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“Either way, it’s still wrong,” I insist. “Yeah, but that’s marriage for you. Cheating, lying, so on and so on.” “That’s not always the case.” “Nine times out of ten.” He shrugs. I hate the way he views marriage so negatively. “No, that’s not true.” I cross my arms over my chest. “You’re going to argue with me over marriage, again? I don’t think we should go there,” he warns. His eyes meet mine, and he takes a deep breath.
Lord
“I’m sorry for being a dick. I don’t know what my problem was. Max just bugs the shit out of me, or maybe it was the babysitting, or that obnoxious Stacey. I don’t know, but I’m sorry.” “Sasha.” I correct him with a smile. “Same thing—a whore is a whore is a whore.”
Holy shit
“I really am sorry. I don’t want to ruin my time with you. Forgive me?” His cheeks flush, and his voice is so soft, and his fingertips are gently scraping against my skin, and it feels so good. My eyes flutter closed as he traces the outline of my lips with his thumb. “Answer me,” he softly presses. “I always do, don’t I?” I say with a breath.
Ha
I can feel my nerves being tightened to the brink of snapping, and the only way to relax them is to punch something or bury myself into Tessa and forget about everything; but I can’t even fucking do that. I should be sinking myself inside of her right now, over and over until the goddamned sun comes up, to make up for the last week of hell without her touch.
Ew
I’ve loved seeing the changes in Hardin since his arrival only hours ago. He’s been sweeter, calmer, and he actually apologized to me without me having to pull the words from him.
The bar is in hell
All four walls of the room are mirrored from floor to ceiling
Why tho. All four??
“I don’t want him near you. I know it’s fucked up, but I don’t give a shit. Honestly, Zed is the line for me; it will always be that way. No amount of kickboxing will change that. Weird place or not, you are only for me. Not just sexually, but entirely.
Um
There’s something inside my head, just sitting in the back of my mind, nagging at me, not allowing me to release my grudge against Zed.
Another plot point that I have to wait 300 pages for?
When she pulls her T-shirt over her head, I can’t help but lean forward and kiss the curve of her wide hips.
This feels like an insult
“Did you touch yourself off again this week,
Did she.... what
“I don’t have a fucking condom in here,” I curse and bury my face in her shoulder. She lets out a frustrated groan but presses her nails into me, pulling me closer. “I need you,” she moans, flicking her tongue across my mouth.
Girl no
“I never wish to be parted from you from this day on,” it says. And I’m going to do everything I have to do in order to keep my permanent promise.
Still such a stupid tattoo
“Why is it so important to you to be independent all of a sudden?” he asks. His thumb and forefinger glide across the shell of my ear, sending a shiver down my spine. If he’s trying to distract me, he’s succeeding. Despite his gentle touch and burning jade eyes, I continue in my quest to make him understand where I’m coming from. “It’s not a sudden thing. I’ve mentioned this to you before. I also hadn’t noticed just how dependent on you I was until recently, and I don’t like it. I don’t like being that way.” “I do,” he says quietly.
You would say that
“Of course you can stay.” She grins. “As long as you aren’t being an asshole to Tessa.” “Actually, I’m not.” I roll my eyes as Vance enters the room. “You need to get a tighter leash on this one, perhaps even a muzzle,” I tell him.
Ohmygod not "muzzle your woman"
“Are you feeling okay?” He places the steaming mug of coffee on the dresser and walks over to the bed. He sits down next to me on the edge of the mattress. “Answer me,” he calmly adds when I take too long to respond.
This is such weird behaviour
I miss that bracelet every day; my e-reader, too. I want the letter he wrote me back as well. I want to be able to read it over and over.
Yes unfortunately he tore it up
“I’ve been the only one taking your car for an oil change for months; why would it surprise you now?”
She's had a car for like 5 months how many oil changes has it had
“It’s not only you; we both made mistakes,” I correct him. Hardin’s mistakes usually caused much more damage than mine, but I’m not innocent either. We need to stop blaming ourselves or each other and try to reach some sort of middle ground—together.
I mean I blame him
My phone is slow, yes, but iPhones are expensive and complicated—two things I can’t afford to add to my life right now.
Babe what
“Imagine the things we could do if you had an iPhone, too. There’d be even more ways for us to communicate, and you know I’d get it for you, so don’t mention the money again.” “What I can imagine is doing things like tracking my phone so you could see where I go,” I tease, ignoring his overpowering need to buy me things. “No, like we could video-chat.” “Why would we do that?” He looks at me as if I’ve grown another set of eyes and shakes his head. “Because, imagine being able to see me each day on your shiny new iPhone screen.”
Why are you simping so hard for Apple
“You’re thinking about it… going over all the dirty shit I could do to you via iPhone.”
Ohmygod
“Trevor’s office has the best view,” I tell him, my voice coming out much more clear and steady than I’m feeling on the inside. “Just how often are you in his office, Tessa?” Hardin’s eyes flicker to me and then back to the road. “I’ve been there twice this week. We have lunch together.” “You what?” Hardin snaps.
How DARE she have lunch with the ony person she knows
“Every day?” “Yes…” “Is there a reason behind it?” “He’s the only person I know that has the same lunch hour as me. Kimberly’s so busy helping Christian that she hasn’t even been taking a lunch hour.” Both of my hands move in front of my face to aid in my explanation. “So have your lunch hour changed.”
WHAT
“It’s not that big of a deal,” I say, trying to deactivate the bomb I’ve clearly assembled myself. “Every office has a set of catty women. The ones in mine just happen to have targeted me. I don’t want this to be a thing; I just want to blend in there and maybe even make some friends.” “Not likely to happen if you continue to let them act like bitches and hang out with fucking Trevor all day.” He licks his lips and takes a deep breath.
