Total pages in book: 74
Estimated words: 68743 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 344(@200wpm)___ 275(@250wpm)___ 229(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 68743 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 344(@200wpm)___ 275(@250wpm)___ 229(@300wpm)
She tipped her head to the side. “How are you so understanding and aware?”
He laughed. “I’m the oldest with four younger full siblings and another four half siblings, but that’s my story.”
“For another day?” she asked hopefully, making him squirm in his seat.
Instead of replying, he kept the focus on her. “What I suggest is that you take advantage of being on the island. Leave your troubles in New York for now. They’ll be there when you get home.”
Not only because she needed the break but he missed seeing her bright smile and the light that was usually around her when she was happy.
Before she could answer, Aayla returned with plates of appetizers and placed them on the table, explaining the type of sauces on the fresh shrimp and crabs. “We had a very large party come in, so my father is busy. He says hello and he’ll try to come out of the kitchen before you leave.”
“Thank you,” Asher said. “Send him my best.”
The young woman smiled, nodded, and headed back inside.
Asher served them both, putting the food on his and Nikki’s plates, causing the delicious smells to assault his senses.
“Wow. This looks amazing,” she said, picking up her fork and knife, cutting into the food. She took a bite and moaned.
The sound went straight to his cock, desire for this complicated woman settling inside him. Something that didn’t change throughout the long meal while he learned more about her past and the woman she’d become. Discovering how wrong he’d been about her only added to his need. He liked the woman she was. Despite the age difference, she was more mature than most of the women he’d dated.
More than once he’d caught himself staring at Nikki’s mouth, wanting to taste those lips again. By the time he paid the check and they were in the SUV headed to his estate, Asher wanted nothing more than to pick her up, carry her to his room, and bury himself deep inside her.
Scarier still was the need to take care of her, to make the emotional pain and loneliness she experienced go away. And what would her brother and his close friend think of that?
Chapter Five
Later that evening, Nikki stretched her legs out on the bed in her room. She was still stuffed from the huge meal she’d eaten today. As Asher had predicted, they’d sat for a couple of hours, sharing appetizers, the main course, and dessert. He’d kept the focus of conversation on her, asking how she’d gotten into modeling and learning more about her. Given his interest, she’d opened up.
About how, as a child, while her father was settled in DC, building his career, her mother had tried to mold Nikki into the perfect show pony. She’d been sent to private schools, enrolled in pageants, and forced to smile for photos and talk to adults more than she’d ever been with other kids. It was no wonder she’d never made close friends. For her mother, Nikki modeling was a natural progression.
For Nikki, it was too similar to pageantry. She’d wanted to be herself, not her mother’s protégé. But even as a teenager, she’d realized that, if she wanted to get out from under their thumbs, she needed money. At fifteen, she began to model.
When the career demanded she travel, she was homeschooled with tutors and over the years, earned her GED. Around the same time, her father needed his wife around him for political appearances and Nikki got used to being on her own.
Finally, at eighteen, her parents had allowed her to move to New York where Derek lived, not to LA, which had been her first choice. She’d wanted to get as far away from them as possible but she loved her brother and he’d been happy to have her nearby.
Asher had been understanding about her past, and she’d seen a different side to him today. Watching him talk to Aayla and her father with interest and respect, then his listening to Nikki, he’d been so different than the uptight, aloof man she’d originally met.
The persona he’d unfortunately returned to as soon as they’d walked back into the house. He’d curtly informed her he was going to his office to work. It was almost as if he wanted to distance himself from the warmer man he’d let escape today.
Nikki wondered what his background was and what pain he hid from the world. Though she wouldn’t pry, she hoped to get close enough to find out.
Her cell rang, and since she’d spoken to Derek before hooking the phone up to charge, she doubted the caller was her brother. She grabbed the cell from the nightstand and saw Winter, her neighbor’s name, flashing on the screen.
Surprised, Nikki answered. “Hello?”
“Hi, Nikki. I’m calling to see how you’re doing,” Winter said in that warm tone Nikki automatically responded to.