Total pages in book: 37
Estimated words: 34198 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 171(@200wpm)___ 137(@250wpm)___ 114(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 34198 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 171(@200wpm)___ 137(@250wpm)___ 114(@300wpm)
When he turned in her direction, she nearly faltered. No matter how many times she looked into them, his startling blue eyes always took her breath away. In contrast to his dark coloring, they stood out more.
At a loss for words, Tam simply stared.
“Ready to go?”
She could only nod.
He held up his elbow so she linked his arm through his.
Seamus led her outside where a valet stood beside a black luxury SUV. Seamus opened the door for her before going to the other side of the vehicle and sliding into the driver’s seat.
“This is a different car from what I remember,” Tam said for lack of anything else to say. She didn’t know how to act around him or what he expected of her since they’d already been so intimate.
“One of many. Cars are somewhat of an indulgence of mine.” He took another puff from his electronic cigarette, filling the car with the scent of blueberries.
“That smells nice. When did you take this up?”
He smirked. “Someone told me that smoking was bad for me.” Seamus briefly turned his gaze her way before returning his attention back to the road.
A shiver raced down her spine and all she could think about was their last time together. She told herself to play this cool but his nearness was a distraction that made it difficult for her to think coherently. “So...uh…where are we going tonight?”
“There’s a little restaurant by the docks that has great food.”
“There’s great food at the club.”
“Yes, if you’re in the mood for that kind of thing, sure. Sometimes I prefer a little something more down-home.”
“I have to admit, looking at you I wouldn’t imagine you’re the type of guy to like regular food, like that hole in the wall burger joint you took me to when we first met.”
He shrugged. “There’s a lot about me that would surprise you.”
“Like what?”
“That when I’m not in my office eighty hours out of the week or traveling, I’d rather be home with a cold beer watching a ball game.”
“You’re right. That does surprise me. I never took you for a homebody.”
“It’s not that really, I just prefer not to be around a lot of people. They always seem to let you down.”
If Tam didn’t know any better she would have thought she’d heard a sadness in his voice. But it touched her because she felt like that as well. In the course of her twenty-five years, she’d dealt with her share of disappointments and realized that the only person she could ever really count on was herself. “I know how you feel. Sometimes the people you’re supposed to trust the most are the ones who end up letting you down.”
Tam’s thoughts strayed to her mother who time and time again chose the random men in her life over her own daughter. Tam had only seen her mother once since she was kicked out of her house and frankly that had been too many times. Tam never really thought about the woman who’d given birth to her because honestly, she’d never been much of a mother in the first place. Some of Tam’s earliest memories were being left home alone to fend for herself while her mother was out getting drunk. Often there was no food in the house and Tam had resorted to digging food out of the garbage because she was so hungry, which is why living on the streets wasn’t as big a hardship as it would have been for most people. She was used to being cold, hungry and uncared for.
Seamus must have been reflecting as well because he’d gone silent and neither spoke for the remainder of the drive to their destination. A half an hour later, they pulled up to a little diner that was situated by the docks just as Seamus had said it would be.
After he helped Tam out of the car, he led her into an unassuming diner. Tam had dressed for a night of entertaining at the Devil’s Den so the sequined black cocktail dress that exposed her entire back seemed out of place. “I feel a little overdressed.” She looked around, noticing that the few other diners around wore casual clothing.
“It doesn’t matter. You look beautiful.”
“Seamus! Having seen you around, my boy!” An older portly man came up to greet them.
“I’ve been traveling a lot lately. I’m finally back in the city for a while.”
Roy patted Seamus on the shoulder. “I hope you stop by more often. And who is this lovely young lady?”
Seamus looked at Tam and hesitated for a moment. “Uh, this is Tamryn. A friend.”
Roy smiled and took Tam’s hand. “Well, it’s very nice to meet you Tamryn. Any friend of Seamus’s is a friend of mine. Let me get you two seated and I’ll bring you two menus. The special tonight is your favorite: seafood potpie.”