Total pages in book: 44
Estimated words: 40546 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 203(@200wpm)___ 162(@250wpm)___ 135(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 40546 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 203(@200wpm)___ 162(@250wpm)___ 135(@300wpm)
I stare at the message, then follow the dark-haired beauty who's now moved to the head table and is stacking plates like she's getting paid for it. A young server slides up next to her, his hand brushing hers as he takes the dishes away with some bullshit smile.
She goes pink smiling back in that forced way she has, while my hands clench around my phone hard enough to crack the screen, because I’m not close enough to wring his fucking neck. The little shit is taking his time about it too, leaning in closer than necessary to whisper something that makes her duck her head.
Me: Something like that.
Jack: Jesus Christ. You’re actually serious? You didn’t get kicked out for picking a fight with some guy whose only crime is wearing a suit?
I growl.
Me: Fuck off, Jack. You’re hardly Mr. Civilized.
Jack: Bring her to dinner Sunday. You’ll be back from your booking, right?
I nearly choke on my whiskey. The only time we bring anyone else to our Sunday dinner’s is if we are one foot down the aisle with them. Jack was the first to bring a woman to our weekly festival of food and ball busting and he’s as whipped as a man can get but also as happy.
Me: Yeah, I’ll be back, now go fuck off.
Jack: Fine, but bring a couple bottles of syrup on Sunday. Delaney’s fucking addicted to your hundred dollar a bottle maple sugar concoction.
Me: Got it. Gotta go.
I answer then shove the phone back in my pocket.
But as I watch her flush and fumble with the server's attention, I find myself wondering what she'd think of my brothers. What they'd think of her.
Cade Boone, falling for a girl he met in the bathroom who is young enough to be my daughter. I stand in that dark corner like a stalker until the reception starts to wind down. The bride and groom exit though a tunnel of clapping hands as most of the guests stream out of the doors toward the elevator banks.
She hangs back, sitting where she’s been for the last bit with an open book on her lap, her elbows on her knees, holding her chin in her hands reading like she’s the only one in the room.
I’m fucking dumbstruck and fascinated by this strange and stunning creature. Finally, one of the guests approaches her, taps her on the shoulder and nods toward the now nearly empty room. She looks around, then closes her book, and stands.
She packs up a little messenger bag with her book and shuffles with a tired look toward the hall alone. I intercept her by the front desk, close enough to smell her vanilla perfume again.
"Calling it a night?" I trail my gaze up and down, the neckline on the dress looks lower than earlier, showing off cleavage that makes my dick weep. Her head snaps my way.
"Oh. You're..." She blinks, those big brown eyes going wide. " I thought you'd left."
"I’ve been watching you." I step closer, close enough to see the way her pupils dilate and notice the glint of her white teeth behind pink lips. "I needed to make sure you didn't think you were driving anywhere."
She straightens her shoulders, and I catch a glimpse of the steel beneath all that softness. "I had three glasses of champagne over four hours. I'm perfectly fine. At my weight, I would have metabolized most of the alcohol by now." She hesitates when I raise my eyebrows. “Alright, it was four glasses. I’ve never had that many drinks before.” She reaches up to scratch between the loosened curls on her updo.
"You told me the truth. That’s good." I reach out and tuck a strand of hair behind her ear, enjoying the way she shivers but doesn’t pull back, the way her face turns up to mine, looking for something. "Good girls tell the truth, even when it’s hard. Especially then."
Her lips fall open, there’s smart defiance in her eyes but she settles backward an inch, enough for me to notice she’s waiting. For me. For whatever is coming next.
"And since you were honest," I continue, clicking my teeth together before I finish, "I’ll be honest with you." I reach forward, resting my thumb on the corner of her mouth. "That kiss we had? That was just the beginning. You deserve to have the full experience of stranger kissing. As long as I’m the stranger."
She just stares at me, her breathing shallow. Then a flicker of something crosses her face as she glances around the nearly empty then points.
"Coat room. Over there?" She says with the blunt directness of someone who's never learned to be coy. "Like in books, and old movies, right? They're always making out in coat rooms.”
I take her hand, and she wraps her cute little fingers into mine in a way that almost makes me cum in my pants.