Total pages in book: 125
Estimated words: 120631 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 603(@200wpm)___ 483(@250wpm)___ 402(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 120631 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 603(@200wpm)___ 483(@250wpm)___ 402(@300wpm)
She broke eye contact, looking up at the sky, hating this softer side of him.
“Look at me. Only me.” He stepped closer, framing her face. “Why does it bother you if they see?”
“I don’t know. It just does. And I hate that I care.”
His hands settled on her shoulders, grounding her too fast for her own comfort. “So just put it out there, Joce. Let them believe it doesn’t bother you, even if it does, then they won’t be able to use it against you.”
Fake it ‘til you make it…
Maybe he was right, but the thought still made her stomach swoop in a disorienting way.
It wasn’t the fear of people knowing they were together. It was the humiliating dread of making a public spectacle when this thing between them would inevitably end. Admitting that, even to herself, made her feel weak and small.
“I’m scared,” she confessed, giving no more detail than that.
“Me too. But not enough to back down. We’re in it now. Me and you.”
When she closed her eyes in resignation, his lips pressed firmly to hers. Soft and patient as he waited for the tension radiating through her body to give, and when it did—as it always did whenever he put his lips on her—he took full advantage, deepening the kiss and putting on a public show for anyone watching.
Her heart tripped into overdrive, and her body took over. She pulled him closer, needing more. With Soren, she could never have enough.
She wanted to crawl under his clothes and rub against the hard lines of his body, steal his warmth, and breathe in that familiar scent only he owned. As if he could sense her mounting desires and read her thoughts, he chuckled and broke the kiss, but didn’t immediately pull away.
Jocelyn’s face heated, and she pressed her burning cheeks into the shelter of his throat, where his scent was even stronger.
His hand dragged down her back in a slow, grounding glide. “See, that wasn’t so bad.”
She winced and bashfully turned her head, peeking at their surroundings. There were no crowds or news reporters. No paparazzi or Jumbotron Kiss Cam.
Pedestrians moved about at a regular pace, not a single one scandalized by what they had just done. But then a shiver chased up her spine, and her attention pulled to the right.
Not ten feet away, Olivia stood, shopping bags hanging at her sides, and a cold, blank stare on her face.
Every bit of warmth sapped from her body as their stares clashed. Understanding exploded between them, the detonation enough to push Jocelyn back from Soren, as if she were breaking some unspoken set of rules.
The other woman looked at her as if she had no right to touch him. Survival instincts pushed Jocelyn back another step as the blonde’s eyes narrowed.
“Soren, what are you doing?”
“Olivia…” Something akin to guilt flashed in his eyes, and it was enough to convince Jocelyn she shouldn’t be there.
Turning on her heel, she rushed toward her car.
Soren cursed and yelled her name, but there was nothing he could say to call her back now.
CHAPTER 9
“COME ON, TRY A LITTLE. NOTHING IS FOREVER. THERE’S GOT TO BE SOMETHING BETTER THAN IN THE MIDDLE.”
Gravel spewed from under Soren’s tires as he pulled into Jocelyn’s driveway. Her car wasn’t there, but that didn’t mean she wasn’t inside. Finding the door locked, he retrieved the hidden key from under the planter and let himself in.
“Jocelyn?”
Cordelia came charging out of the kitchen like a rabid, frothing dust bunny prepared to disembowel him on the spot for crossing the threshold without an invitation.
“Hush, you!” Ignoring the dog, he searched downstairs. “Jocelyn?”
When he checked for her upstairs, the feral gremlin spawn snapped at his ankles the entire way.
“Will you stop it! Where is your mother?”
The ugly little rat just growled at him through missing teeth in that absurd sweater that only made its strange blonde mohawk seem more ridiculous.
“Fuck.” He went to the back porch, locking the guard-rat inside, and waited for Jocelyn to come home. After ten minutes, he texted her.
I’m on your porch. Where are you?
Then he remembered she didn’t have his number.
It’s Soren.
He called her several times since she took off, but she never picked up. After another ten minutes, he sent her another text, asking her to please call him. Cordelia barked for thirty solid minutes until the thing finally tired itself out.
Of all the places for Olivia to show up, she had to choose the Chowder House at that exact moment. Her timing was impeccable.
He owed her nothing. They made no promises to each other, and Soren hadn’t done anything wrong. But according to both women’s faces, you’d think the opposite.
He texted Jocelyn again.
When the sun started to set behind the trees, he really started to worry. He considered driving around to look for her, but figured she’d have to come home eventually.