Total pages in book: 84
Estimated words: 79968 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 400(@200wpm)___ 320(@250wpm)___ 267(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 79968 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 400(@200wpm)___ 320(@250wpm)___ 267(@300wpm)
Shawn puffed out a breath. “I can’t, either,” he said. “He’s my brother, my business partner, and probably my best friend, too.”
I grabbed Shawn’s hand, lacing my fingers through his. “I think the reason I never used to get nervous in life is that I’ve never really cared about anything enough in the past,” I said. “Of course I got a little nervous every time I signed a big contract with one of my breweries, or when I bought my first house in San Francisco. But it didn’t really hit me like this.”
He bit his lower lip as he looked at me. “Well then I guess I’m special, huh?”
I hummed. “Very,” I told him, leaning in and pressing a kiss to his jawline. “I was more nervous asking you to be my boyfriend than I was on opening night of my first brewery. And I was definitely more nervous telling Nathan just now than I was when I went skydiving in New Zealand.”
He leaned in and rested his forehead on mine and we gently rocked back and forth together, just for a moment. “We’re really doing this, aren’t we?”
My heart started beating a little faster, and I relished the adrenaline. “I’m all in,” I said, feeling my throat tighten just a little as I said it.
I couldn’t remember the last time I’d been all in on anything. I’d certainly never said it to anyone else. With everything else I’d ever done in life, I’d had a Plan B, a backup, or a fallback.
Not with Shawn.
I felt, for the first time, that I was finally starting to live life rather than treat it like a game.
“I still don’t know how I got so lucky, but I’m not going to question it,” Shawn murmured near my ear.
“Good.”
“He’s right, by the way, though,” he told me, leaning back against the table. “Mom loves you, but the moment she finds out you’re my boyfriend, she’s going to launch into her favorite thing. Have you heard of 20 Questions?”
“I’m great with questions. She can lay ‘em on me.”
“Mom’s game is more like 100 Questions. Maybe like, 465 Questions,” Shawn warned me. “And you might sometimes wake up to four text messages all asking about your preferences about pie, or your thoughts on French Bulldogs, or what exact type of watch she should get my dad for his birthday.”
I leaned over and nibbled on Shawn’s shoulder. “I know you guys are trying to warn me about this, but you make it sound easy.”
He squeezed the side of my hip. “You have to get to the brewery, don’t you?”
“I’m probably already five minutes late,” I said. “But first I need to show you what I was doing for the last two hours.”
I went over and got the chocolate truffles, which had finally set.
“Wait a second. You actually made these yourself?” he asked, already reaching out for one and popping it in his mouth. His eyes rolled back in his head as he savored the rich chocolate. “I hate you.”
“What?” I protested, putting my arm around his waist. “That’s not the direction we’re supposed to be heading in. A crush, then a hookup, then a relationship, then I make you truffles and you hate me?”
He was shaking his head as he ate another, his eyes gleaming as he smiled. “Hate you. You’re too perfect. And that chocolate is going to turn me into a sugar fiend. It’s dangerous, it should be illegal, and I want six more. Kind of like how I feel about you.”
I clicked my tongue, leaning in and kissing the edge of his lips. “You couldn’t handle six of me.”
He groaned. “Definitely not. I’d come so much every day that I might lose too much fluid from my body.”
He was making me laugh like an idiot now. I felt weightless. “I’m going to make some more of these to bring to your family, too.”
“Excellent,” he said. “Bribing my mother with sweets will get you at least two percent of the way toward convincing her you’ll be a suitable boyfriend.”
“I think it’s working pretty well to convince you, too,” I told him. “Good luck with the back wall. See you later. Send me hot texts while I’m at work, but not too hot, otherwise I won’t be able to focus.”
“I will send you only slightly titillating texts and photos.”
I groaned. “No photos. Not today. I’d get horny even seeing a picture of your arm.”
He bit his lower lip as he smiled at me, squeezing my hip. “Get out of here. I’m going to go talk to Nathan.”
My feet crunched on the gravel as I headed out the door. Secretly, I kind of hoped the renovations on my house would take forever. I liked knowing that when I was going off to work, Shawn would be here, making the place look like a million bucks and being hot the whole time. I actually wanted him here. Even when I wasn’t around.