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)
“Night, you two,” Bree said with a knowing look, then disappeared to her bedroom.
29
Jesse
Those all too familiar nerves Dane seemed to inspire in me tickled the base of my spine as I waited for him to join me downstairs. It was annoying as hell. I didn’t like that he had this effect on me, and while I felt more and more comfortable around him, each time I saw him, the jitteriness amped up as well, the electricity sparking between us. Stupid, cranky, sweet man with the coolest sister and the world’s best niece had me all tied in knots. Part of me wanted to tell him, just so I could get under his skin, but the other part wanted to keep that shit to myself. Because obviously.
So I took the time to study his room a bit more than I did last time I was there. It really wasn’t a bad space, though I knew Dane felt weird about it. After what he’d gone through with his ex, he was doing his best to get on his feet, and he was helping his sister in the process. That was all pretty noble, if you asked me.
There was a small flat-screen TV hanging on the wall. I suddenly wondered what Dane watched. Was he a sports guy? He liked history, so maybe he sat around watching the History channel and things like that. My gaze skated toward the bedside table, where a few autobiographies sat. I imagined Dane sitting in this room, reading at night, and I found that adorable.
There was a whole section of a wall covered in Hailey’s drawings, paintings, and coloring pages. It made my heart get all soft and mushy as I looked at it. God, he loved her. They were so cute together, and it was cool that he seemed to stock up on things like random coloring pages.
There were a few photos of him and Hailey, Hailey and Bree, the three of them together, and another of Dane and Bree when they were younger, with who I assumed was their mother, because there was definitely a resemblance. That’s when I realized Dane never spoke about his parents, and I wondered if they were around. There was so much I didn’t know about him…but I knew I liked him. I liked how serious he was and how hard he worked. I liked the way he loved his family and the way he wanted to take me home at night, even when we weren’t getting along. I liked the way he looked at me when I was with Hailey or Bree, the care he showed his niece, and how he treated everyone at the Playground with respect.
He was fucking with my head, and I didn’t seem to mind it as much as I should.
There was a noise behind me, and I turned to see him closing and locking the door before coming downstairs. “Are you intending to get naughty with me?” I teased. He was fresh-faced, having washed the makeup off, and looked a little sleepy.
“Well…we don’t have to…”
“Bite your tongue! You told me we would be having fun together and…okay, not that we haven’t had fun since then, because tonight was really, really fun, but I wanna have dirty fun too. Unless…you don’t want to…?” Oh. My. God. My cheeks turned pink, and my eyes darted away from him. I was really, truly worried he didn’t want to have sex with me. What if he didn’t like me the way I was totally falling for him?
“I want to. Are you kidding me? I definitely want to. It might have taken me longer to jump on board, but I’m there. I just don’t want you to ever feel like you have to.”
Oh, my heart. Why was this grumpy, serious man so sweet? “I promise you, that isn’t a problem. I love sex, but if I’m ever not in the mood, I’ll tell you—”
Dane’s mouth cut off the possibility of any more words from me. Our teeth clanked together, and then we chuckled, mouth-to-mouth.
“Oops,” he said, embarrassed.
“Obviously, you want me, so that makes it hot.”
He groaned, then kissed me, slower this time, slipping his tongue between my lips as he backed me toward the bed. He tasted like toothpaste and hunger.
Dane’s hands fisted in my shirt, then slid under, pushing the shirt up. He jerked it over my head and tossed it, then nipped at my neck, running his teeth along the skin there and sucking. “Fuck…you get in my head,” he said so softly, I was almost unsure he’d spoken. His words hit home, though; they were a reflection of how I felt because he’d gotten in my head too.
“Let’s get this off you,” I said, trying to lighten the mood, as I took his shirt off too.