of that bedroom, breathing together until her heart slowed and her lungs finally synced with mine.
I lifted my head to find three women on the bed, watching us with varying degrees of discretion.
Rhion, biting her lip against a smile.
Sarah pretended with moderate success to be looking elsewhere.
And Brianna, who made absolutely no attempt at pretense, head tilted, wine glass raised in something that could only be described as a toast.
“Take your time,” she said. “I love to watch.”
Rhion bit out a quiet curse that I didn’t understand or care to question.
I jerked my chin toward the door.
“Right.” Rhion was on her feet instantly.
Sarah followed, pausing to give me a look that held approximately a dozen warnings, all of them falling into the be-good-to-her-or-I-will-cut-off-your-balls category.
Brianna was last. She glided past us with the serenity of a woman who had all the time in the world and the intention of using every second of it. She paused at the door to look back. “For what it’s worth, I was always on your side, Roger.”
I shook my head as she pulled the door shut behind her.
“You made it all the way to Roger, huh?”
She peeked up at me, her gaze so filled with apology I wanted to reject it. “I made it all the way to realizing I put you on a pedestal.”
I blinked at her, not having the first clue what the hell that meant, but that one, I did actually care to question.
But first…
Dipping low, I hooked an arm under her knees and lifted her off her feet. Her arms went around my neck automatically, and she lolled her head against my shoulder as if it was just another part of her body that required a grounding connection to me.
I carried her to the bed and set her down with her back against the headboard, and then sat beside her, one leg folded on the bed, pressed against her thigh, the other foot securely on the floor.
She immediately took my hand and intertwined our fingers, inspecting them. Then we just sat there together, collecting our thoughts, slowing our breathing, turning down the emotion, and holding on to each other in the process.
After a few minutes, I asked, “You feeling any better?”
“Not even remotely. You?”
“Also, no.” I reached over and tucked her hair behind her ear. “But we can’t both be a wreck. One of us has to hold it together.”
She let out a laugh that was mostly tears. “I nominate you.”
“Naturally.” I handed her a tissue from a box that was sitting in the middle of the bed for reasons unknown. “You want to tell me what happened? Because you went from pissed to full system collapse in about an hour. Had to have been some heavy shit.”
She pressed the tissue under her eyes and let out a shaky breath. “To be fair, you did send in a squad of highly persistent bodyguard women to do your dirty work.”
I shrugged, feeling no remorse. “You think I’m a liar. Not much sense in talking to one of those.”