Total pages in book: 106
Estimated words: 102479 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 512(@200wpm)___ 410(@250wpm)___ 342(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 102479 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 512(@200wpm)___ 410(@250wpm)___ 342(@300wpm)
I felt all the blood drain from my face. “You think he hid cameras?”
“No, but I’m not taking any chances.”
Jagger’s thumb rubbed back and forth on my knee. It was one of the few times he’d touched me that my body didn’t ignite. That made tears well in my eyes for an entirely different reason.
“I’m going to keep you safe, Sutton. I promise.” Jagger caught my chin in his hand and tilted my head up so our eyes met. “Do you understand?”
I nodded.
“Good.” He kissed my forehead and held me close for a long time before speaking again. “I’d just finished my conversation with Edmund when you called. About us.”
I looked up at him. “How did that go?”
“He told me he’d kick my ass if I hurt you, whether I was his boss or not.”
That made me smile. “He’s my favorite of my collection of stepfathers.”
“Unfortunately, he’s witnessed me with a different woman on my arm at every event over the years. So I think it’s going to take him a while to trust me with you.”
My nose wrinkled.
Jagger kissed the tip of it and smiled. “The feeling is mutual, sweetheart.”
***
Hours later, we all sat around the dining room table eating Chinese food. We’d decided to order in, rather than go out for my birthday. My mother passed me the cardboard carton of Kung Pao chicken.
“I really hate the idea of you staying here.”
“She’s not,” Jagger said. “She’s staying at my place.”
“Oh good.”
I blinked a few times. “Hello? You two know I’m sitting here, right?”
Jagger frowned. “Do you want to stay here after what happened today?”
“No, but…”
He shrugged. “It’s settled then. You’re staying at my place. Miles can stay in the extra apartment. He’s only here for one more night anyway, right?” He looked over at Miles, who nodded.
“Works for me.” Miles shrugged.
“But the girls are at your place,” I protested.
“What girls?” Mom pointed to another container. “Can I have the fried rice, please?”
“Jagger’s nieces are staying with him.”
“Aww…” Mom’s eyes lit up. “Do you want kids of your own, Jagger?”
“Mom,” I warned. “Please.”
She shrugged. “What? We have a good nose. I’d like to see it passed on.”
“I’ll speak to Amelia and Olivia,” Jagger said. “Neither of us is going to sleep tonight if you’re here.”
“I won’t sleep either,” Mom said.
Miles watched our exchange like a tennis match.
I sighed. “How about I stay in the extra apartment with Miles?”
Jagger frowned. “If that’s what you really want.”
“It is. Thank you.”
“I’m putting a guard outside the door then.”
I smiled, feeling loved and protected. “Okay.”
“Works for me.” Miles shrugged again. “Hey, Mia,” he called from the other end of the table. “Did you see the necklace Jagger got Sutton for her birthday?”
“Oh my God.” My hand covered my heart. “I forgot all about the necklace. I’m so sorry, Jagger. I didn’t even say thank you. It’s absolutely stunning.”
“What do you call that type of design?” Miles smirked and gestured to his neck. “It’s sort of like a collar.”
I was going to kill him. Though when my eyes caught with Jagger’s, there was a gleam there. I cleared my throat and looked at my mother. “It’s a choker with a beautiful sapphire in the center. I’ll show you after we finish eating.”
“I can’t wait.” Mom beamed.
The five of us finished dinner and sat around talking for a while. Mom got to ooh and ahh at my birthday gift from Jagger, and I was honestly grateful when she said they were going to get going. It wasn’t even eight yet, the time our dinner reservation had been, yet it felt like midnight. I was mentally spent and physically running on empty as I closed the door behind her and Edmund.
“I’m going to go pack my things,” Miles said.
“Okay. I’ll do that in a minute too.”
Jagger was on the couch. The box containing his gift still sat on the coffee table. I gestured to it, standing before his spread legs. “Your gift was really overboard.”
He shrugged. “When I saw it, I knew it was exactly what I wanted to give you.”
I nibbled on my fingernail. “Does it…have any meaning to you?”
The corner of his lip quirked. “Like what?”
I squinted, trying to read him. Did he really not know what I was asking or was he just screwing with me? “Well, what made you want to give me that necklace specifically?”
He grabbed my hands and yanked. I yelped as I fell on top of him. Jagger rolled us so my back was to the couch, and he hovered over me.
“It means you belong to me.”
“So it is…a collar?”
His smile was full of mischief. “Call it whatever you want.”
“Have you always given the women that you were…seeing one of those?”
“Never.”
“Why not?”
“Because I would never expect a woman to belong to me, unless I belonged to her.”
The air rushed from my lungs in the most amazing way. “It’s the best gift I’ve ever received, and I’m not referring to its monetary value.”