Total pages in book: 130
Estimated words: 126003 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 630(@200wpm)___ 504(@250wpm)___ 420(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 126003 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 630(@200wpm)___ 504(@250wpm)___ 420(@300wpm)
“You’re not gonna have sex with me?”
I shake my head. “I’m not, Eason. I’m really, really not.”
“You’re not gonna have sex with anyone? Ever?”
I don’t say anything to that. I want to agree, but it’s so dumb. Of course one day I will.
I understand this.
But whatever he’s doing here—it’s not gonna be enough to bring that day closer.
Eason looks at me with an expression I can’t quite decipher. “There’s no rulebook, ya know. There are a million ways to love someone, Irina.” Then he nods his head at the clothes on the bed. “Get dressed. Let’s go.”
CHAPTER 19
The sound of a sliding door wakes me and when I turn over in bed, I catch just a glimpse of Beth retreating to the terrace, phone pressed to her ear. She’s wearing nothing but a silky teal-blue slip just barely long enough to cover her hips, so I get a good look at her underwear too.
She’s been staying here for a week now. She does have a bed at the other penthouse. And it’s new. Nice. But she came anyway.
Am I dating this woman?
Probably.
Have we cemented that into anything?
No. This thing is just… kind of happening.
The boys like her though. Especially Paulo. He’s always drilling her about other fighters she’s known.
We haven’t had sex yet. I’m trying to figure out if this is unusual or not. I’ve had my share of women since I left the jungle camp behind, but I would not call them girlfriends. We’d meet up, have some food, some drinks, then get a hotel or go back to her place. They didn’t come here, that’s for sure. And then we might do that one or two more times, but mostly we didn’t.
One night. That’s pretty much what I’m up for in the dating department.
Everything about Beth is different.
The terrace door whooshes open and she steps through. “Oh, you’re awake. Sorry. I thought I was being quiet.”
“I’m just a light sleeper.” I let my eyes drift down her body, then back up.
She tilts her head and smiles. “Anyway. Guess who that was?”
“I could care less.”
“Irina’s boyfriend’s trainer.”
I sit up, frowning. “What boyfriend? She’s sleeping with that what’s-his-face fucker?”
“Well, I don’t know about that. I wasn’t pressing for personal information, Lance.” Beth goes into the closet and just takes that slip off with her back turned to me. Just right over her head without a moment’s thought. She’s bare up top, but she’s wearing those teeny-tiny shorts that she calls underwear. She turns, flashing her tits at me, but pulling on a sports bra at the same time. She looks down, tucking them in properly, which delights me. Then a moment later she’s wearing a tank top. “Get up.”
“Why?”
“Didn’t you hear me?”
“I was a little bit distracted, to be honest.”
This makes her smile. Even though we haven’t had sex, I’m like two hundred percent sure it’s gonna happen. She’s not shy, that’s for sure. I think she’s just careful. Which is fine with me. She’s fun pretty much all of the time. “He said we could go.”
“What are we talking about again?”
“Lance.”
I chuckle. “The trainer. And what now?”
“Miami. We’re going there.”
“Irina wants to see me?”
“No. Well, I’m not sure. He didn’t say. He just said he talked to Dead Eyes—”
“Can we just call that man by his name? I don’t like Dead Eyes.”
“Fine. Eason. Eason told Davis—his trainer—that you should come to Miami and work this out.”
“He said that? ‘Work this out?’”
“That’s what I was told.”
“So Irina has told him about me?”
“Apparently.”
“Hmm.” Beth’s got a little pair of training shorts on now. She walks over to the bed, drops onto it, and starts crawling up to me.
I’m like… instantly transfixed. Smiling like an idiot as she straddles my lap, just the thin cotton sheet between us, then gets close enough to kiss me. But she doesn’t, just looks me in the eyes. “Let go.”
“Let go of what?”
“You know what. If we go to Miami, you will hug her, smooch her on the cheek, pat her head, and release her. You do not ask questions about Eason. You do not ask her why she left, or never called, or anything. It’s a gift, Lance. Accept it with grace.”
Then Beth leans in, touches her mouth to mine, and kisses me.
I’m about to attack her when she slips away and goes looking for her shoes. “I’m going for a run. You should pack. I’ve called the pilot. We can leave tonight but I told the trainer we won’t be there until Tuesday.”
“Then why are we leaving tonight? It’s Sunday. And what pilot? You’ve got a private plane?”
Beth shoots me a look that says, Doesn’t everyone have a private plane? then starts hopping on one foot as she puts on her shoe. “We’re leaving tonight because we can’t just go in blind, Lance. We need to get the lie of the land.”