Total pages in book: 110
Estimated words: 104037 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 520(@200wpm)___ 416(@250wpm)___ 347(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 104037 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 520(@200wpm)___ 416(@250wpm)___ 347(@300wpm)
“Not where you wanted to be?”
“No, not really, but I had no choice. I needed round-the-clock care for a few months.” Exposing my life to Laird wasn’t on the agenda for today, but with being trapped inside due to the weather, it’s been nice to talk to him. I’d be stuck in the bedroom if I were on another job. He’s different from anyone I’ve ever worked for.
“I hate that you went through that.”
He barely knows me, but he sounds so genuine and more sincere than my own mother. “If nothing else came from it, it brought Trevor and my mother together.” I can’t help but laugh. It’s the only way for me to get through the betrayal.
“That’s your stepfather?” He raises his eyebrow with caution. “A doctor?”
I lean in conspiratorially. “Truth? He’s currently sporting the title of my ex-boyfriend. But they’re due to get married this summer, so that will change.”
“Um.” He raises a finger in the air, then lowers it and closes his mouth.
“You don’t have to say anything. What is there to say anyway?” I shift, feeling it in the conversation as well. “Are you hungry?”
“Grapes aren’t going to satisfy me.”
“What will? What are you craving?”
A barely audible vibration rumbles around his chest. When his gaze locks onto mine, the carnal and raw look in his eyes causes me to squirm.
I turn to the fridge, making sure the cool air hits my face. Needing something to talk about that has nothing to do with the way he’s staring at me like the next meal, I pivot and ask, “Do you travel a lot, or are you locked away in some office sixty hours a week?”
Dammit. Now I’m imagining him in a well-tailored suit. Seeing him in that would absolutely do me in. I’m sure it does all the women, but considering how amazing he looks in jeans and a T-shirt, I think I’d have a low survival rate. “Let me guess. You’re a venture capitalist or in finance? Makes sense since you’re tall. Six-two—”
“Six-three.”
Blue eyes stare back at me, and that jaw doesn’t waste a moment to harden and then tense. I feel like we just hit a wall, but I don’t know what I’ve done wrong. He doesn’t seem anxious to answer my last question, but I’m curious why he’s so hush-hush about it.
Coming around me, he opens the refrigerator and bends down to inspect the contents. He glances at me. “What are we thinking?”
And now, we’re onto the next topic.
It’s probably for the best. We’re getting too close under the circumstances. Tomorrow brings not only the sun, which will melt the snow, but also me heading out to the mechanic. It’s probably best if we keep things light.
Though it’s getting harder, considering how attractive I find this man. Who knew my type was grumpy, flashing between impatience and seeming to know everything to sky-high confidence that levels me under his sex appeal? I should add frustrating, but that’s not applicable anymore.
I find his brain as sexy as his body. He gives as good as I throw in his direction, which I like. Though, judgy judgertons might tell me I shouldn’t. I don’t need anyone to bow down to me. I just want someone who loves me to the core of my being. Too much to ask?
“I get someone wanting privacy, but most of my clients I can find online anyway. I’d rather hear it from you.” I ask, “So are you really not going to tell me what you do for a living?”
“I’ve not had the luxury of living in a long time. What about you?”
“That’s not fair to flip on me,” I reply. “I can learn everything about you online or you can tell me.”
He reaches into the fridge. “That’s not how it works, sweetheart. You will be reading lies.”
“Calling me sweetheart on the job is not how it works either, but here we are.”
Setting a carton of eggs on the counter, he stops, oh so close to me, so much so that he’s looking down, and says, “Yes, here we are.”
I’m fairly certain my boss shouldn’t make my heart race like it’s competing in the Kentucky Derby or cause my knees to weaken from a shared glance. No other boss has affected me like this, though many have tried.
I hop up on the counter by the sink and watch as he dips his head back into the fridge. I can still feel the heat emanating from this hottie from over here. And it’s nice to study him from a distance. He isn’t wearing a wedding ring, but there’s no way this guy is walking around single. Grumpy or not, he’s more than my type. A soul that’s been shattered, which only makes me wish I could heal him, yet smile-inducing funny, charismatic when he's comfortable around you, built like a professional athlete, and gorgeous. Basically, he’s everyone’s type of man.