Total pages in book: 24
Estimated words: 22312 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 112(@200wpm)___ 89(@250wpm)___ 74(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 22312 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 112(@200wpm)___ 89(@250wpm)___ 74(@300wpm)
I’ve been setup. And thanks to the embarrassing past we share, I want to turn tail and run. But I’m stuck here for the duration of the wedding, and forced to share a hotel room with him too. Still, there’s something about this ruggedly handsome bad boy that has me intrigued, and I can feel myself slipping. I came here to help out on a wedding, not fall in love myself.
*************FULL BOOK START HERE*************
Prologue
Allie
Seven years ago…
* * *
“Just admit it, Allie, you think he’s hot,” McKenzie says from the left side of me as we walk home from school.
“She totally thinks he’s hot,” Samantha laughs from the other side of me. “Look how she’s blushing right now.”
“Would you two stop?” I ask, trying not to sound too whiny, but they have been pestering me since we started walking. And this isn’t the first day they’ve been doing this either.
The guy they’re talking about is Grant, and we’re about to pass the garage where Grant works. We pass it every single day we walk home, but it’s only recently that the girls have been giving me such a massive hard time about this supposed crush that I have on him, and I’m not exactly sure why that is.
Maybe it’s because three days ago, Grant looked over here and saw us—or me, as they like to say. Normally he’s got his head down under the hood of a car or a truck or is working on something and pays us no mind as we walk on by, but on Tuesday, he actually turned and glanced at us as we passed, and now the girls won’t stop pestering me about it, because according to them, he’s now massively in love with me.
“You’re the one who needs to stop, Allie,” McKenzie says. “Stop being such a wuss!”
“Seriously,” Samantha agrees. “We saw the way he was looking at you the other day.”
“Oh, cut it out,” I reply, but I can’t help the butterflies that are starting to tornado in my belly. There’s nothing I can do about them. We’re still walking, and Grant’s garage is getting closer and closer. In less than a minute, it’s going to be on our left-hand side, and I’m going to be fighting the urge to look over to see what he’s up to. He’s just so handsome.
“She doesn’t have a date to the dance on Friday, does she, Samantha?” McKenzie asks. I can hear the sly tone in her voice and immediately know what she’s up to.
“Don’t even start, you two–”
“Nope, she doesn’t, McKenzie…” Samantha replies, grinning back. “Are you thinking what I’m thinking?”
McKenzie nods. “I definitely am.”
The butterflies in my stomach are fluttering around like crazy. From where we’re standing now, I can see Grant’s garage and even hear the noise of tools from within.
“You guys are crazy,” I say. “You want me to ask Grant to go to the dance?”
“Why not?” McKenzie asks. “You saw him looking at you. He obviously thinks you’re cute.”
“Obviously?”
McKenzie grabs my arm and starts walking me closer to the garage. A pressure starts forming down inside the base of my throat like I’m getting the urge to vomit, that’s how nervous I’m getting as we walk.
“And you know how much cooler the girl who shows up with the guy who doesn’t go to the same school always looks, right?” Samantha asks.
“He doesn’t even go to school, you guys!” I reply, my voice starting to quiver. “He’s graduated!”
I can see him now, standing out front in the drive, leaning over a maroon sedan, his hair partially covering his face. He’s all big and strong and covered in greasy clothes. He looks like he could beat up any of the guys in my class. No, he definitely could. He’d squash them all like bugs.
“Come on, Allie,” McKenzie says, nudging me forward. “Ask him. He’ll definitely say yes.”
“You actually think so?” I ask, turning back to look at both of them.
Without hesitation, they both nod and wave me forward. I don’t think I’ve ever been so nervous about anything in my life.
“I’d totally ask him,” Samantha says. “But he wasn’t looking at me. Wouldn’t you, McKenzie?”
Again, McKenzie nods. “I so would,” she replies. “But he was looking at you, Allie.”
I’m really starting to freak now. This never happens. Out of the three of us in our friend group, McKenzie has always been the prettiest, then Samantha, then me at the bottom. I never get any attention from boys ever. So the idea that Grant, an older guy who doesn’t even go to our school, would be giving me attention, is just absolutely insane.
“Okay, but there’s no way he’s going to say yes to me, you guys,” I groan. “He’s like way older than us. He has a real job and stuff.”
“So!?” McKenzie snorts. “Dudes love younger girls. Right, Sam?”
“Totally,” Samantha laughs.
Grant looks up from whatever it is he’s doing with the car he’s working on. He grabs a rag and wipes his hands, then looks back at us. For a brief second, our eyes meet, and he smiles—just barely, but enough that it’s there.
“Go!” McKenzie hisses in my ear as she shoves her arm in my lower back. “Go ask him now!”
I stumble forward, trying not to look like a total moron as I start to walk toward him.