Total pages in book: 160
Estimated words: 149137 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 746(@200wpm)___ 597(@250wpm)___ 497(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 149137 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 746(@200wpm)___ 597(@250wpm)___ 497(@300wpm)
His eyes fastened on her. “What? Ice cream? I don’t have any, but I can send someone. I should have thought about that. Or hot tea? I do have that. I can make you some tea and there’s organic honey somewhere. I’ve heard that can soothe a sore throat.”
She shook her head. “I don’t need that. How about a kiss? We’ve had sex, but you haven’t kissed me. How about you kiss me until I can’t think any more and we’ll call it even?”
It was one thing she’d missed during their scene. He hadn’t kissed her, hadn’t pressed those magnificent lips against hers and stroked his tongue into her mouth. The truth was she’d been thinking about kissing him since the moment she’d agreed to take this job.
He was quiet for a moment. “You’re under a mistaken impression. That’s not going to happen. Not ever. I don’t kiss, Kayla.”
“What?”
“I don’t kiss. I haven’t kissed anyone in years, not unless it’s in the script, and I’m not going to start now. If you were looking forward to teenaged make-out sessions, you’re out of luck. I’m not going to sleep with you either.”
She’d meant to talk to him about that. “I thought the whole point was to have me close so I could protect you.”
“No, I hired you so I didn’t have to find a woman who would get hurt because she was close to me. You’re convenient. You possess the skills to protect me and you don’t mind me using your body. At least, that was supposed to be our bargain. I assure you, you’ll hear me scream and come running if something happens, but I was never going to share a bed with you. Did you read the contract? Have I made a mistake?”
Wow. That hurt. That was an actual kick in the gut, and if she hadn’t felt used before, she sure as hell did now. She put a hand up to stop his questions. “I read it. I assumed since we were having sexual intercourse that I would be sleeping with you and that you would kiss me from time to time. I get it now. Only penises and vaginas involved.”
An arrogant smirk marked his face and he crossed his hands over his chest. “See, this is why I told Jared it couldn’t work. No woman can accept sex on a base level. You always want more.”
That was where he was wrong. He’d very effectively killed any fantasy she still held about him. “I spent years and years of my life accepting exactly that. Thank you. I’m going to be honest, you’re very good at what you do. You made me feel a connection to you that didn’t exist from your end. I’ll kill it from mine and we’ll both be free to enjoy the physical aspects of our contract. Am I allowed to find my bed now?”
His whole body seemed to sigh. “I don’t kiss anyone. It’s not…it’s not about you. Kissing…it means something to me. It’s intimate and I can’t do it.”
But on screen he kissed like a god. Kissed like a god and made everyone in the audience believe he was a real live boy.
It was all part of his gorgeous façade, and she forgot that at her peril.
He was a job and it wasn’t her place to fix whatever was broken inside him. She thought she was damaged? Well, maybe she wasn’t as far gone as she believed. At least she was willing to try. She wouldn’t be trying with him, but there was no reason for anger. Anger was utterly irrational in this case. He hadn’t promised her anything. He’d given her pleasure, and it was obvious there was a whole war fought inside that beautiful body of his.
It wasn’t her war. After all, she had a job to do and he’d made it easier because she wasn’t going to become emotionally attached to a man as cold as this one.
She looked up at him, banishing all those stupid thoughts that had played around in her head. “It’s okay, Joshua. I haven’t kissed anyone in a long time and I was looking forward to it, but you’re right. It should be meaningful. It should mean more than some contractual obligation. I’ll save my kisses for outside the job.”
He blocked her when she tried for the hallway. “What is that supposed to mean?”
She sighed inwardly, so sick of sulky boys who pretended to be men. The truth was he’d been honest with her all along. He’d shown her exactly who he was and what he thought of her. She was a toy, and while he didn’t want to play with certain pieces of her, he wouldn’t allow anyone else to either. “I wasn’t saying I’m going to look for a date. This is a job. It will end at some point in time and then I’ll find someone to mack down on.”