Total pages in book: 95
Estimated words: 92708 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 464(@200wpm)___ 371(@250wpm)___ 309(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 92708 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 464(@200wpm)___ 371(@250wpm)___ 309(@300wpm)
Is there really a Sara?
Yes. She says hi.
Because if there isn’t, this is low even for you.
I turned to Sara. “She wants to know if you’re real. Selfie?”
Sara clapped her hands. “Yes!”
I snapped a pic and sent it to Lexi.
Adorable. Look at that smile.
Thank you. But did you see the kid next to me?
YOU KNOW I MEANT HER.
I suppose.
Can we talk later? I’m on a bus coming home from a Camp Lemonade field trip, but I can call you when I’m home.
I have nothing new to say.
Maybe I just like the sound of your voice.
You are despicable.
“Well?” Sara asked. “Does she like you again?”
“No,” I said. “But she’s definitely warming up. Thanks for the help. I promise to take you out for an ice cream cone soon.”
She held up her pinky. “Pinky promise?”
I latched my pinky to hers. “Pinky promise.”
“You can’t break a pinky promise, you know.”
“I would never break a pinky promise.”
She grinned happily and continued sitting next to me on the ride home, kicking the seat in front of her and telling me about each and every one of her friendship bracelets. At one point she dozed off, head tipping onto my shoulder.
Somewhere along my internal wiring, that paternal instinct hummed again, and I thought it would be kind of nice to have a little girl like the one at my side. If I were different.
If everything had been different.
My brother Xander called while I was getting ready to go out for dinner and drinks with a few friends.
“Hello?”
“Hey, brother. Happy birthday.”
“Thanks. How’s everything going with the bar?”
“Okay. Still on track to open next Friday night.”
“Can’t wait to see it. I might be back in the next month.”
“How did the lunch with Granny go? I never got a chance to ask, you left town so fast. You sweet talk her into accepting your millions?”
I winced. “Ah, not exactly.”
“What? I thought this was a done deal.”
“It should have been a done deal. But there was a complication in the shape of a granddaughter who joined us for lunch.” And Jesus, how I’d worshiped that shape. I still thought about it every single night before bed—usually with my dick in my hand.
“Granddaughter?” He paused. “How old?”
“Late twenties, maybe. She grew up there and works there, and she’s totally against selling. She’s got some ridiculous notion she can get investors who will help turn the business around. My offer was much higher than anything else she’d get, but she refuses to listen to reason.”
“You mean there are actually humans alive you can’t sell to?”
“There’s one,” I said defensively. “And it’s only because she has the wrong idea about me.”
“Maybe she noticed you were trying to bamboozle her granny over French onion soup.”
“No, she arrived at the table with preconceived notions about my character. She was prejudicial and biased against me from the start.”
“Why?”
I exhaled. “Because we’d met before.”
“Where?”
“Remember that gorgeous brunette I left with the night we all went to The Broken Spoke?”
Xander started to laugh. “That was the granddaughter?”
“I didn’t know it at the time, okay? We didn’t get into a lot of personal details, we just had a good time. But no matter what I say, she doesn’t believe me. She’s convinced I sought her out and slept with her for nefarious purposes.”
“So now what?”
“Now I have to figure out how to make this deal happen even though she’s working against me at every turn. My boss won’t accept anything less.”
“You’ll be fired if you can’t make it happen?”
“I might not be fired, but instead of the promotion I want, I’d probably be relegated to sales manager in Bumfuck, Nowhere.”
“Well, hang in there. I’m sure you’ll find a way.”
Usually I was sure of myself too, but with every passing day, my confidence was draining.
I’d try again later tonight.
When I got home from dinner, I saw the bracelet Sara had made for me on my kitchen counter. It made me smile, and I slipped it onto my wrist for good luck. Then I texted Lexi.
It’s my birthday.
Good for you.
Sara made me a present. Want to see it?
Only because Sara sounds nice.
I took a photo of my wrist and sent it to her.
A friendship bracelet. Very cute.
I could ask her to teach me how to make one for you.
Don’t bother. You and I are not friends.
We were friends for one night, weren’t we?
I was young and foolish then.
I even found your missing O.
Don’t remind me.
Why not? We had a good time. Best time I’ve had in a while.
It doesn’t matter, Devlin. Even if you are not the scoundrel I think you are, that doesn’t change the fact we are on opposite sides of the biggest fight of my life. I may have accidentally slept with the enemy, but I don’t have to wish him a happy birthday.
I’m not your enemy, Lexi. I want to help you.