More on this book
Community
Kindle Notes & Highlights
“If you let me into your apartment, I’ll throw your ass on the bed. I’ll choke you. I’ll spank you so hard my handprint will still be on your ass in the morning. You’ve been warned.”
“You’re too fucking beautiful for this bullshit. Because if you were mine—” He shut his mouth immediately but kept his eyes locked on mine, like he wished he could take back what he’d said, but it was too late. “You wouldn’t have to make this decision in the first place.”
Adrien looked shocked by the questions. “I—I don’t think the details matter.” “I’m just trying to understand,” I said. “Because if it was the best sex of your life, then it would make sense.” “You’re the best I’ve ever had, Fleur.” “Really?” I asked. “Because you aren’t mine.”
“Fuck up once, it’s a mistake. Fuck up twice, it’s a habit. Fuck up three times, and it’s your character. You’re a cheater, Adrien—that’s who you are. You’ll cheat on your next wife. And the next one…”
“I can get you a position at one of my investment firms. One of my finance guys needs an executive assistant—and he’s gay.” “What does that have to do with anything?” He smirked. “You think I’m gonna let my girl work for some asshole, wearing a tight pencil skirt all day? That ass is mine.”
“Let me give you a life lesson, sweetheart. When someone opens a door, you just walk through it. Don’t wait for it to close because it might be locked the next time you try to open it. Life is fucking hard, and you should use every advantage you have at your disposal. The advantage you have right now is me. Use me.”
“I’m your man. I’ll buy you whatever the fuck I want.”
“Since you’ve got a booth, and we aren’t waiting fifteen minutes for a table—” Luca moved to my side of the booth to take a seat “—we’ll join you.” Bastien snapped his fingers. “Get your ass up. You aren’t sitting next to my girl.”
“You want to come back to my place, or should I drop you off?” It felt like a trick question. Was he inviting me back to his place to be polite, or did he actually want me there? He said he was honest to a fault, so I just asked. “What do you want me to do?” “I want you to fuck me then take a nap with me.” I never had to wonder what he was thinking because he just told me—and that was refreshing. “Sounds good to me.”
“I just think you shouldn’t get involved with a woman with so much baggage.” “I can lift a car—so I can carry her fucking baggage.”
“What do you want from me, Luca?” I turned back to him. “I don’t care that she’s married. I don’t care that she’s getting divorced. I don’t care if she says she’s not ready for a relationship. She’s my woman—period. You better get fucking used to it.”
I gave a quiet chuckle. “I’m not the rebound, Luca. I’m the gold fucking stallion.”
You have your beliefs and that’s fucking fine, but the rest of us don’t. Don’t make carnivores eat asparagus just because you’re a goddamn vegetarian.”
He smirked. “I’m not bringing you to talk about politics.” “Then why are you bringing me?” His blue eyes continued to look into mine, to spear my soul with their subtle intensity. “Because you’re my woman.”
“It’s all about optics. You earn more respect if you’ve got a beautiful woman on your arm.” “Do I earn you respect? Because I’m not the bombshell she is.” Bastien scoffed, a handsome smile on his face. “She’s so thin you can see her hip bones through her dress and the vertebrae up her spine—and her tits are fake. You, on the other hand, are the finest piece of woman I’ve ever seen.” He moved his arm over the back of my chair and gave me that intense gaze that could win him any hand in poker. “I’ll take you to my office and prove it.”
“Let me explain to you what casual is. Casual is a random text from someone you haven’t seen in two weeks, asking for a hookup. Casual is wearing a condom. Casual is fucking several people at once. Casual is not texting me every day, is not telling me you miss me, not sleeping over and having pancakes the next morning. So, what do you want from me, sweetheart?” He didn’t raise his voice, but his tone was so powerful it felt like he screamed. “Because I haven’t been with anyone else since the first time I saw you, but I can change that as soon as tonight if you’d like.”
“You are my woman,” he snapped. “You fuck my brains out and hold on to me all night like I’m your goddamn teddy bear. Is it normal for you to go around town and fuck random guys without wearing anything if you aren’t their woman?”
“I understand you’re coming out of a long-term relationship that ended in a dumpster fire. I understand you haven’t had time to heal everything he’s broken. But I’m not asking you to marry me or move in with me or do anything you don’t want to do. But I won’t be disrespected either. You’re either in this with me, or I’m gone.”
He continued to look down at me, his eyes soft and kind. “If I walked away right now and took someone else home, would it hurt you?” Just the thought made my heart drop into my stomach. I couldn’t answer the question with words, so I just nodded. “Then it’s too late to turn back,” he said. “So, be with me.”
“I assumed that you have plans or work.” “And if that’s the case, I’ll tell you.” He was a teddy bear one moment, then a fire-breathing dragon the next. “I want you here in my t-shirt on the couch, watching TV in front of the fire, fucking in the armchair, napping whenever we feel like it, and having Gerard bring us whatever the fuck we want. Is that a problem?”
