DOTTY (The Naughty Ones Book 3) Read Online Free PDF Page A

were going to set them straight about the wedding.”
    “I tried. They wouldn’t listen.”
    His mouth purses and he sits back, slinging an arm across the back of the sofa as he regards me for long, tense minutes.
    “Did you say it loud enough, Dot? Did you scream it at them and refuse to be ignored, or did you avoid another argument and whisper it like I’ve seen you do countless times before?”
    He’s judging me? He doesn’t even fucking know me, Goddammit! How dare he come in here, into my home, and judge me on the one night that I’d convinced myself to just let it all go?
    I need a break from it all, just one measly freaking minute to breathe and forget that I’m a pitiful idiot who’s still so hung up on her neglectful parents that she’s turned into a doormat for the last few months.
    “You don’t understand,” I grit out, willing the anger back into the little box deep inside me.
    My spells usually start this way, with me having to regulate my breathing and force the calm that I don’t feel to envelop me. Having one of those now, so close on the heels of the last and in front of this man is not something I think I can’t take at the moment.
    I’m already enough of a wreck, and I can’t stand the thought of someone so put together and perfect seeing yet another weakness in me.
    Not this man. He’s so sexy with all that dark hair and eyes the color of my favorite chocolate, and God have mercy, have I even mentioned that he’s big, toned, and has the face of a fallen angel?
    He’s freaking perfect, one of those hot men you see up on a billboard and have to look away from in case you wreck the car while staring.
    The first time I saw him enter Mother and Father’s house I had to swallow repeatedly to stop myself from drooling, and don’t even get me started on the blushing, stammering mess I was when I had to shake his hand and instead got a kiss to the back of it.
    Almost melted, swear to God.
    “I do.”
    Anger engulfs me because how the hell could he? He’s got the perfect life with money and scads of women panting after him—I’ve seen it with my own eyes. Manwhore.
    And he’s got freedom. Most of all he’s free to do just what he wants because he’s so freaking perfect. Who the hell would ever go against a word he said?
    Hell, he probably hasn’t ever had to fight a battle in his perfect life and has the perfect family and—
    “I see that my statement pissed you off.” He laughs, turning to sling one leg across the sofa and face me, looking amused, relaxed, and so lickable I have to bite my tongue to keep it in my mouth.
    I know what pissed off looks like on me and it is not good with the carrot top I’m sporting. I go red as a freaking traffic light and I just know my hair’s going a deeper orange than usual.
    Dammit.
    “Why shouldn’t that piss me off? You’re a rich boy with power, and control of your own life, and you think you can sit here and judge me for being weak when it comes to my family?”
    That has him tensing and I see the ripple of his shoulder muscles before he grins and relaxes again, shaking his head at me.
    “For a very long time I had no power. No, don’t shake your head at me, Dotty, it’s true. I had to tow the line and stay in the city, doing a job I didn’t want to do for years because I couldn’t leave. I’ve been miserable, resentful and a whole lot of other things for a long time till I got myself into a position where I can finally do what I want. So don’t judge me either without knowing the whole story.”
    His words make my anger melt beneath a spate of guilt and remorse, and I look back at his beautiful face with a look of apology.
    “I’m sorry, Paul, I shouldn’t judge. I know that looks are deceiving. I just, I know what you must think of me, trust me. My friends have been brutally honest since I confessed what’s been going on in my life and I just, I can’t handle another lecture right now. I’m tired and feeling a little sorry