Total pages in book: 70
Estimated words: 67095 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 335(@200wpm)___ 268(@250wpm)___ 224(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 67095 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 335(@200wpm)___ 268(@250wpm)___ 224(@300wpm)
I watch her until she is out of sight.
“She never wears sneakers,” I say out loud to myself.
“She’s gonna be busy. She wants to be comfortable,” Wesley says, walking me backward into my apartment. When he shuts the door, I snap out of my thoughts and blink at him.
“What are you doing?” I step away from him, but he steps closer again. “We have to go or we are going to be late.”
“We won’t be late.”
“If you touch me, we will be late.” I sidestep him, then grab my coat and slip it on. I tie the belt as tight as I possibly can and hold the ends so he can’t rip it open.
“Just one little touch.”
“You can touch me later.” I grin at the pout he gives me. He looks like a little kid who’s just been told he’s not allowed to have more candy. “Come on.” I take his hand to lead him out of the apartment but squeak as he picks me up, bride-style. “What are you doing?”
“Carrying you so that you don’t break your neck on the way down the stairs. I want to be able to touch you tonight, and that will be impossible if you’re in a full-body cast.”
“Very funny.” I tap his cheek after he sets me on my feet on the sidewalk outside. A cab is waiting for us. After helping me into the back and getting in with me, he gives the driver directions to our venue. Since it’s New Year’s Eve and there are so many roads blocked off, it takes a lot longer than normal to make it across the city.
Once we arrive at the event space, I take in its beauty. Cipriani’s limestone architecture blends in with the rest of the buildings across from Grand Central. But what’s inside makes it one of the most sought-after places for parties in the city. Jack and Vivian, the owners of Jack’s, grew up with the owner of Cipriani’s children, so every year they allow Jake to use the space for next to nothing when I’m sure it would normally cost tens of thousands of dollars for New Year’s. Once we get inside, we stop at the coatroom and then make our way to the main room. Every year when I come here, the ballroom makes me want to take a trip to Rome to see the architecture there firsthand. I’m so in love with the marble columns that stretch up and up to the cathedral ceilings. The room screams elegance.
“Do you know where we’re sitting?” Wesley asks as we move through the crowded room with my hand tucked in the crook of his arm.
“Elizabeth told me last night that I’m sitting with her and Tex,” I tell him, looking around for my friends. I met Tex and Elizabeth at Jack’s. We bonded over our mutual love for the Mets and have been friends ever since.
“Do you see them?”
“No.” I shake my head, scanning the room.
When I finally see them in the back, at a round table, my stomach turns. Tex and Elizabeth are sitting at a six-top table with Edward and Bonnie and two empty chairs. If the two chairs are really ours, I’ll have to sit across from Bonnie the entire night without blurting out anything about Edward being a cheater. I need a drink—not that I can have one, but I need one. Then again, it’s probably best that I can’t drink because when I do drink, I tend to talk a lot. “I found our table,” I tell Wesley, and I feel him tense when he sees where my eyes are pointing and who we will be sitting with.
“Are you going to be okay sitting at a table with him?” he asks, moving his hand to my lower back, then sliding it around to my hip so he can hold me closer.
“I think so, but I think we should make up a safe word,” I whisper, looking up at him.
“A safe word?” He raises a brow. “What do you know about safe words?”
“Not much more than is explained in Fifty Shades of Grey,” I admit.
His eyes change ever so slightly.
“You read those books?” he asks quietly, turning me to face him.
I look around, realizing that we are standing in the middle of the dance floor and that there are people all around us dancing.
“Yes.” I shrug as his fingers dig into my hips.
“Well, things in the bedroom are about to become a little more interesting,” he mutters.
My stomach does a flip, but I ignore it. I need to concentrate on what’s happening right now. I can’t let him sidetrack me.
“Focus.” I smack my hands flat against his chest. “We need a safe word so if I start to feel like I can’t keep it together any longer, if I can’t keep myself from blurting out to Bonnie about Edward, I say the safe word and you get me out of there—pronto.” I snap my fingers.