Total pages in book: 114
Estimated words: 109368 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 547(@200wpm)___ 437(@250wpm)___ 365(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 109368 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 547(@200wpm)___ 437(@250wpm)___ 365(@300wpm)
Cammie made a face at Taran. “She’s casually name-dropping. Sometimes I forget you used to socialize with the one percenters. I suddenly feel very uninteresting and unglamorous.”
I chuckled, shaking my head at her teasing. “You could never be uninteresting or unglamorous.”
“Aww, thanks.” Cammie fluttered her eyelashes comically. She eyed Taran again. “What about non-celebrities? You have to admit, our wee island has a disproportionate number of hotties. There’s nothing wrong if you contemplated potential future partners.” Cammie’s expression softened with something I’d call hope.
Realizing where her thoughts had gone, I tensed.
Taran’s expression shut down, a hardness creeping into her eyes.
“What about Murray Shaw?” I blurted out, diverting any thoughts from Quinn.
She blinked, the hardness softening. “Murray? Isn’t he married?”
“How can you have been back this long and not know he’s divorced?” Cammie asked quietly.
She shrugged. “I haven’t been paying much attention.” She frowned. “Murray and I were never close. So … he’s divorced?”
To my surprise, Cammie’s features tightened. “Aye … he and his wife split and she took their daughter Kelly to the mainland.”
Taran winced. “I didn’t know.”
“It was fairly recent and a fairly ugly divorce.” Cammie frowned. “It was so ugly, anyone caught gossiping about it was swiftly shut down. Kelly visits for a few weeks during the summer and the odd weekend here and there.”
“That sounds shit for Murray.” Taran scowled.
“Aye, just the way Jill wants it to be. She and Murray finalized their divorce last year and Jill has turned into the ex-wife from hell. Such a cliché. It gives ex-wives a bad name when some of them are so decent they deserve a medal.” She bit her lip, probably because she was thinking of Quinn’s ex-wife whom I knew Cammie liked and respected.
Awkward silence fell over the table, and I could see Taran disappearing inside herself.
Desperate to keep her with us, I blurted out in a hushed whisper, “Ramsay ties me to his bed.”
Their heads whipped toward me in unison.
My cheeks flushed. “A few years back, London told me I might need a bit of an alpha in the bedroom to get … you know … Well, nothing else was working for me.”
Cammie’s grin was slow and delighted. “But Ramsay knows how to dominate, huh?”
I covered my face with an embarrassed groan/laugh combo. My reply was muffled.
Fingers wrapped around my wrists, yanking my hands off my face.
Cammie snorted. “Repeat that, please.”
“I like it.” I wrinkled my nose. “I like giving him the control during those times.”
She relaxed back in her chair with a sigh. “I shouldn’t have asked. Now I’m jealous.”
“Really?” Having not had anyone to talk about these new discoveries, I asked, “Are you … do you like that too?”
“I’ll try anything.” Cammie nodded, taking a sip of her now cold cappuccino. “Him in control. Me in control. I have yet to date a man, though, who was authentically dominant.”
“So, you like them dominant and submissive?” My curiosity peeled away any prudishness.
“Not submissive. I mean, I’ve tied a guy to the bed and it was fun.” Cammie shrugged as if we were talking about the latest floor tiles she’d chosen. “But I don’t like a truly submissive guy. I had this one boyfriend who kept asking me if he was doing it right, and it was so off-putting, I had to fake it.”
“Really?” Taran frowned. “I think that’s kind of respectful and nice.”
“Oh, it was. He was a lovely guy. And there are women and men out there who need that in bed and good for them. I’m not one of them. It’s an ick for me. Isn’t it an ick for you?”
“I don’t know.”
“Think about it … he’s asking you constantly if he’s putting his fingers and cock in the right place. Fella, if you don’t know by now, get out of there.”
Unfortunately, I’d just taken a sip of my Americano and nearly spat it everywhere.
Taran chuckled. “We should not be having this conversation in here.”
Cammie nodded. “That’s a no. It’s an ick for you too. I can tell.”
Taran rolled her eyes but didn’t deny it.
“So …” Cammie turned to me. “Ramsay’s definitely not asking if he’s doing it right, is he?”
I raised an eyebrow. “I think me screaming through multiple orgasms is all the validation he needs.”
With that they both threw their heads back in laughter and I joined them, feeling smug.
Not just about Ramsay.
But about this.
The three of us.
This friendship we’d forged.
My new friends in my new home.
Things were finally falling into place.
The B and B was on track to be finished by Christmas, and I already had weeks booked out for next summer. The threats against me had stopped, and Perri called yesterday to tell me the Silver Group were threatening to sue if they published. They knew they had enough evidence to print, but the newspaper’s legal department were prevaricating over a statement Perri had obtained from the hotel resort manager because she hadn’t fully explained all of her reasons for her investigation to him. Perri was sure legal would come around and they’d go to print next Monday.