Total pages in book: 71
Estimated words: 69919 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 350(@200wpm)___ 280(@250wpm)___ 233(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 69919 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 350(@200wpm)___ 280(@250wpm)___ 233(@300wpm)
I wanted to take her out on the town and show her a good time. I also wanted to curl up on the couch with her. Take her to bed. Talk about our lives until the sun rose. In this one moment, I wanted everything all at once.
“Ready?” she asked.
“I…yeah, sorry. I’m ready.” I ran a hand through my hair. “I’ve really been looking forward to this.”
“Me too. I’ll try not to talk your ear off about studying regulatory patterns of gene expression. I spent the day writing a report about the subject, so it’s on my mind.”
“I don’t mind. I’d actually like to hear more about what you do.”
“Really?”
She sounded so genuinely surprised that I knew Jarvis hadn’t shown any interest in her studies. He’d never deserved her.
“I’ll tell you more about it later,” she said on the walk to the car. “First I want to hear about how breakfast turned out.”
I laughed as she took my arm. “If you don’t mind lots of shells in your scrambled eggs, it was fantastic.”
Joey and I had made breakfast together this morning and ended up with doughy pancakes, crunchy eggs, and slightly burned toast.
“Aw, he looked so proud in that photo you sent me of him standing on a chair flipping a pancake.”
“He had a good time. We’re kind of getting a crash course in each other, you know? Since we hadn’t met before this.”
She smiled at me as we stopped next to my car. “You’re doing an amazing job with him.”
“I couldn’t do it without you and Sheridan and Hadley.”
I opened the door and she kept her hold on my arm as she got in.
“I love spending time with him,” she said. “Did I tell you he asked my grandma where she got her wrinkles?”
I cringed. “Oh shit, he did?”
“My grandma loved it. She told him wrinkles are secret hiding places for magic. He was blown away.”
“She sounds like a good sport.”
“The best.”
I couldn’t bring myself to close the door. Instead, I leaned closer to her, my hands on the doorframe of my Range Rover. Her breath hitched as I gently leaned my forehead against hers, taking in the light, sweet scent of her perfume.
“Did I mention how amazing you look tonight?” I asked.
“Hmm, I don’t think so,” she said playfully.
I brushed my lips against hers. She kissed me back and put a hand around my neck, her fingers sliding into my hair.
“I’ve never seen anyone so beautiful,” I murmured against her lips.
She inhaled and exhaled softly. “You don’t have to say that.”
“It’s the truth. Seeing your hair up like that is making me crazy.”
Her hum held promise. “Maybe you’ll get to see it down later.”
If I didn’t move away from her, I’d never be able to. I was rock hard. It took all my strength to push back from the car, groaning with frustration as I shut the door.
When I got settled in the driver’s side seat, I looked over at her, noting that her skin had that slight pink flush again. I wasn’t sure how much more I could take.
“Just dinner,” she said. “I know you said dinner and drinks and maybe a stop at Lars and Sheridan’s, but I was thinking just dinner and then we can come back here.”
“Fuck yes.” I started the car, looking in the rearview mirror before pulling into traffic.
I was relieved we were on the same page, but something was nagging at me. It had been on my mind since my conversation with Andy.
“There’s something I need to tell you,” I said.
She looked over at me with a serious expression on her face. “Oh no, this doesn’t sound good.”
I sighed heavily. “I really like you, Jolie. A lot.”
“Oh god. Just get to it already,” she said.
“There’s not really a but. It’s just that I’m trying to get traded to Nashville, and I want to be up front with you about it.”
“Nashville?”
“It’s not about hockey. It’s because of my family. I need to be closer to them right now.”
She nodded, and I could tell she was thinking about what I’d said. I hoped like hell I hadn’t just blown my chance with her.
“My brother”
She cut me off. “You don’t have to tell me. As long as you’re completely single, let’s just have a good night together, okay? And if you’re still here and we want to keep seeing each other after that, we will. I don’t know where I’m going to end up, either, but probably not here. Let’s just enjoy right now, okay?”
I smiled, relieved and more impressed by her than ever. “Yeah, that sounds perfect.”
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
Jolie
I’d never been a person who played games with others. I understood there were rituals and expectations that went along with dating. Playing hard to get, not sleeping with someone on the first date—unless it was a one-night stand—and not scarfing down a massive steak. Those were things we learned as women, even studious, academic sorts like me. Yet all of that flew right out the window with Boone. He didn’t make me feel like I had to pretend to be someone else, not like Jarvis always had. In fact, Boone made me feel like the real me was the absolute best version there could be. And no one else had ever made me feel that way.