She's (Still) Too Young (She’s Too Young #2) Read Online Free

would kill myself making sure it was served up to her on a silver platter.
    Good thing she doesn’t have to ask. Because although it makes me more than a little on edge, I’m about to give her something she wants. Something she’s afraid to ask for. Ignoring the voice in the back of my mind telling me I’m kicking a hornet’s nest, I kiss her shoulder, her neck and cheek, turning us onto our sides where she immediately starts to drift off, as usual.
    “Don’t you want your birthday gift before sleep steals you away, angel?”

Chapter Three

    V eda rolls over onto her back beside me, excitement making her gorgeous blue eyes light up. My heart starts to boom in my ears because I can’t get enough of this side of her. The side that likes presents. I want to indulge it until the end of time. Last week, I contacted a real estate agent in the Hamptons because while I’ve never had any desire to live outside the city, I have an urge to fill a stable full of horses and allow Veda to pick one to use for riding lessons. I want to come home from work and find her lounging in a bikini by an outdoor pool, her skin golden from the sunshine. I want…rooms to fill with our children.
    I’m anxious for the day when I can drive her out to whichever estate ends up fitting the bill, but today I’ll have to satisfy myself with another gift. One that’s less extravagant and more personal.
    “I thought the party was my gift,” she whispers, sounding awestruck. “It should have been. This must have cost you—”
    I press a finger over her lips and smirk, telling her once again without words that discussing the cost of anything with me is ridiculous. “Are you telling me you don’t want the gift?”
    She sticks her tongue out. “I didn’t say that .” Turning onto her side, she runs her fingers up under my shirt, purring in the back of her throat. “What is it?”
    Craving the feel of her skin, I run my fingertips up and down her side, smiling when goosebumps form beneath them. The gift I’m going to give her is important, though, so my smile fades in degrees. “How I brought you to live with me, angel—buying you from your father—I won’t apologize for bringing you home with me any way I could, but I shouldn’t have kept you in the dark.” I swallow hard. “I never had a good relationship with my father, so it was hard for me to understand missing someone the way you miss him now that I’ve sent him to work in the Netherlands.”
    Underneath my shirt, her fingers have gone still and cold. Her eyes are wide, full of curiosity and…something else I can’t readily read. Apprehension, maybe. But that makes no sense, does it?
    “That is, I didn’t understand missing anything or anyone until you, Veda. Now I understand what it’s like to be robbed of your presence.” A sour taste enters my mouth over the next part. “If missing your father resembles what I went through when you left, then I don’t want you to feel that way.” I cup the side of her face. “So go pack a bag. We’re leaving for Amsterdam in two hours.” I deliver a quick kiss to her nose. “You can sleep on the plane.”
    She’s still as death for a few heavy beats. “You’re taking me to see my father?”
    “Yes.” Despite the fact that I resent another man having any claim to Veda whatsoever, yes, I’m doing this for her. “Isn’t that what you want?”
    “I do. I do .” But something about the too bright way she answers me is off. A lot of things are off, like the wild pulse at the base of her neck, the sudden clamminess of her hands beneath my shirt. “Th-thank you, Ramsey,” she whispers. “Such a generous gift. I don’t know what to say.”
    When the idea to take Veda to Amsterdam came to me, I envisioned her jumping for joy, laying kisses all over my face. Instead, her face is pale, thoughts racing behind her eyes. Although, she’s smiling. It’s all wrong. And while I have a very strong inkling that I should cancel the