Total pages in book: 24
Estimated words: 22648 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 113(@200wpm)___ 91(@250wpm)___ 75(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 22648 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 113(@200wpm)___ 91(@250wpm)___ 75(@300wpm)
“Why are you being so nice to me?” She looks like she might cry again as she tilts her head back to meet my eyes. “Scout said you’d help me pursue legal action, but this feels like above and beyond for a client.”
My chest rises and falls as I look down at Abbie, trying to explain what I’m feeling. It’s probably not the best idea to confess to all the ways I’ve gotten off to her cosplay videos, so I’ll stick with the safer route.
“When I was little—”
She huffs a laugh, and it breaks some of the tension. “Now I know you’re lying. Little? You?”
“Believe it or not, I was pretty scrawny until I graduated high school. I grew almost two feet in four years. It sucked. I felt like a baby deer learning to walk.” That makes her smile, so I take her other hand and give them both a squeeze. “But I didn’t have a lot of friends until I met Landon and Gideon. Until then, I had comic books to keep me company. I got bullied most of my childhood for it, and I remember the way people made me feel like shit about something I loved. Nobody deserves that.”
“Yeah, I got that a lot too,” she admits and squeezes my hands back.
“As I got older, I found a community within the comic book world and met people that liked what I liked. It felt like getting a second chance at my childhood, and I can’t imagine someone trying to make me feel like shit for it now.”
“I can’t see anyone thinking they could intimidate you.” She looks me up and down, and if I was the type of man to blush, I probably would.
“This is important to me because people should be free to be who they are. They don’t deserve to get bullied into a corner because someone was able to take advantage of their kindness. It’s the reason I became a lawyer, but your story sits heavy on my heart. The more I hear, the more I know it could have happened to me when I was young and lonely. Well, maybe not the drawing part because stick men give me trouble.”
We laugh a little together at that, and she takes a deep breath. It seems to shake off some of the worry from earlier.
“Plus, you’re Delphine. I owe you after everything you’ve given me.” The words are out of my mouth before I realize what I’ve said. My body goes rigid as I try and think of a cover story that doesn’t include me jerking myself off every night to the videos of her in cosplay.
“What do you mean?” Abbie looks confused, but she smiles at me like she suspects exactly what I’m not saying.
“Um, it’s…um…nothing. I just meant that um, your costumes are a fantasy. Shit, I mean, the character is a fantasy. Wait, you’re beautiful, obviously. I got to watch you. But not like that—”
There’s a knock on the door, and I almost fall to the floor with relief that Taylor is here for the laptop. The hole I was digging was getting deeper and deeper, and I probably would have blurted out way too much if he hadn’t stopped me.
“That’s the security guy,” I tell Abbie when she looks alarmed. “He’s here to grab your laptop.”
“Oh, okay.” She relaxes again before I release her and go to the door.
Only when I swing it open, it’s not Taylor on the other side.
Chapter Five
ABBIE
A man holding a giant bundle of daisies is standing there. As soon as I realize what’s happening, I take a couple of steps back while shaking my head no.
“Delivery for Abbie Mann.” He glances at the card before his eyes come to me. “Is that you?”
“Who is it from?” Spencer towers so high over both of us that he has to peer down at the flowers to try and read the card.
“Don’t know, just a delivery name,” the guy says and tries to hand the flowers to Spencer.
Spencer looks at me with concern in his eyes. “Do you know who sent them?”
“No, but I’m highly allergic to daisies.” I take another step back, my throat tightening in response to seeing them.
"Are you going to take them?" The delivery guy pushes them a little more in my direction.
"No," Spencer clips.
"Well, I can't keep them. I’m not trying to get fired." The delivery guy is talking to Spencer, but he’s watching me with a puzzled look on his face. I know the expression and what it means. He’s trying to figure out where he recognizes me from and why I look familiar.
"Does this work?" Spencer pulls out his wallet, handing the guy a crisp hundred-dollar bill.
"Yeah, sure." He takes the money with his free hand, then points to me. "Are you—"