My bark of laughter has Rhys winking at me in a way that curls my damn toes, reminding me of how it took forever to get out of the house this morning. Oh well. There are worse things than being with a man who enjoys worshiping every inch of your body.
But it’s only temporary.
“Hate to be the party pooper, babe, but no wedding bells in the near future.”
Or ever.
Those words, though, taste like shit as they fall from my mouth. Worse, Rhys slams the book closed, suddenly pissed. And I’m angry as well. Now we’re both in a bad mood even though we both understood from the start this situation is for a good time, not a long time. We have an expiration date, and while it wasn’t an issue before, it’s bothering me today for some unfathomable reason.
“Shame,” Brooklyn whispers. “If he were mine, I’d chain that man to me and never let him go.”
The idea of never letting him go doesn’t sound bad. In fact, it sounds downright fan-fucking-tastic.
*
With Brooklyn out grabbing lunch, I’m nose-deep in my laptop updating spreadsheets. I love my spreadsheets. Without them, my business would dissolve into pure chaos. But I’m startled when Rhys slams his book closed with a loud bang. It’s the scowl twisting his gorgeous face that has me confused. “What’s wrong?”
Rhys storms over, holding up the book. “This is what you wanted?”
“What? No!”
He tossesThe Hot Shifter Upstairson the counter. “No? Then why download the app? Why pick the antihero?”
“You’re reading too much into it, literally,” I say with a shrug and a half-hearted laugh.
And perhaps a tad too flippantly for Rhys’s liking because he strides around the counter to grab me by the shoulders, shove me backward, and pin me to the wall. “Tell me, Charlotte? Why me?”
“I don’t know.” I attempt to push him away, but it’s like trying to move a wall. “It’s complicated.”
He puts his face dangerously close to mine. “Uncomplicate it.”
“I can’t.”
“You won’t.” The hard shake pulls a cry from me. “Because you don’t fucking trust me.”
“I do,” I insist, but it’s a lie. I don’t trustanyone.
It’s difficult to trust when you’ve been betrayed for years. Jason looked me dead in the eyes and told me he loved mefor yearswhile he was living a whole other life on the side. His shitty family knew what he was doing behind my back and covered for him, and after I found out, I had to bite my tongue and play nice. So, yeah, no. Sorry, not sorry for having serious trust issues.
But Rhys isn’t Jason—and not solely because I ‘built’ him with loyalty as a personality component. After being with this man every moment of every day for nearly a week, I think even without me having given him that trait, he’d still have it.
Free will.
And he’s fundamentally…better…than most.
He was kind toward Gram and gentle with me. With what I gave him, he could easily tip in the other direction—dangerous and arrogant. Instead, he’s a good man.
“I wanted someone who could make me feel alive.” The truth slips off my tongue.
Rhys kicks my legs open, fitting himself between them. Grinds his erection against me. Shifts his hold to grasp my throat, squeezing. “Do I make you feel alive, Charlotte?”
“Yes,” I breathe.
He nips my lips, pulling a gasp from me, and I swear to God, it’s as if every character in every book that sits on these shelves is watching us in rapt approval. “Beg me.”
I snap my gaze to the front door, watching three women stroll past the shop, but Rhys bangs the wall directly beside my head. I jump, my attention right back on him. “Look at me, Charlotte, not them. I want to hear you beg.”
“No,” I grind out between gritted teeth. “I know what’s in these books, the darker ones. That’s not what I want. I won’t beg a man for any-fucking-thing. Why, so you can have power over me? Make a fool out of me? No, I don’t think so, pal. I was a joke to someone once. Never again.”
