Total pages in book: 109
Estimated words: 104471 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 522(@200wpm)___ 418(@250wpm)___ 348(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 104471 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 522(@200wpm)___ 418(@250wpm)___ 348(@300wpm)
“Do I have something on my face?” she asks. “Is it salad dressing?”
Just as her hand is about to leap to her lips, I beat her to it. My index finger lands on her chin.
I tilt it up slightly. “Why would you think that?”
Her breath hitches. “You had that same look on your face the day I had ketchup and mustard on my face.”
I cup her chin between my finger and thumb. “What look is that, Evangeline?”
She studies me carefully. “It’s a mix of confusion and frustration, I think.”
It’s far from that. It’s wonder mixed with something bordering on infatuation.
“You think,” I repeat those two words. “Why would you think I’d be confused and frustrated?”
She swallows hard. “I’m not going to answer that. I want to keep my job.”
Despite my best efforts, I laugh. “This is a safe space. You have my word that whatever happens here won’t be held against you in the office.”
Her hand darts out in front of her. “Shake on it.”
Amused that she thinks we need to take that step, I do it only because it means I can touch her briefly with my other hand.
I do just that by taking her hand and holding it so she can’t let go.
She raises her chin as if she’s seeking an escape from my touch, but I don’t give her that. Instead, I ask her the question a second time, hoping she’ll answer. “Why would you think I’d be confused and frustrated with you?”
Her bottom lip quivers. It’s not quite a tremble, but it’s a sign that she’s feeling vulnerable. Still, I press because I like her like this, slightly exposed and off guard. “Tell me, Evie.”
“It’s not a secret.” She tries to laugh, but the sound is too soft, too broken, and too forced to hold any glee. “You don’t like me very much.”
I stare at her, trying to process those words as I say them over and over again in my mind.
“I can tell that I annoy you,” she whispers. “I know you always send me on those errand runs to get me out of the office.”
I step even closer to her. It’s so close that I could literally move just a few inches to kiss her.
She licks her bottom lip as she drops her gaze for a second before it’s back on my face. “I know it’s not a requirement that you like me. You tolerate me, so that’s something, right?”
My cock is aching inside my jeans. I’m so fucking tempted to tug her closer so she can feel the outline of it pressing against her while I ask her if that feels like a man who doesn’t like her.
Hell, I’m tempted to kiss her before I haul her over my shoulder, take her to the bedroom that I’m staying in, and fuck her until morning.
“You said you wouldn’t hold anything I said against me,” she reminds me. “So you can’t.”
I drop her hand, but mine lands on her hip and not by my side.
Her gaze drops to it. “Reid?”
“I like you,” I say –no- I fucking growl those two words out through clenched teeth because I’m barely holding onto my self-control.
Her eyes sear into me. “As much as you like Norbeta?”
A laugh escapes me as my finger catches in one of the belt loops on the waistband of her shorts. I tug her closer. “I’ve never liked Norbeta this way.”
Her lips part ever so slightly, and the softest sound floats out. “Do you mean the way I think you mean?”
“What the fuck is taking you two so long?” Randall’s voice booms through the air just before he rounds the corner.
Evie scurries back and out of my reach before he gets an eyeful of the two of us.
“I got a glass of iced tea,” she announces with way too much enthusiasm for such a substandard beverage.
“Lucky you,” Randall says and means it.
Evie sees an opportunity to flee, so she does just that with the glass of iced tea.
“I want a beer.” The groom-to-be sneaks past me on his way to the fridge. “Do you want one?”
“Sure,” I toss the word out without a hint of the crushing frustration I’m currently feeling.
“Pete says you’re going to make Evie work tonight.” He shakes his head. “Cut the girl a break, Reid.”
“We have unfinished business,” I say honestly. “Something tells me Evangeline won’t mind spending a few hours alone with me tonight.”
CHAPTER FORTY-SEVEN
Evie
As soon as dinner is over, I race back into the bedroom I’m staying in. It’s my place of solace for the weekend. On the drive up, I imagined a getaway with just Lottie. I thought we’d lounge by the pool, walk along the beach, and talk endlessly about her wedding.
I was completely on board for that, but now, I’m facing two days with a bunch of men I don’t know and one I want to know a heck of a lot better.