Total pages in book: 38
Estimated words: 35307 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 177(@200wpm)___ 141(@250wpm)___ 118(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 35307 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 177(@200wpm)___ 141(@250wpm)___ 118(@300wpm)
"Fuck all that," he growls, his eyes dark. "Don't need it. I'm aiming for the stars with you."
"Fine," I say, trying to play off the way his words hit me right in the heart. "I guess I'll date you."
"You guess?"
I shrug, making him grin, but I can tell by the look in his eyes that he knows I'm full of shit. I'm not agreeing because he wore me down. I'm not agreeing because having him speak at Dirty Book Club is my biggest wish, either. I'm saying yes because this man is my greatest wish, and I'm done denying it. So done.
Maybe he will break my heart. Or maybe he'll be the best damn thing that ever happened to me. I don't know, but I want to find out.
"I have something for you," he says when we get to his place after dinner, wrapping his arm around my waist to draw me back against him.
"I know." I lay my head against his chest, groaning quietly. "I can feel it."
He dips his head, nipping my shoulder. "It's not my cock, you smart ass."
"Pity," I tease, making his body shake with laughter before he squeezes my hip.
"You fucking brat," he rasps, nipping my skin again before he grabs a plain black box off the island and hands it to me. "Open this."
"What is it?" I ask, peering over my shoulder at him.
"Guess you'll have to open it to find out."
"Has anyone ever told you that—"
"That I'm fucking awesome? Yeah, I have heard that," he teases. "Open the box, princess."
I grumble wordlessly, then set it on the island before lifting the lid. I blink at the thick sheaf of papers inside, excitement firing through me. "River, is this…?"
"Yes." He steps up behind me again, sliding an arm around my waist. His lips brush the side of my throat. "It isn't finished, but I need you to read what I do have."
"Why?"
"Because I think you might recognize yourself in the pages, and I need your permission to publish it," he says softly.
I turn to face him, confused. "What? Why?"
"I started it before we met, but after meeting you…" He swallows. "I changed it, Jasmine. I didn't even know why the fuck I was changing it until yesterday, and then I realized it was because you're everywhere, creeping into every part of my conscience. And this book needed a hero like you."
"I'm not a hero, River."
"Yeah, you are." He tips my chin back, grinning at me. "You're the biggest fucking hero I've ever met, baby. If anyone could save an entire race, it's a woman just like you."
Jesus.
"I need a favor," I whisper, my voice shaking almost as hard as my hands as I carefully place the lid back on the box.
"Name it."
"I need you to take me upstairs and fuck me. Right now." I need this dress on his floor, his breath in my ear, and his hands on my skin before I float away. I think that's a distinct possibility right now, because that's the sweetest damn thing anyone has ever said to me.
He doesn't make me ask again. He snatches me off my feet like he's trying to steal my soul, his mouth crashing against mine.
Before my back even hits the bed a few minutes later, his hand is in my panties, and he's all over me.
It's heaven.
Chapter Ten
Jasmine
"What are you reading?" Sarah Tolliver asks, peering over my shoulder at the sheaf of papers in my hand.
"What? Nothing." I slap my hands over them, trying to hide them.
She shoots me an odd look. "Um…okay, then?"
"Ignore her," Lilah advises, passing by the sofa with a stack of books. "River gave her his latest manuscript the other day. She's being weird about it."
"I am not being weird about it." I roll my eyes at my best friend's back. "I'm protecting his privacy." Maybe I'm being a little weird about it, but he didn't give me permission to show it to anyone else. I am not betraying his confidence. Hell no.
Sarah stares at me, wide-eyed. "Is it any good?"
"So good," I whisper, swallowing hard. In truth, I think it might be the best thing he's ever written, and that's not because I'm biased. It's because every page drips with emotion. I don't just feel seen in this novel, I am in this novel. And so are little pieces of him, like he's written the parts of himself that are wild about me into it, too. It's intimate, personal, and so damn beautiful.
His readers are going to love it. I love it.
"You're glowing," Sarah says, her expression soft.
"That's because she's getting laid every night!" Lilah shouts, her voice floating to us from behind a shelf.
"You do not get to judge me for riding River into the sunset when Lincoln has you tied to his bed nine nights out of ten, Lilah Davis!" I shout back. Naturally, the bell over the door jingles at that exact moment, and a group of shoppers spills into the store.