Total pages in book: 86
Estimated words: 85484 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 427(@200wpm)___ 342(@250wpm)___ 285(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 85484 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 427(@200wpm)___ 342(@250wpm)___ 285(@300wpm)
“But you’re willing to give me a week?”
I nod.
“What happens if you fall in love with me in a week?” he asks.
“I won’t.”
“What if you do?”
“You overestimate yourself, buddy.”
He leans down, his breath hot on my lips. I expect him to pull away—to tease me like he’s been doing. I start to speak when his tongue swipes lazily across my bottom lip.
Gah! The heat, the wetness, all the things he says without saying them with this one single move have me panting. I want more. I need more. I need more now.
I lean toward him to deepen the exchange, but he backs away.
“What was that?” I ask, panting.
He makes a wide circle around me and heads to his mom’s house. “That was me double-checking my math.”
“Your math for what?”
He doesn’t answer me until we’re at the base of the steps to the porch. By the time we get there, I’m hot, bothered, irritated—and so turned on that my thighs are sticky beneath my dress.
I don’t know if I find him more sexy or more frustrating—if I want to tell him to fuck off or to fuck me.
Maybe both.
“I’m not overestimating shit,” he says. The humor drifts away from his face and, in its place, is a seriousness that makes my stomach drop. “But I want to be clear. I will be doing my best to make you fall head-over-fucking-heels in love with me. If you’re sure you can walk away when we get home from the trip, then I’m going to get every last moment that I can with you. I’ve waited almost my whole life for this. If you can still walk away after that, then fine.”
But what if I can’t?
Unfortunately, there’s no time to answer because Damaris opens the door.
“There you are,” she says. “I was just going to take a look and see if you were on your way yet.”
Jess’s gaze slides across mine. “We’re here. Is everyone else?”
“Yes. We’re about ready to eat.”
Jess and I climb the stairs, and I enter the house behind Damaris. He doesn’t say anything else to me, nor does he touch me or give me some sort of idea what’s going through his head.
“I will be doing my best to make you fall head-over-fucking-heels in love with me.”
My stomach twists.
“Do you need help with anything, Damaris?” I ask.
“No, just enjoy yourself, sweetheart. We’re down a few people today. Foxx is still out of town. Maddox had to show a house to someone, and Ashley went with him. Brooke went to Honey’s for dinner because she’s still not well.”
Honey? Not well? Wait a minute …
We enter the kitchen to noise and scents and family. Banks and Moss sit at the table, looking at something on Banks’s phone. Kixx stands behind them, a cup in his hand, dissecting whatever is on the screen. Steam rolls from the pots and pans on the stove, and whatever it is—it smells amazing.
Kixx looks up. “Hey, Pippa! Good to see you. I heard you’re a part of the madness for the next week.”
My heart pounds. “Yeah. I’m officially your son’s fake divorcée.”
I hold my breath, not sure what the reaction will be. Jess said he told them, and they were all okay with this scenario. But standing here with them all looking at me is a different thing altogether.
“I bet you divorced him over his attitude,” Banks says. “He’s a dick.”
Everyone except Jess laughs. He glares at his youngest brother instead.
I turn toward the kitchen.
“Or,” Banks says, “you might’ve left him because you’ve been sitting on my face.”
I spin around to face him. Moss’s head whips to his brother. Jess looks like he’s going to throttle Banks.
“What?” I ask.
Banks grins. “My face is stuck to your ass.” He points at me. “I mean … really.”
I reach around to the back of my dress and feel something sticky. I pull it off and look at it—and burst out laughing. So does everyone else … except Jess.
“You took that the wrong way, didn’t you?” Banks smirks, his question directed at Jess. “I’m disappointed you think I’d be that disloyal to you, my brotherhood buddy. But I’m also proud that you think I could pull her in.”
“Change the subject before I stuff you in your rooster and roll you back home,” Jess says, sitting at the table.
“I thought you gave him a few hours to get that moved?” Moss asks. “It’s been days.”
Jess’s temple pulses. His posture is stiff. I don’t think I’ve ever seen him so … bothered. He’s normally so easygoing, but he’s obviously hit his limit today.
Maybe a part of his frustration is from me.
“If you’re sure you can walk away when we get home from the trip, then I’m going to get every last moment that I can with you. I’ve waited almost my whole life for this.”