Total pages in book: 42
Estimated words: 39475 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 197(@200wpm)___ 158(@250wpm)___ 132(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 39475 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 197(@200wpm)___ 158(@250wpm)___ 132(@300wpm)
“Do you two need a few more minutes?” she asks.
“Yes, please,” I tell her. She nods before taking off once more. With her gone, I take the tiny pot of creamer she set down, dump some into my cup, then pass it to Noah. “And it sounded like if you don’t get it, you can get that position somewhere else.”
“Except I don’t want to go anywhere else,” he tells me while pushing a container of sugar packets toward me.
“Why not?”
“I love my town, the people here, and the men and women I work with. Not saying there’s anything wrong with Nashville, but I’ve never had a desire to work in the city.”
“I can understand that.”
“Do you miss living near the city?” he asks, and my nose scrunches.
“No. I mean, I miss Starbucks being just a two-minute drive from my house and not having to go so far to get to the grocery store, but I don’t miss the city and its traffic.” I pick up my coffee and take a sip, then grab the menu from where I placed it and start looking it over, figuring I should find something to eat before Holly comes back. “So, what’s good here?”
“Everything,” he says, and I smile at him.
“That’s not helpful.”
“But it’s true,” he replies. I settle on a biscuit breakfast sandwich with ham, egg, and cheese.
And he’s not wrong. It’s delicious. But what is even better is enjoying it while sitting across from him. Because even if the morning started off strange, by the end of breakfast, my nerves have settled, and all the awkwardness from earlier is long gone.
Chapter 4
Noah
Ignore It
Sitting next to Bridgett in a chair three sizes too small in an office at the car dealership, I listen to Hunter, the loan specialist, explain the limited warranty the car comes with. As he carries on, I glance over at Bridgett and find her looking adorably confused and cute as fuck as she jots down notes on a notepad while nibbling on her bottom lip. When I started thinking of her as adorable and cute is something I can’t figure out, especially when I just thought of her as Aiden’s stuck-up, bitchy little sister for years.
What I do know is that I need to shake off the urge I have to protect her. Particularly when that urge comes from a place that has nothing to do with her being my best friend’s little sister and everything to do with the fact that she is a beautiful fucking woman who is going through some fucked-up shit.
“What do you think?”
Her question drags me out of my thoughts, and I dip my chin to meet her gaze.
“About what?” I ask as Hunter leaves the small office we have been in for the last forty-five minutes.
“About the car.”
“I already told you, babe. It’s a nice vehicle, and the price is right,” I say, and she chews on her bottom lip, a tic of hers that causes me to shift on the small-ass chair.
“You did say that.”
“What has you second-guessing your decision?”
“I don’t know. I guess that it’s mine, and I don’t want to get something only to turn around and wish I hadn’t.”
“You have ten days to change your mind after you pull off the lot.”
“I guess you’re right.” She lets out a breath, then drops her gaze to the notepad on her lap. “And the car payment including insurance is less than what I pay now, so that will be a big relief each month.”
“You’re working for your dad now, right?”
“Yeah.” She ducks her head, and color spreads up her cheeks.
“There’s nothing wrong with working for your dad.”
“I know. It’s just…getting coffee, answering phones, and running errands isn’t something I want to do forever.” She lifts one shoulder. “Especially when I know that isn’t a position that actually existed before I went to my dad to ask for a job.”
Hearing the sadness—or maybe it’s dejection—in her voice, I have the urge to pull her onto my lap and just hold her. It’s the same feeling I had this morning when she laid shit out about why she’d been with her ex and why it hadn’t worked out between them. Then again, after hearing that douche spew bullshit at her, it’s no wonder she didn’t want to stick around, even with vacations, a fancy house, and expensive clothes.
Being friends with Aiden since we were kids, I learned firsthand how tumultuous his relationship with his family was. His parents were selfish and
self-righteous—his mother still is. His father, who recently suffered a stroke, has gotten better, but who knows if that will last. And Bridgett, she was the little sister he didn’t pay much mind to. When they got older, he would just talk about how spoiled she was and how much she reminded him of his mom.