Total pages in book: 105
Estimated words: 99700 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 499(@200wpm)___ 399(@250wpm)___ 332(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 99700 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 499(@200wpm)___ 399(@250wpm)___ 332(@300wpm)
“Yeah,” Victor said, nodding at her, then shooting a soft look at Pandora, who was too distracted by how her body was reacting to his nearness to untie her tongue and greet him. “Hey, Pandy.”
“Hello,” she said, then winced at how formal she’d sounded.
“Well, I am going to go run some errands,” Lucy said. “You two have fun flat-shopping.”
With that, she was gone, leaving Pandora standing there staring at Victor, as heat shot through her veins.
“You all right? You look a little …”
Turned on?
Ready to rip his clothes off right there in the middle of a crowded café?
“Fine.” Her voice came out in a squeak. “It’s a little warm in here,” she added, fanning her face.
“Want to walk, then?” he asked. “We have time.”
“Sounds good.” Maybe the activity would work through some of the sexual frustration so by the time they got to the flat, she wouldn’t be ready to throw herself at him.
As they walked, she tried not to let herself overthink every casual brush of his hand to her hip or lower back as he guided her through foot traffic and across the street. Or the way his hand closed over hers when they both went for the door of the building at the same time.
They both greeted the overly enthusiastic estate agent before taking the lift up to the second-to-last floor. Given how much the flat they were about to look at cost, Pandora could only imagine that the people who owned or rented the penthouse must be completely minted.
Then they followed behind the estate agent’s pristine cream trouser suit, perfectly coiffed hair, and click-clacking heels as she gushed about the light, the features, the recently re-finished floors, and the updated kitchen.
Pandora found herself annoyed by the woman’s cloying rose perfume when all she wanted to do was catch a hint of Victor’s signature scent.
“Oh, if you’ll excuse me,” the agent said a few moments later as her mobile started to ring.
She click-clacked away as Pandora watched Victor step in front of the windows, the sun moving out from behind a cloud to shine on his hair, making golden streaks cut through the brown.
“What?” Victor asked, watching her as she looked at him. She was sure her want, her love, was right there on her face for him to see.
“Oh, you won’t believe what I did,” the estate agent said, bustling back in. “I took my husband’s keys with me! He’s locked out of our flat. We haven’t finished our tour—”
“We could wait for you,” Victor said, gesturing around the room with its minimalistic staged furniture as if to say, “There’s nothing to steal here.”
“Well, maybe if I could just meet him downstairs,” the estate agent said, sounding conflicted to even leave them alone for a few minutes.
“We’re OK here. Gives us more time to argue over whose books get to be displayed on the shelves in the living room,” Victor said, all charm.
“OK. I will have him meet me here,” she said. She reached for her phone to shoot off a quick text. “I’m not thinking straight. My in-laws are coming to town,” she added with a grimace.
“We know a thing or two about that, what with all the wedding planning,” Victor said, draping his arm around Pandora’s hips and hauling her against his side.
She didn’t even pretend not to melt into him. She even let her hand slip up his stomach to rest on his chest.
The agent’s eyes softened before she hurried to the door. “I will be quick.”
They both heard the flat door close, but neither of them moved for a long moment. It was Victor who stepped away first, making Pandora feel like her heart was being pulled away with him.
“Obviously,” she said, reaching into her bag for a book. “My books go on the eye-level shelves.” She stuck the book there, front cover out. “It’s because of their superior cover design.”
“I can’t argue with … Is that the one we were reading in Morocco?” he asked, lines creasing between his brows.
“I … uh … yeah.”
“You haven’t finished it yet?” he asked, walking over to pluck it off the shelf, opening to the bookmarked page where they’d left off.
She couldn’t exactly tell him that she hadn’t been able to bring herself to read any further without sharing it with him, but that she also seemed to be carrying it around with her like some sort of security blanket.
“Not yet,” she told him. “Things have been busy.”
“They’re not busy now,” Victor said, walking over to the couch, gaze scanning the pages from where they’d left off.
There was no way he hadn’t seen that it was the beginning of a detailed sex scene.
And he still wanted to read it. Aloud. To her.
She never crossed a room so quickly in her life.
Her belly was flip-flopping even as her chest felt like a thousand butterflies had started swooping as she lowered herself down on the couch beside him.