Total pages in book: 124
Estimated words: 117574 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 588(@200wpm)___ 470(@250wpm)___ 392(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 117574 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 588(@200wpm)___ 470(@250wpm)___ 392(@300wpm)
She squeals. “Can I come with you? I’m dying to see it.”
“Absolutely. I’d love your expert opinion on what needs to be done to flip it as quickly and cheaply as possible.” Tessa and her husband, Ryan, have been investing in real estate for a few years now, including fixing up rental properties, so she’s the perfect person to tag along. I don’t know why I didn’t invite her to come with me in the first place. Chalk it up to my frazzled state as of late. I’m truly not myself right now.
“So, tell me the latest about your job search,” Tessa says. “Maybe I can help.”
Tessa has already offered me a serving job at Captain’s, but I told her I’m taking a much-needed break from serving drinks to the general public for a while. And that’s partly true. But even more than that, I think I should lay low and work from home while fixing up the condo. Better safe than sorry.
We chat and catch up, and soon, our food arrives, courtesy of a server who sticks around to ask her boss a question about the schedule. While Tessa chats with her employee, my eyes drift to the guy at the bar again, out of sheer curiosity. Is he still staring at me?
Nope.
Since I locked eyes with him earlier, Mr. Blue Eyes has been joined at the bar by a well-dressed older man—a stylish man with well-groomed silver hair and a perfectly tailored suit. Is that handsome silver fox the boy bander’s boss? Friend? Father? I snicker to myself. His daddy? Ha. If those two swing that way, they’d make an insanely hot couple, honestly.
Fuck.
While I’m still contemplating the dynamics possibly at play over there, the boy bander abruptly shifts his gaze from his silver-haired companion to me. And thanks to those mesmerizing blue eyes of his, I can’t immediately look away.
Like before, he’s encouraged by our eye contact. His face breaks into a flirtatious, beaming smile—one that’s even more enthusiastic than the last one. This smile is so unrestrained, in fact, I feel the need to shake my head, subtly, to let him know he’s misread me. I love looking into the dazzling blue eyes of Tessa’s beloved husky, Rudy, as well, but that doesn’t mean I want to fuck my bestie’s dog, now does it?
The guy at the bar stops smiling and matches my scowl. Actually, no, he ups the ante: right before looking away, he shoots me a glare that quite effectively says, “I get it. You’re not interested. No need to be fucking rude about it.”
I chuckle to myself as he looks away. That non-verbal “fuck you” he flashed me was unexpected, given his generally wholesome vibe. Color me impressed. If I hadn’t sworn-off men for my short stay in Seattle, that little kiss-off might have inspired me to reel him back in, despite him not being my usual type. Why’d he get so bent out of shape, for fuck’s sake? He’s an extremely attractive dude. I’m sure he’ll have zero problems landing the next woman he flirts with at a bar. You can’t win ‘em all, dude. Not even when you’re as boy-band-handsome as you.
“Who are you looking at?” Tessa asks, causing me to jerk my attention back to her. She’s smirking at me. Flashing me a knowing look.
“Nobody.”
She doesn’t buy it.
As I whisper-shout, “Don’t look!” Tessa twists around, all the way, and looks toward the bar. As she does so, to my absolute mortification, my new enemy at the bar smirks wickedly at me. This time, his smile isn’t flirtatious. Nope. His smug face this time says, “You told your friend about me, huh? That’s a weird thing for you to do, if you’re truly not interested, don’t you think?”
I roll my eyes, feeling thoroughly annoyed with this arrogant man. Given his conventional handsomeness, I’m sure he’s used to women falling at his feet. Hence, the reason I’m sworn off his type. Ten times out of ten, give me a guy who thinks I’m out of his league, a guy who thinks he’s lucky to get with me, over a guy like him who surely thinks he’s got his pick in every room he enters.
Tessa returns to me, leans forward, and whispers, “Which one are you flirting with—the older one in the fancy suit or the hottie with the pretty blue eyes?”
“Neither. The younger dude has been flirting with me, so I flashed him a bitchy look that said, “Not a chance, boy bander.” And now, he’s moved swiftly along to phase two of our brief courtship: despising me for being the first woman in this history of his gilded life to reject him.”
Tessa chuckles. “Boy bander?”
“Doesn’t he look like he’s five years out from being the lead singer in an off-brand boy band?”