Total pages in book: 68
Estimated words: 61851 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 309(@200wpm)___ 247(@250wpm)___ 206(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 61851 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 309(@200wpm)___ 247(@250wpm)___ 206(@300wpm)
She’d smiled and laughed in conversation with her best friend, Avery, her expressions animated, her green eyes bright, with a sassy quirk to her red lips. Growing up, Derek hadn’t thought of Jessica as anything more than his best friend’s little sister. Mostly, she’d been a pain in their ass, and as he and Ben had gotten older, Derek had even felt as protective of Jessica as he did of Nikki. But over the past few years, he’d watched her blossom from an uncertain, vulnerable girl into a beautiful woman.
She’d really come into her own, as an independent, successful, and most importantly, confident female, and he couldn’t help but see her in a different light. Now, she embraced what had once made her so insecure and fucking owned that part of herself, and he found that bold and daring determination she exuded sexy as hell. Not that he’d ever let Ben know the truth. That when Derek looked at Ben’s sister these days, he couldn’t help but wonder what her long, silky blonde hair would feel like wrapped around his fist, or what her smooth skin tasted like, or the sounds she’d make in the throes of orgasm, or how he’d like to shut up that sassy mouth of hers with a hot, deep kiss. . .
Yeah, totally not cool. Not cool at all.
“Earth to Derek,” Asher said, snapping a finger in front of his face. “Damn, this auction must really have you psyched out.” He shot Derek a sympathetic look. “While you’re mentally preparing yourself to be sold, I’m going to let your sister deal with you while I go enjoy a drink with Linc and Beck at the bar. I’ll bet Beck is laughing his ass off at his brothers being a part of the auction, too.”
At least Derek would be able to commiserate on stage with Tripp and Drew while they stood on display. Aurora had deemed them all single, eligible, and therefore, “man candy catnip” for the auction.
“You go do that,” Derek muttered, eager to not be the brunt of Asher’s jokes.
Nikki let out a chuckle. “Go,” she said to her man, patting his shoulder.
Asher leaned down and kissed her full on the lips before striding off, Nikki gazing after him.
Derek yanked at his too-tight collar again and his sister playfully smacked his hand away. “Stop being so anxious. You’re making your tie crooked,” she chided. She straightened the bow and sighed, lifting her gaze to his. “You know, this really isn’t such a bad thing.”
He arched a brow. “What, being auctioned off like cattle or spending a weekend with a woman, whether we get along or not, just because she’s the highest bidder?”
“It could be fun.” She gave him a dazzling smile. “Or you might even be bought by the woman of your dreams and you just don’t know who she is yet.”
He rolled his eyes so hard he almost hurt himself. “Clearly, you still have your fanciful head in the clouds when it comes to romance. The last thing I’m looking for is love.”
Nikki smoothed a hand down his tuxedo jacket lapel, a knowing look in her eyes. “That’s usually when it finds you. I mean, look at me and Asher. Total opposites and totally unexpected. Who would have thought Mr. Grumpy Pants would be all warm and mushy on the inside? If you hadn’t thrown us together on his island, we probably never would have realized how perfect we are for each other.”
He smiled. “I’m happy for you. Really.”
“And that’s all I want for you. The same kind of happiness.” She paused a moment, then continued. “Considering everything that’s happened in our family as of late, it would be nice to see you settled, too.”
He couldn’t disagree with the family part of her comment. Just recently, Nikki had called their mother out on her controlling and abusive behavior, which hadn’t gone over well. She’d then announced her decision to quit modeling and pursue her own dreams and not be their mother’s puppet any longer. Derek was incredibly proud of his sister for standing up for herself, but when he added in his own recent breakup with Claire, there was no denying the tension within their family. With all her wishes thwarted, their mother was being an absolute bitch about, well, pretty much everything—because both her children had disappointed her in different ways.
“I’m perfectly happy,” he assured his sister. “Just because our family is shit doesn’t mean that my life is, too.”
“But it would be so much better with a special someone in it,” Nikki persisted. “And not just one of your random hookups.”
“They’re not random.”
“Oh, yeah, I forgot,” she said with a small amount of sarcasm. “You have at least half a dozen women on speed dial.”
His answer was a smirk, in hopes that she’d drop the subject.