Total pages in book: 80
Estimated words: 75916 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 380(@200wpm)___ 304(@250wpm)___ 253(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 75916 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 380(@200wpm)___ 304(@250wpm)___ 253(@300wpm)
“Desse!” Hailey shouted as I got in the car.
“What’s up, girl?” Then I looked at Dane. “See? Someone is happy to see me.”
“Unca Dame is happy too! Mommy said he’s bein’ stwange.”
“Hailey!” Dane objected.
“Ooh, you’ve been caught, Captain Cranky Pants. You like me.”
He opened his mouth to reply, but Hailey spoke first. “Why wouldn’t he like you?”
“Yes, why wouldn’t you like me?” I fluttered my lashes.
Another Dane sigh. “I like him,” he told Hailey, then looked at me. “You.”
“I know.” I winked.
We chitchatted during the drive to the mall, and by we, I meant me and Hailey. I talked to her about makeup and all the stuff I needed to buy and told her we could fix her nails sometime soon.
When we got there, I went for the food court. “Did you guys eat?”
“No!” Hailey replied. “I’m huuuuuuunnnnnngwy.”
“I’ll buy us lunch.”
“You don’t have to do that,” Dane said.
I couldn’t afford it. It was…stupid of me—there was that word again—but I wanted to. “Yeah, but you drove me to the mall. It’s a thank-you.”
Dane got a bit of heat in his eyes and lowered his voice. “I can think of a better way you can do that.” Then the fucker winked, and my dick went hard. Where the hell had that come from? He was so damn full of surprises.
“Hold that thought until later.” I turned to his niece. “So, chicken nuggets? I mean, is there any better food than McDonald’s chicken nuggets and fries?”
“Yay!” She ran off, and Dane and I quickly followed.
The three of us had lunch, and Dane participated more in the conversation. I could tell he wasn’t really excited about letting me buy the food, but he allowed it.
He grumbled and groaned as I spent an hour in Sephora, but it was fucking Sephora—how did he not see how incredible it was in there?
I checked the prices of everything and mentally calculated. I got my concealer, eyeliner, and rolled the lip gloss around in my fingers, knowing I really didn’t have the money for it. Before we left, I put it back.
We were on our way to the exit when Dane said, “Shit. I need to run to the restroom real quick.” He tossed me the car keys. “Can you get Hailey all buckled in?”
“No problem.” I was honored he trusted me with her. He turned around, and the two of us went on our merry way.
“Are you Unca Dame’s boyfwiend?”
Ewwww. I didn’t do boyfriends. I couldn’t tell her that, though. “No, we’re just friends.”
“Mommy said she likes you better than his old fwiend. You’re funner.”
Oh, how I wanted to know all about this old boyfriend, but I had a feeling Dane would lose his shit if I knew. Plus, if I ever learned more about the man, I wanted Dane to be the one to tell me. “I’m more fun than most people,” I replied, and she laughed.
We got to the car, and I got her all buckled in. A few minutes later Dane was back at the car and taking me home.
He pulled up at the curb, turned to look at me, and I looked at him. Fuck, he was so damn sexy. There was nothing I wanted more than to invite him up and get on my knees for him…except maybe have him in my ass again.
“Unca Dame? Why you lookin’ at Desse like that?” she asked, and damned if I didn’t blush.
“It’s because I’m so cool,” I told her. “Like you. See ya later, little one!” I told Hailey, then winked at Dane and got out of the car.
22
Dane
“Dane.” I distantly heard my name being called, but it didn’t really register. With my forearms braced on the bar top, I was listening intently to the new song Jesse was debuting tonight in the Underground. Once again, he was like two different personalities, and I wasn’t sure which one I was more fascinated with. The fun, loud, annoying Jesse, or the sedate, almost shy, smoky-voiced guy singing a ballad across the room from me now.
Also, did I really just admit to myself that I was, in fact, smitten with Jesse? I zeroed in on his eyes, his mouth, his rolled shirtsleeves, those super sexy suspenders… Damn, what I wanted to do to him. And tonight he wore a ruby-red lip gloss, which took me back to earlier in the day when he carefully and concisely pored over the aisles in Sephora.
I’d been to the mall with Bree and in one of those stores before, but she was pretty much in and out. For Jesse, it was almost like a quiet reverence. And I could also tell he was trying to decide which products he needed most. That got to me most of all. Hit me right in the gut. The idea that I had him pegged all wrong. Thinking he had money and not a care in the world. But upon closer inspection, that wasn’t the case at all. Sure, he was super confident about practically everything, but in the store he’d been pensive and almost humble. Much like when he’d confessed how he was raised.