Total pages in book: 105
Estimated words: 98524 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 493(@200wpm)___ 394(@250wpm)___ 328(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 98524 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 493(@200wpm)___ 394(@250wpm)___ 328(@300wpm)
“Suit you’self,” she quipped.
I fought a smile. She was making it really hard to stay serious. And it didn’t help that she’d taken a page out of my book. Whenever she’d decline something healthy that I would offer, I’d say “suit yourself.”
Once she’d finished eating, I helped her out of her chair. “Are we good now?”
“Can you read to me, Tava?”
Oh my goodness.
I side-eyed Javier, who was placing their plates in the sink. He could have intercepted her at any time and told her I had to go, redeemed some of my respect, but he hadn’t. The prick. He still hadn’t said a single word. And he still looked angry. The fuck was wrong with him?
“Just one story, then I really have to go, okay?”
“Okay.” She grinned and tugged on my hand, leading me out of the kitchen. I followed her up the stairs and into her room. I never read her a story without putting her pajamas on first, so I changed her clothes, then helped her brush her teeth.
After detangling her hair, I put her cute little bonnet on. I’d bought the bonnet when I first started working with her. Why not? Her curls were too beautiful not to protect. And she loved it, said it made her feel like a princess.
I sat in the recliner in the corner, and she plucked a book from her shelf—one about a baby panda searching for his family.
Somehow, reading a story turned into her showing me the play food she’d made earlier—and a naked doll with crayon all over it that she said needed a bath—until eventually, she rubbed her eyes and told me she was ready for bed.
I laid her down and turned on the white noise machine.
Someone turned the big lights off, so the night-light took their place. I looked over my shoulder after tucking her in. Javier stood between the jambs of the door with a shoulder pressed to one.
At least he didn’t look angry anymore.
“Good night, Leesa. I’ll see you tomorrow.” I planted a kiss on her forehead, then tugged my dress down by the hem before heading to the door.
“Excuse me,” I grumbled through gritted teeth. Javier shifted sideways before making his way into the room to give Aleesa a kiss.
I drifted through the hallway, ready to take the stairs down and get the hell out of there, but Javier called my name.
I stopped in my tracks and twisted around as he left the door open just a crack. When he fully faced me, I got tired of bottling my anger.
“You embarrassed me tonight,” I snapped. “I just . . . I’m still trying to wrap my head around it. Like, what were you even thinking? You had no business interrupting my date like that!”
He took a step closer but said nothing.
“Aren’t you going to at least apologize?” I demanded, stepping closer too.
“No,” he answered.
Anger bubbled in my veins. I wanted to yell. Scream. He was so lucky Aleesa was around.
“Why the hell not?” I demanded.
His eyes traveled from my head to my toes.
Then, in two long strides, he closed the gap between us, cupped the back of my head, and kissed me.
Seventeen
Octavia
I moaned as Javier took several steps forward, bumping me backward until my back pressed to the nearest wall and caused one of the portraits to shake.
He picked me up in his arms, and my dress rose higher up my thighs. One of his hands slid up the side of my leg while the other, which was on the back of my head, came around to grip my face between his long fingers.
The grip was possessive and powerful, and it definitely sent a message.
“I will not apologize for wanting you to myself,” he growled on my mouth.
Wanting me?
I searched for words to say but hardly had enough time to catch my breath, because his mouth was crashing down on mine again. He removed his hand from my face and carried me through the hall to his bedroom.
I’d been in his bedroom only once, and that was to get the Bluey adhesive bandages. Aleesa loved them, but Javier hid them because she didn’t use them for cuts or scrapes. She used them like decorative stickers. Other than that, I’d had no reason to go in there.
But now I did. And it was with him.
He didn’t stop kissing me, even when my back landed on the plush king-size bed. I grabbed hold of his face and kissed him deeper, then our lips parted only briefly so he could lean up and remove his shirt.
Once it was gone, he dove in again, wedging his massive body between my legs. His erection rocked up and down, pressing on my pussy, making me wetter by the second. A quivering, desperate breath left my body. It’d been so long since I felt this. One shift of my panties, one tug of his shorts and boxers, and he would’ve been inside me.