Total pages in book: 130
Estimated words: 131728 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 659(@200wpm)___ 527(@250wpm)___ 439(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 131728 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 659(@200wpm)___ 527(@250wpm)___ 439(@300wpm)
His eyes hold mine.
I bite the inside of my cheek to keep myself from smiling. “You were a great fuck.”
He blinks, shocked.
“Until next time, Mr. James.” I blow him a kiss and, without another word, walk away; I can feel his eyes on my back, and I want to jump and punch the air.
That was so cool that I can’t even stand it.
Let the games begin.
Chapter 12
I walk into the café and smile and wave as I see Chloe waiting at the table for me. I bounce over. “Hi.” I beam.
“Hi.” She smirks up at me. “You look like you’ve been well fucked.”
“Not even close.” I giggle and fall into my seat. “I’ve been spectacularly fucked, actually.”
She giggles and holds her hand up for a high five. “Yes.”
“Your coffees.” The waitress smiles as she puts them down on the table.
“Thank you.”
“So?” Chloe widens her eyes. “Tell me everything.”
“Oh my god.” I sigh dreamily. “Picture the best night in all of history, and that’s what I had. He is . . . unbelievable.”
“What, good in bed?”
“Good at everything, and he’s sensual and sexual and hung like a horse and, gah . . . I’m addicted.”
Chloe twists her lips as she looks at me. “I thought this was an intel mission only.”
“It was . . . is,” I correct myself.
“Hang on a minute—you said you just wanted friends with benefits with him.”
“I do,” I lie. “But . . . I’m just going to see how it goes.”
She rolls her eyes. “Whatever you do, don’t fall for this guy. He’s emotionally fucked up, and the last thing you need is a man with colossal baggage.”
“I know, I’m not.”
“We’ll see.” She sips her coffee. “So did you stick to our plan this morning?”
“Yep. I was as cold as ice.”
Chloe raises her coffee cup to me as a silent salute. “And what did he do?”
“He was too shocked to speak.” I shrug. “I think”—I contemplate that for a moment—“at least I hope that’s why he wasn’t speaking.” I shrug. “Anyway, I said I had plans, and when I was leaving, I told him that he was a great fuck.”
Chloe chokes on her coffee. “You said what?”
“I was telling the truth.” I laugh. “He was a great fuck. The best, actually.”
Chloe laughs out loud. “Oh man, I am so living vicariously through you right now.”
We fall silent as we drink our coffee.
“So what’s the next move?” Chloe asks.
“Cockteasing.”
“Cockteasing?”
“I’m going to be all sexy-like but unavailable for sex.”
“Yeah, well, that could majorly backfire.”
“How?”
“If you give him an appetite and then close the restaurant, he’ll go somewhere else to eat.”
“True.” I contemplate this theory for a moment. “But I also know that years of a self-destructive pattern can’t be broken easily. If I want more time with him, I have to play the game.”
Chloe’s calculating eyes hold mine. “You’re already in love with him, aren’t you?”
“Don’t be ridiculous,” I scoff. “I’m in lust with him.”
“I don’t know about this.” Chloe lets out a deep sigh. “This has the potential to end very badly. I can feel it in my gut.”
“Relax, I’ve got this.” I fake a smile. “I’m not getting invested.”
I don’t know much about life, about love, about anything, really.
But one thing that I do know for certain is that I don’t have this . . . not even close.
Henley James has me.
It’s Tuesday, and I walk out front to stretch by my mailbox for my morning run.
I haven’t seen Henley since I left the restaurant on Sunday morning, and I’m getting a little bit jumpy.
I thought he would have knocked on my back door well before this. Maybe my body isn’t as addictive as I thought?
Maybe he’s moved on to eat at another restaurant already.
Damn it. Why did Chloe say that to me? Now it’s all I can think about.
“Morning, Carol,” I call.
“Morning, dear.” Carol smiles. She walks across the road toward me in her fluffy pink dressing gown, coffee cup in hand. “Good morning, Barry.” She smiles down at my little best friend.
Henley’s garage door slowly goes up, and I try not to look.
“Did you see the boys are having a bonfire on Friday night?”
“What?”
“We all got invitations.”
“I didn’t.” I feel a little dejected.
“Check your mailbox.”
I open it to see the invitation, a hand-scribbled note.
Bonfire.
My house, Friday night.
Antony.
Phew . . . oh shit, I’m working.
Henley’s car pulls out of his garage, and he slows down as he passes us and lowers the window. “Morning, ladies.”
I instinctively go up onto my toes in excitement. “Morning.”
“Morning, dear Henley.” Carol smiles. “How are you today, darling?”
“Better now that I’ve seen you two.” He gives a playful wink, and I feel it down to my toes.
Get into the back seat of your car . . . right now!
“Have a good day.” I smile.
“You too.” His eyes hold mine for a beat longer than they should, and then he drives away. Carol and I stare after him like the groupies we are.