??
“I hope this place starts to feel like home soon,” I say without thinking and sink back into the leather seat. “You don’t seem to like Seattle so far, so what the hell are you doing here?” Hardin pulls my car into the lot of a small building.
It. Has been. A WEEK.
“The sign outside says fifteen-minute oil change,” Hardin snaps at the young man wearing oil-stained coveralls. “Yeah, it does.” The man shrugs. The cigarette tucked behind his ear falls down onto the counter, and he quickly retrieves it with a gloved hand. “Are you shitting me?” Hardin growls, his patience clearly grown thin.
Girl how is this attractive
The topics of discussion in the car have proven to be sore spots for us in the past, yet we made the entire drive here without a major blowup. I’m surprisingly giddy over that, or maybe it’s Hardin’s warm arms wrapping around my waist, or his usual minty scent laced with Christian’s cologne that he borrowed.
The bar is in hell
Truth is, I drove around the city, trying to find whatever it is that has her so captivated. It was a lost cause. I couldn’t find it through the freezing air.
Yes because England is a tropical paradise in fucking February.
“We were going to wait until next year, but neither of us is getting any younger, and with Mike’s son going off to university, there’s no better time than now. It should start warming up in the next few months, but we don’t want to wait. It may be chilly, but it won’t be unbearable. You’ll come, won’t you? And bring Tessa?” “So the wedding is next month, or in two weeks?” My brain doesn’t function this fucking early. “Two weeks!” she responds with glee.
Way to guve him notice, mom
Realizing that I’m being a little harsh, I backtrack. “She doesn’t even have a passport.” It’s an excuse, but a truthful one. “She can get one within two weeks if they expedite it.”
Not in America
My eyes greedily rake down her body. She’s dressed in a deep red button-down shirt tucked into a solid black, knee-length pencil skirt. The material hugs her hips in a way that makes me want to bend her over the stool, push her skirt up to reveal her panties—lace panties, perhaps—and take her right here, right now…
Please stop
“What time do you have to leave?” I ask. She crosses her arms in front of her chest, blocking my view. “Twenty minutes.” “Dammit.” I sigh, and we both bring our coffee mugs to our mouths at the same time. “You should have woken me up. Tell Vance you’re not coming in.” “No!” She blows at the steaming cup of coffee in her hand. “Yes.”
No!
“Tell him you need more time,” I demand, barely brushing my lips over the flushed skin below her neck. She tries to appear unaffected by my touch, but I know better. I know her body better than she does. “No.” She makes a minimal effort to pull away, just to be able to tell herself that she did. “I don’t want to take advantage of him. They’re already letting me stay here for free.” I’m not budging. “I’ll call him, then,” I say. He doesn’t need her at the office today. He already has her three days a week. I need her more than Vance Publishing does. “Hardin…” She reaches for my hand before I
...more
Yeah I hate this
“Something terrible almost did, though, only last week with Steph and Dan.” A shudder shakes his shoulders,
Almost?? ALMOST??????
“Nothing happened.” The irony of my being the one to comfort him now, when the trauma was actually something that happened to me, isn’t lost on me;
Omfg
“Show me that it’s only me,” he whispers into my mouth, and I know exactly what he wants, what he needs.
Again??? Have I not suffered enough
I give a small nod and pull down his boxers, letting them pool at his calves atop the bunched-up jeans. Hardin groans once more, this time much louder, much more primal, and I take him into my mouth.
Aren't you like... in the living room? Where you were just told they have security cameras?
“I fucking love that I’m the only man who has had your mouth,” he groans as I use one hand to take what my mouth cannot. “Those lips have only been wrapped around me.”
Ugh
“Please, Hardin.” I groan, needing him now. Within seconds he fills me in the way that only he has and only he ever will.
Hey no one has mentioned a condom
I should have stayed in Seattle a few more hours, convinced her to take the week off and come home with me. With the way she was dressed, I shouldn’t have given her a choice.
Excuse me
“What’re you looking for?” she asks, but in the background I hear another voice on her end. It takes everything I have not to ask her who the hell she’s with.
SHE'S AT WORK
Somehow I find myself pulling into Target instead of Conner’s for groceries. Tessa is clearly influencing me without even being here. She spends just as much time at Conner’s as she does at Target, even though she can go on for hours explaining to me why Target is much better than any other store.
AGAIN WITH THE TARGET PROMO
Noah, that douche bag made of cardigans.
Rude but also I lol'd
“Deep down, you know it won’t work. She’s too silver spoon for you. You’re covered in ink, and it’s only a matter of time before she’s sick of being embarrassed to be seen with you.”
Such a weird vibe with the tattoos again
I should have stayed in Seattle another night. Hell, I should have moved there in the fucking first place.
Correct
“How hard do you think it will be for me to transfer to the Seattle campus?”
Fucking finally man
I used sex and lies to hurt girls, and made a game of it. That backfired when my mum’s friend spent too much time around me; her marriage was ruined, along with her dignity, and my mum was heartbroken that her fourteen-year-old son had done such a thing.
I .... would like more context please
“It’s not that I’m hiding it. I just don’t want her to worry about going. She doesn’t even have a passport. She’s never even left the state of Washington.” “You know she’ll want to go. Tessa loves England.”
She has literally never been to England????
A wild thought shoots through me… that Hardin’s going back to get married. Like an arranged marriage; they do those in England, don’t they?
WHAT
“What about your children? You don’t mind having them out of wedlock?” “Children!” I laugh again. “He doesn’t want any children.” “This just keeps getting better and better.” She rolls her eyes and picks up her glass to finish it off. “He says that now, but I’m hoping…” I don’t finish the wish. It’s too desperate sounding when said out loud.
Girl no
