Total pages in book: 87
Estimated words: 84635 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 423(@200wpm)___ 339(@250wpm)___ 282(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 84635 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 423(@200wpm)___ 339(@250wpm)___ 282(@300wpm)
I said nothing.
The silence held for three, maybe four seconds. Then I watched it happen—her spine straightened, her chin lifted, and the softness in her expression sealed over like a wound closing.
She was back.
I rose and crossed the room to her, not missing how she held her breath the moment I got close. Reaching past her I set my glass aside. “I remember how you cheated by always dealing from the bottom of the deck.”
She adjusted my tie before running her fingertips over the expensive silk. “It’s a man’s world. A girl’s got to do what she can to keep an edge.”
I shifted away. “Well, you certainly did.”
My double-entendre clear.
Finally, after a long pause, she spoke. “You know, I loved Jameson too—like a brother, of course.”
There. Right there.
The hesitant pause.
I had always suspected there was something more between my brother and Skylar. But to ask would have implied I gave a damn, which I certainly did not.
Skylar moved closer and stretched out her arm to try and give me her drink to share. I raised an eyebrow but didn’t move to take it from her hand. She pursed her lips and took another sip. Her attention sharpened. “I talked to him that night, right before the accident, you know.”
I schooled my features. I actually hadn’t known. Although that probably explained how she knew about the video. Jameson must have said something that revealed he, not Madison, had been driving. And his cell phone was still missing from the accident scene.
She continued. “That townie bitch was breaking up with him. Can you imagine? A little nobody like her breaking it off with a Worthington? Really, I don’t know what he was thinking dating someone so poor. Did you know she actually works for a living?”
The corner of my mouth lifted at the thought of Madison’s little bookshop, Borrowed Time.
A clever name for a mystery suspense-themed bookstore.
I pinched the bridge of my nose, the events of the day and Skylar’s grating voice compounding into a headache. “Only you would consider working for a living a character defect, Skylar.”
Her eyes narrowed as she slammed the glass down on the antique surface, leaving a watermark on the priceless finish. “I’d be careful with the insults, Pierce. I was there in court today.”
She stood in front of me and folded her arms across her chest, pushing her breasts up. “Quite a convincing picture Madison made, pleading her innocence to anyone who would listen.”
I closed the small distance between us, towering over her. “Your point being?”
“I’m...I’m just saying you might not want to be making comments about me when you are clearly no better. You’re the one framing that stupid girl for murder.”
I forced her back against the wall. Placing my palm high over her head, I leaned in. “I’d be very careful about opening that mouth of yours.”
She scratched her fingernails over the suit fabric covering my crotch. “Are you sure you don’t want my mouth open? Nice and wide so you can choke me with your big...thick...cock?”
I stood there for a moment, letting her run her hands over me. Almost willing my flesh to respond. As much as I despised her, she was still a beautiful woman, a willing body with a talented mouth.
She pressed the heel of her palm harder against me. “Remember how good I was at swallowing the whole length, like your good little whore?”
Nothing. No response from my cock. Not even a twitch of interest. It wasn’t just that she’d fucked my best friend. It was worse than that. This whole scenario was just so jaded, and worn, and...overplayed.
I thought of the fresh, innocent sweetness of Madison.
The tentative sweep of her tongue against mine.
I removed Skylar’s hand from my thigh. “It’s no good, Skylar.”
She inhaled a shaky breath. Her laugh was high-pitched and forced. “Come on, Piercy. Your secret is safe. I promise I won’t tell a soul.”
I turned away in disgust, her cloying perfume choking me.
She pushed herself away from the wall and took several steps toward the door. Once she was at a safe distance, she said, “As long as you play nice.”
I pivoted. My lips lifted in a sneer. “And what is that supposed to mean?”
Her gaze traveled over my form before she turned, tossing a parting shot over her shoulder as she left. “You’ll see.”
CHAPTER 8
MADISON
Hailey dangled the dirty phone receiver a few inches from her ear with two fingers as she stared at me through the smudged bulletproof glass. “Well, at least you’re pulling off that orange jumpsuit.”
Using my fingernail, I traced the “fuck you” that was scratched into the counter surface.
I pressed my phone to the side of my face. It was just as skeevy as hers, but after two weeks in jail, where everything I’d touched, slept on, sat on, even eaten had had a ground-in layer of filth to it, I’d stopped caring.