Total pages in book: 108
Estimated words: 104657 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 523(@200wpm)___ 419(@250wpm)___ 349(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 104657 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 523(@200wpm)___ 419(@250wpm)___ 349(@300wpm)
“You’re making my dick hard, and I can’t let go of the kite, so you’ll have to adjust it for me.”
She giggled. “My looking at you gives you an erection?”
I rolled my head toward her for a second as she blushed. “After this morning’s kitchen table incident, yes.”
“Incident? Is that what we’re calling it?”
I peered at the kite and smirked. She was right. Kites were meant to be flown while lying on the ground.
“What are you doing?” I asked, stiffening as she rested her hand on my chest and buried her face in my neck.
“You smell so good. What is that? Vetiver?”
“It’s sweat, Everleigh. You’re making me sweat, and I’m going to lose this kite if you don’t stop touching me.”
“It’s definitely vetiver.” She crawled onto me.
“Everleigh,” I warned, tipping my chin and stretching my arms toward the sky as she crawled on top of my chest, kissing my neck up to my jaw.
“Vetiver oil is called the oil of tranquility. Did you know that?”
I cocked my head to the side to see past her to the kite. “Then it’s not working because I don’t feel tranquil.”
“How do you feel?” She teased my earlobe with her teeth.
The kite headed behind us, losing altitude.
“It’s going to crash. I need to stand up.” I spun the string around the reel as quickly as possible, but she was in my way, and my dick was hard. And I didn’t want to hold on to the kite. I wanted to grab her ass and kiss her senseless.
The kite headed toward the trees, so I sat up, and she fell off my chest onto the ground. I jumped to my feet and sprinted in the opposite direction to keep it out of the trees, my hands speedily winding string.
It was close. So close. Too close.
Crash!
Her kite landed in a tree.
Everleigh cupped a hand over her mouth, eyes wide as she gaped at the kite.
“Sorry.” I cringed before following the string to the scene of the crash. “But I blame you.”
She gasped and then jogged ahead of me. “William, I wasn’t the one flying the kite.”
“I’ll buy you a new one.”
“From India? My dad made this kite. It took him nearly two hundred hours to construct it. Then he handwove the string from silk and cotton. Do you have any idea how long it takes to handweave three hundred yards of kite string?” She stopped under the tree, head back, hands parked on her hips.
What the hell? Who weaves kite string?
“The string is fine. The kite can probably be salvaged. It’s not that far up there. Here. I’ll lift you onto my shoulders, and then you can probably reach it.”
Her nose wrinkled. “What if you drop me?”
“You’re a half-pint. Why would I drop you?”
Everleigh’s lips twisted for a beat before she nodded. “Fine. But if you break my dad’s kite and his daughter, this won’t end well for you. My dad is very protective of his little girl.”
I rolled my eyes and squatted. She climbed onto my shoulders, and I gripped her legs while standing.
“Forward. Back. Back . . . stop!” She guided me while freeing the kite.
I set her on her feet, and we walked toward the parking lot while I ordered a cab. She kept her head bowed, inspecting the rip in the kite. What was I supposed to say? It was her fault. And yet, I felt bad.
“I’m sorry. Really. We’ll fix it.”
She sniffled.
Shit. I made her cry, so I slipped my phone into my back pocket and sighed, contemplating what else I could say.
It was over. A fun night. Gaming. A breakfast orgasm. Kite flying. Crash. The end. Would seeing her at the wedding be awkward? Undoubtedly. Would she tell Victoria and Tyler? I hoped not.
The cab arrived, and as I opened the back door for her, she scuffed her feet along the sidewalk toward the trash bin and shoved the kite and string into it.
My lips parted, eyes unblinking, as she sauntered toward me.
The biggest shit-eating grin engulfed her face. “My dad sends me a kite every month. Like a kite-of-the-month club. He buys them at a little shop down the street from his place. I think they’re the equivalent of a couple US dollars.”
I hated her.
Also, I grabbed her face and kissed her so hard I nearly chipped a tooth against hers.
The cabdriver cleared his throat. “The meter’s running.”
I didn’t care if I had to pay to kiss her. Everleigh was unlike anyone I had ever met. Everything about her was sticky and hard to shake.
She was smart and sexy.
Sassy and downright evil.
More addictive than any drug.
Chapter Twelve
I play Call of Duty while Liz paints her daughter in the upstairs bedroom. There’s a west-facing window, so I guess the light is good. I should have gone to tai chi class or the bar. I should have found a friendly hookup to keep my mind from wandering into naked Everleigh territory. So many should-haves, but here I am, killing characters on a screen and thinking about a specific painting.