Total pages in book: 69
Estimated words: 65031 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 325(@200wpm)___ 260(@250wpm)___ 217(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 65031 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 325(@200wpm)___ 260(@250wpm)___ 217(@300wpm)
His laughter boomed down the line, loud and filled with amusement. “In this instance, I will be your way. See you soon, Mara.” There was a hint of something in his voice that I couldn’t figure out and that worried me.
Then I looked down at my pajamas and smiled. There was nothing to worry about. Once Xander got a picture of the real me, with wet hair and baggy pajamas, he’d forget all about wanting us to get to know each other.
Yeah, keep telling yourself that.
Xander
I can’t believe Mara said yes.
Well, she didn’t technically say yes, but she hadn’t said no and that was almost as good as saying yes. It took about thirty minutes to dig up the old boom box I kept just in case I needed to play tapes or CDs, dust it off and head to Mara’s. I had to be quick just in case she changed her mind.
She blinked in surprise when she opened the door and found me smiling back at her. “I told you that you didn’t need to bring me your old-school stereo, Xander.”
“I know.” I took a small step forward, just enough that I could smell her fresh from the shower scent, a mixture of roses and vanilla, that made my heart thump against my chest. “But I really want you to listen to the tape.” I’d spent a couple hours searching for the right songs, burning them to a disc so that I could put them on a tape, the same way I used to do for her back in the day.
“Fine.” She growled and took a step back, reluctantly inviting me inside. “Come in.”
I followed her inside, not bothering to hide my satisfied grin. “Nice pajamas.”
“Thanks,” she said sarcastically. “I bought them myself.”
“Smart ass.” She might have thought wearing those frumpy clothes would inspire me to look elsewhere, but they were perfectly Mara, unintentionally sexy and purposely snarky.
“Beer?”
“As long as it isn’t light beer swill, sure.”
She turned to look at me, offended. “I do not drink swill, thank you very much.” I watched her carefully, searching for any sign that she didn’t want me here or that my presence made her uncomfortable, but Mara was impossible to read these days. She’d always kept her emotions well hidden, but now they were just…buried. “Grab the Victrola and lets listen outside while the weather is still warm-ish.”
I followed her out onto the slab of concrete that she called a patio, decorated with two plain lawn chairs and a small wooden crate painted in yellow and green flowers. “This is nice.”
She glared up at me and shrugged as she sat. “It’s cheap and it gets the job done. I can’t afford pretty. Sit. Or stand,” she said and handed me the beer.
I took the beer and took in the sight of her shapely legs and heart shaped ass while she bent over to insert the tape and press the play button with an impatient grunt. “Now close your eyes and listen.”
Mara didn’t close her eyes, of course she didn’t, because she didn’t trust me. Still, she relaxed into her seat and listened to song after song, sometimes a coy smile on her face, sometimes a small frown that caused a crinkle to form between her brows.
“Not exactly subtle, but you still have decent taste in music.”
“More than decent,” I corrected her with a smile as we fell into our old easy banter.
“I wouldn’t go that far, but that last song was actually pretty good.” A small smile touched her lips and that felt like a victory.
“I know a girl with lips like rosebuds.”
Mara snorted out a laugh and shook her head. “I’m sure you’ve known plenty of girls with rosebud lips.”
“But only one pair that has stayed with me over the years.” She didn’t want to believe that, and given what I’d learned from her, I didn’t blame her. But I would help her remember.
A small gasp escaped as the last song started. “Xander,” she whispered so low I wasn’t sure I’d actually heard her. “This isn’t a new song.”
It wasn’t. It was an old song that had been our song. The deep voice with a hint of a country twang in his thick raspy tone belted out lyrics about dancing all night with the girl of his dreams. “Not new, but it’s the best song. Don’t you think so?”
She shook her head, hair swinging left and right before it fell around her shoulders. “I haven’t heard this song in forever.”
That stung a little, but I wasn’t deterred. “When I was in the Army, the guys played this song all the time, thinking about the girls they had back at home. Every single time I heard it, I thought of you Mara. I wondered where you were and what you were doing.” Hell, I thought about her so much back in my Army days that I’m surprised I made it out alive. I thought about the life we’d mapped out together, where she worked to pay her way through college right alongside me. “I never stopped believing we’d get that dance, Mara. Or the life we planned together.”