Total pages in book: 180
Estimated words: 179189 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 896(@200wpm)___ 717(@250wpm)___ 597(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 179189 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 896(@200wpm)___ 717(@250wpm)___ 597(@300wpm)
“It is when you don’t wanna lose the job you fought so hard for.”
“Is that when you first met him?” she asks. “Or did you have this hot one-night stand first?” She wiggles her eyebrows. “Because that’s the best kind of relationship starter you can have.”
I shake my head, laughing it off. “Of course, you’d say that. You and Thomas were the most humorous mistake to watch.”
“But it turned out all right, didn’t it?” She smiles.
“How is he, actually?”
“You’re diverting the topic again,” she says. “We were talking about your secret lover, not my boyfriend.”
“There’s not much to say, really. We had sex. Once. End of story.”
“Decided by who? You or him?”
I take a deep breath and don’t respond, but apparently, that alone is enough for her to discern the truth.
“Tsk, Lesley. Why’d you give up such a hot piece of ass?” she asks.
“Because he’s my boss, maybe?”
She shrugs. “Who cares?”
“I don’t wanna mess this up. It’s important,” I say.
“Geez, when did you become so serious?” She grins. “Lighten up and eat your ice cream. It’s drooping.” She points at the chocolate running down. “Just like his cock when you’re not licking it.”
I almost choke on the ice cream I was swallowing.
“What? Can’t take a joke?”
“Can we discuss Thomas now?” I ask. “I wanna know how you two are doing.”
“We’re great,” she says. “We had a few ups and downs in the beginning, but it’s much better now. Lots of love.” She smiles.
“You sure? Are you telling me everything?” I say.
“Are you?” Her brows rise.
“Yes, of course! Why would I hide anything from you?”
“Because you had sex with your boss and didn’t fill me in,” she muses.
“I’ll FaceTime you next time I have sex and let you listen. Is that good?”
“Perfect.” She grins. “So does your mom know?”
I almost choke. “What? No, of course not.”
“Why not?”
“Because she’d tell my dad and then shit would really hit the fan! He doesn’t like it when I mix business with—”
“Pleasure,” Hailey fills in with a wink.
I give her a face. “Really?”
“They’re gonna find out sooner or later.” She smirks. “Better that you control how.”
“If I tell her now, she’ll go crazy. She’ll want to know everything about him. His hobbies, his job, how he looks, where he lives, his goddamn height. I wouldn’t even be surprised if she asked for his dick length.”
She almost snorts out her ice cream. “Yeah, that’s your mom, all right.”
“Way up in my business.” I roll my eyes. “Like, way up there, and I’m not kidding. She wants me to text her all the time.”
“For what?”
“Updates.” When she looks confused, I add, “On my life.”
She snorts again. “Your mom’s crazy, you know that?”
“Tell me about it.” I shrug it off. “But she’s my mom.”
“True.” She slurps more ice cream.
I lean back. “So has Thomas gotten his shit together yet and asked you to marry him?”
“No, not yet, but I wanna give him more time. You know …”
“Right. I get it. You’re not in a rush.”
“Exactly. Plus, I just got a new job as a cashier at Duke’s.”
“The clothing brand?”
“Yup.” She radiates with pride.
“I’m really happy for you,” I say. “That’s amazing. Well done.”
“Thanks. I mean, it’s not a job at Morrows, but it’s something.”
“You’ll get there too, just wait.”
“It’s okay,” she says. “I’ve made my peace. It was my choice, to begin with, so I don’t regret it. I like this. I like what I have in my life. Everything’s falling into place. It’s like nothing can go wrong.”
“And that can be scary too.”
She nods. “Especially when so many things already went wrong before. I want this to work.”
“I totes understand.”
It’s quiet for some time before she breaks the silence again. “So when do I get to meet him?”
“Who?”
“Your boss, TJ!” She makes a face. “Duh. Who else?”
“How about no …” I cringe.
“Why not?” She pouts. “I’ll be good, I swear.”
“Because we’re not a ‘thing.’” I make quotation marks with my fingers.
“Aww. You’d make a great couple, I’m sure,” she says.
“How do you know? You haven’t even met him yet.”
“No, but I know your taste in men.” She gives me a smug smile.
“Thanks, I guess.”
“If I can give you some advice, it’d be not to ignore a hot guy when he crosses your path. It pays off.” She winks.
“It’s wrong, and you know it.”
“If you hadn’t noticed, I love wrong,” she jests, shrugging because she’s obviously talking about Thomas.
“Yeah, well, I have other things on my mind right now besides a hot dude. Like that dog, for example.” I point under the table.
“She’s sweet, Les. Give her a chance.”
“I’m trying. It’s just hard, you know?”
“I get it.” She smiles. “But you’ll get the hang of it. I’m sure. And then you’ll love her too. She’ll grow on you.”
“She already has. Look.” We both peek under the table to see her curled around my feet and lying down between them, and we sigh in awe.