Total pages in book: 77
Estimated words: 75414 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 377(@200wpm)___ 302(@250wpm)___ 251(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 75414 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 377(@200wpm)___ 302(@250wpm)___ 251(@300wpm)
Ben seemed particular about everything.
“Does he have a lot of allergies?” I asked, watching her stiffen. “The HEPA filters,” I clarified.
“Oh, no. No, he likes the air… clean.”
“The whole place is clean,” I said.
“Yes. It’s always like this.”
“Ben likes to clean?”
“No.”
So she did the cleaning.
My hand slid down as she handed me my finished cup of coffee, noticing her painfully short fingernails, the red tips to her fingers. Like someone who spent hours scrubbing might have.
“You gonna have a cup with me?” I asked when she looked lost at what to do or say next.
There was a second of uncertainty. Then, I don’t know, relief?
“Sure!” she agreed, and her smile seemed genuine as she quickly went about making herself a cup. When she opened the fridge to get the creamer, I noticed there was nothing inside but bottles of water, green smoothies, and prepackaged fruits and salad.
“Healthy,” I observed when she caught me looking.
“Yeah.” Her smile faltered at that as she closed the door, then waved over toward the round two-seater dining table. White, of course.
“Do you guys get a lot of visitors?”
Ben had been the one to insist on meeting us at his place instead of some secondary location that both Dezi and I would have preferred. No one liked to be on someone else’s home turf. Especially someone as mysterious as Ben Dalton.
I was pretty sure I didn’t imagine the way her gaze flicked to one of the cameras.
“No, actually. You’re the first.”
No wonder she seemed so uncomfortable entertaining.
“It’s just the two of you all the way out here?”
We hadn’t seen a single other house anywhere nearby. And this deep in the woods, it almost felt eerie. Borderline freaky. Like some serial killer might come out from behind a tree with a chainsaw and chase you down. Where literally no one could hear you scream. Where no one could come help you.
Suddenly, my gaze cut back to Lolly. To her all-glass house with its hundreds of cameras inside and out. With a man who controlled everything from how she dressed (clearly), to what foods she ate, and what kind of plates she ate it off of.
And I couldn’t help but wonder if all the cameras were there to keep others out.
Or to keep her in.
She had a very clean, very safe, glass prison.
But I had no idea what her relationship was with her warden, if she was a willing inmate here, or if she didn’t have a choice.
I glanced down at her watch again, wondering if it did more than just track her steps and heart rate.
“So, you like the woods?” I asked, waving around at it all around us.
“They’re pretty. Lots of little animals around.”
“Are you from this area?”
“No, not really. I’m from about an hour away. I moved here when… Ben finished building it.”
She twirled her cup around in a circle, avoiding eye contact.
“Do you miss living closer to civilization?”
Her gaze flicked up.
And the answer was in her eyes even if she couldn’t bring her lips to say it.
“Lolly,” Ben’s voice called, making Lolly damn near jump out of her skin. “Another coffee?” he asked, his tone sharp.
I watched Lolly’s eyes go wide, panicked.
“I asked her to join me,” I explained.
Ben’s cold gaze moved from Lolly to me, then back again.
“What were you two talking about?”
“The woods, mostly,” I said. “We just sat down.”
“I’m ready for you now,” Ben said, his face a mask.
“That have sugar in it?” Dezi asked, reaching to take my coffee as I got up.
“No.”
“I can get you sugar,” Lolly said, popping up, even more anxious with her partner in the room.
I shared a look with Dezi, then turned and followed Ben toward the stairs.
I glanced back once, finding Lolly already watching me.
And I swear to fuck I could see the longing in her eyes.
For her freedom?
For me?
Maybe both.
But I was sure I’d never forget the way she looked at me now. And how it tugged at something deep inside me.
CHAPTER SIX
Lolly
I remember everything.
My heart felt like it squeezed at those words.
Out of, you know, relief.
That he remembered.
That he would, hopefully, honor his offer.
There was no other logical reason.
“I know you’re, uh, busy right now. But I was wondering if we could meet up.” Soon. Tomorrow. I’m desperate.
“I’m not busy,” Nave said, climbing off his chair. “Want to go talk out back? Can barely hear yourself think in here.”
“Sure,” I agreed, gaze slipping briefly to the donut box, wondering if there were any in there. “But it really could wait until you don’t have… company.”
“The club has company,” he clarified, snagging one of the boxes of donuts, “not me. Come on.”
With that, he led me through a small crowd and out the back door.
There were more people outside, hanging around and in the pool, making out on the chaise loungers, laughing in the hot tub.