Total pages in book: 103
Estimated words: 97875 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 489(@200wpm)___ 392(@250wpm)___ 326(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 97875 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 489(@200wpm)___ 392(@250wpm)___ 326(@300wpm)
“Skylar.”
Robbie’s voice stopped her progress, her heart taking over, seemingly going from dormant to hammering within seconds. “Robbie,” she called, but the rustling tree branches drowned her out, so she tried again. “Robbie.”
“Skylar.” He came into view the way a warlord might charge over a hill into battle, his visible relief when he saw her causing him to stumble. “Don’t fucking move,” he wheezed. “Don’t.”
“I’m not. I won’t.”
“Don’t you dare try to get that kite. Back away from the tree.”
Skylar put her hands up, feeling weary and overwhelmed and bolstered and elated by the sight of him, all at once. “Okay. I’m not going to do it. I can’t. It’s impossible.”
“No kidding.” Robbie reached her then—and she wasn’t sure what she’d been expecting, but it wasn’t to be pulled into his embrace, his mouth stamping furious kisses all over her forehead and cheeks and hair. “What the hell am I going to do with you, Skylar?”
“I was just hoping you’d keep me,” she whispered, accepting more kisses to her hairline, her neck and chin. “The kite is a lost cause, but we’re not. We’re not, right?”
Robbie went from kissing her to shaking her. “No. No, we’re not a lost cause. How could you think that for a second? Do you think I could walk away when I love you so much?” Haunted eyes ran circles around her face, his thumbs fanning up and down her cheekbones. “I’m done being mad. I’m done being without you. I’m done.”
A lump expanded in her throat. “Robbie.”
“Yeah?”
“I love you.” She sucked in an awkward breath. “And you’re the first man I’ve loved. I didn’t know what this . . . this beautiful weight felt like until you.”
He choked on a cough. Closed his eyes. “You know, you could have just said that, instead of giving me a lifetime of nightmares,” he rasped, kissing her mouth hard. “You’ll be lying beside me at night when I have them. That’s the silver lining.”
She was already nodding, but couldn’t speak just yet, the confession having taken so much of her on the way out. It felt as though she’d literally handed over her heart.
“I should have called you sooner. I just wanted to get this new apartment. Show you how serious I am. And then I saw you with my mother last night and I realized I’ve barely been breathing since the last time we were together.” Robbie rolled their foreheads together. “I don’t want to fight ever again, all right?”
Skylar’s laugh was watery. “We’re definitely going to fight, Redbeard.”
“No.” He slanted his mouth over hers, both of them moaning at the contact. “No. And I get to win this argument, because I just drove five hours thinking you’d be dangling over a cliff when I got here.”
“I’m sorry for being dramatic. I’m dramatic over you.”
“Fine. You win the argument.” He shook her a little. “God, I love you.”
“Robbie, I love you so much.”
He searched her eyes. “Enough to move in with me?”
“Already? That’s . . . that’s crazy . . .”
A low grunt of frustration. “How about your own set of keys and a giant-ass closet?”
“Still crazy.” A blissful laugh burst out of her. “But I’ll make a pro-con list in my planner.”
“Great. Let’s do it right now. We’ll start with the pro side. If you have clothes at my place, you’re more likely to sleep over. Which means I’ll get to hold you at night. God, I miss holding you. I thought I knew how much I would, but it’s worse. I can protect you, too. You know how seriously I’m going to take that job? I’ll walk you home, all the way to your door. I’ll kiss you when you’ve had a bad day. Make you laugh. And I know, I know you’re going to do all that for me, because you’re a fucking wonder.” Robbie’s mouth worked hers roughly, breaking away to race up the slope of her neck while he took her hand, bringing it to the growing bulge between his legs. “One more pro. The more time you spend at my place, the easier it’ll be to get this inside of you. You just have to ask.”
“Definite pro,” she breathed, stroking him firmly through his sweatpants. “I want you so bad.”
He hissed like a teakettle. “Have me, Skylar. I plan on having you for the rest of my life.” Skylar was so overwhelmed by the shimmer and dive of hormones and the way Robbie unzipped her jeans and slid his hand inside the opening to grip her sex, hard, kneading her flesh through her panties like he owned every inch, she almost let that statement get away.
She caught it at the last second, however, before it could fade into the ether, holding on to it like a treasure while she toed off her shoes. “I like the sound of that plan.”