Total pages in book: 105
Estimated words: 99191 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 496(@200wpm)___ 397(@250wpm)___ 331(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 99191 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 496(@200wpm)___ 397(@250wpm)___ 331(@300wpm)
She was wrong.
She brushed past him and headed for the doors they’d come in through. She could feel him at her back, but Aiden didn’t say anything as they climbed into the waiting town car and then rode back to the O’Malley house. She stared through the window, not feeling any more welcome than she had the first time. This wasn’t her place. She’d be worse than a fool to believe otherwise, even for a second.
Aiden took her hand at the front door, the contact shocking her out of her funk. It hadn’t skipped her notice that he barely touched her unless he was looking to prove a point or there were orgasms involved. And he hadn’t come close to kissing her. Not once. That’s very Pretty Woman of him. The joke fell flat, even in her head. She knew better than to get caught up in this bullshit. She did.
But she still followed him into his room and shut the door behind her.
And her traitorous body was still primed and aching for him.
It didn’t seem to matter that she wasn’t even sure she liked Aiden—how could she when the only parts of him she knew were the ones he allowed her to see?
She wanted him despite that.
For now, that was enough.
“Take off your dress.”
She unzipped the side and let the heavy fabric fall to her feet. The only thing she wore beneath it was her panties, and she wasted no time sliding those off as well. Only then did she dare look at Aiden.
He’d taken a seat on the edge of the bed, and he watched her with an unreadable expression on his face. “How are you doing?”
“What?” She’d expected more games, or at least some kind of command. She hadn’t anticipated him asking her a frank question that she didn’t have an answer to.
“Tonight couldn’t have been easy for you.”
She stared at him. If she didn’t know better, she would think he was offering an olive branch and inviting her to talk with him. Maybe to share actual honest-to-God emotions.
But this was Aiden O’Malley, so she had to be misreading the situation.
Exhaustion rolled over her in a wave that had her eyeing the bed for purposes that had nothing to do with sex. She could jump through his hoops tomorrow. Tonight she was just done. “Aiden, we’ve been talking on and off all night. If you’re going to fuck me, fuck me. If not, I’m going to bed.” Charlie hadn’t anticipated how draining it would be to be constantly on guard and worrying about staying in character—or how twisted up she’d be about her fake fiancé in the process. Should have run faster that first night.
Something crossed his face, something she couldn’t put into words. Aiden exhaled harshly and stood. “I haven’t been doing a good job with you.”
“Uh, what?” He’d switched tracks so fast, her head spun as she tried to take the mental jump with him. “What are you talking about?”
He walked to the phone on the dresser. “Did you manage to eat anything during that shit show of a party?”
Now she was really confused. “No…” She’d been too nervous—and even if she’d wanted to, there were so many people drifting up to talk to her, she wouldn’t have had a chance.
“It’s late, so there won’t be any fancy options, but I know for a fact that Mark makes a mean turkey club.”
Her stomach chose that moment to grumble, and she pressed her hand there, as if the contact could tell it to shut the hell up. As attractive as sleep sounded, her mouth watered at the thought of a sandwich. “I could eat.”
“Thought so.” He motioned toward the bathroom without looking up from where he was dialing. “Take a shower, bright eyes. By the time you’re done, there will be food. Then we’ll talk.”
More talking.
She didn’t know if she was disappointed or relieved, but she padded into the bathroom all the same. A shower sounded like heaven, and so she wasn’t going to think too hard about the fact that they apparently weren’t going to have sex tonight. Stepping beneath the stinging spray made her gasp a little, but she welcomed the shock to her system. She gritted her teeth and scrubbed herself down, washing her hair until it was no longer stiff from the liberal amount of hair spray needed to tame it. And then she just stood there, her head ducked beneath the running water, letting it course over her until she felt a little more in control.
It took far longer than she would have liked.
She finally shut off the faucet when it became apparent that peace wasn’t in the cards for her. She was too aware of Aiden in the next room over, and the rest of the night hanging over their heads. Talking was all well and good, but she was all talked out. Sex was even better, but she was exhausted.