Total pages in book: 144
Estimated words: 134830 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 674(@200wpm)___ 539(@250wpm)___ 449(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 134830 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 674(@200wpm)___ 539(@250wpm)___ 449(@300wpm)
Kyle’s surprising me again. He keeps doing that. As soon as I think I know what he’s going to say or do, he does something else… something nice.
“And I happen to like that you’re willing to work your sexy ass off to stand on your own two feet, and anyone who thinks less of you for doing so needs to shut the fuck up and get outta your way.” His voice is hard, allowing no room for misinterpretation. He’s mad on my behalf. And I didn’t miss the ‘sexy ass’ bit, either.
My jaw drops open in shock at the same time my pussy clenches because that’s probably the sexiest thing anyone’s ever said to me.
But he’s on a roll and doesn’t slow down. If anything, he’s picking up steam. “Not everyone wants the same thing, and that’s okay. I get it—you’re busy. I’m busy too—got jobs to run, a house to clean, meals to cook, a dog to look after, bills to pay, and a whole roster of shit to handle… which I’m doing on my own too. I. Get. It.”
He shrugs and swipes at his lip, which makes me extra interested in what he’s about to say because he’s already throwing my whole brain and body for a roller-coaster-worthy loop.
“I’m not asking you to marry me. I just thought we could go for a ride, eat dinner, talk a little, flirt a lot, and maybe, if I’m lucky, I’d get to kiss you again. A date isn’t some prelude to your becoming my mom. I’ve got one of those, and she hasn’t taken care of me for a long time because I’m a full, grown-ass adult, okay? Hell, she wasn’t taking care of me much when I was a kid either, so there’s that.”
“Ask me again,” I order before I change my mind again.
Kyle’s eyes narrow, questions lurking in their icy depths. But then his lips lift in a tiny smirk. “Go out with me.”
Still not a question.
This time, I nod. “I’ve told you what I’m looking for and what I’m not. If you’re fucking around with me, you’re gonna be the one hurt.” Barbed wire fences, bitchy defenses, flashing warning signs… I’m throwing them all up, and Kyle doesn’t even blink. “But I’ll be done cleaning up and prepping by six today, then give me an hour to get ready. What should I wear?”
I pray he doesn’t say ‘something fancy’ because I don’t own anything like that. If he says ‘anything’, I will show up in fuzzy house shoes and my bathrobe, happy to shoot myself in the foot to prove a point.
“Jeans and closed toe shoes for the bike,” he says, practical and not putting anything on me with it. “And to be clear, you haven’t said what you’re looking for, you’ve just said you don’t want a lot of the same things I don’t want.”
Huh, that’s something I’m gonna have to process because he might be right. I do frame what I want in terms of not wanting what the women in my life have and not doing what they do.
“Okay, I’ll see you at seven, then?”
He stretches his arms out in front of him, his hands gripping the fence between us, and his smile is so wide that he looks like a toothpaste commercial. I can’t remember the last time I was the cause of a smile like that. Usually, I’m quite the opposite—the smile stealer. Or it seems that way, with my parents always frowning in disappointment and Xavier constantly nagging. But not Kyle. He’s happy about tonight, and as he turns around, going back to his crew with a new pep in his step, I find that I’m excited too.
I have a date.
CHAPTER 14
KYLE
Not to be cocky, but more often than not, I’ve got women chasing after me, so I have literally never had to work so fucking hard to get a woman to spend a few hours of her time with me. But everything in me is saying Dani’s worth the work she takes. Hell, I’d do more if I had to, just to get a look from her dark eyes, an insult from her wicked tongue, or a moment of her undivided attention.
Maybe it’s true that you want what you can’t have because every time Dani throws a verbal bomb, sidesteps me, or flat out shuts me down, I can feel her hook digging in deeper and my interest growing.
However, when me and the guys finish the pool recheck at Kathy’s, of course not finding a damn thing wrong with it, I time my exit for the moment Dani goes inside to grab her next order, sneaking my bike out between the two lines of trucks. Why? Partially because I know she’s in the middle of her busiest rush hour and I don’t want to interrupt her, and partially because I don’t want to give her a chance to say she’s changed her mind about going out.