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)
We had this conversation with our eyes like, Oh my God. I’m sorry. Is that okay? And Dane’s: Um…I’m a little surprised, but…yeah, yeah, I think it’s okay. And obviously I was creating this whole conversation in my head, so instead he might be screaming: Mayday! Mayday! Time to get the fuck out of here! But I didn’t think he was.
Then…then he surprised me by putting his hand over mine and angling the mic toward his mouth. “You’re a pretty good boyfriend yourself.”
Oh, I was seriously melting into a puddle of goo, and I really shouldn’t cry because then my makeup would run. “Thanks, sugar,” I managed to reply.
“Now you gonna sing for us or what?” he teased.
So I did. I sang a whole set of songs as the night wore on. Dane did as promised, keeping me hydrated. When it was the last song of the night, I leaned against the piano and reminded the player what song was next.
As soon as it was time, I let loose the words of Ella Fitzgerald’s “I’ve Got a Feeling I’m Falling.” I sang it playfully, flirtily—if that was even a word—with lots of winks and walking toward the bar and leaning over it, but Dane’s eyes never left mine. It was the same intense stare I’d been thinking about earlier, and it warmed my skin.
People were clapping and singing. I grabbed a scarf from a guy’s neck and wrapped it around Dane, pulling him closer as I sang about falling for him.
When the song was over, it was Dane who leaned over the counter and…he pressed his lips to mine. A chaste kiss, short and sweet, but it made my toes curl, or it would have if my feet weren’t stuffed in high heels.
“Jess…” he said softly.
“We’ll talk later, sugar.” I winked at him playfully.
We finished our end-of-the-night routine, and I changed into sweats and a hoodie because oh my God, wearing a gown and heels all night wasn’t the most comfortable thing.
He grabbed my hand and twined our fingers together as we walked out to his car. It was cold as hell, but it wasn’t raining.
“Can I take you somewhere?” he asked. It was late, and we never went anywhere other than one of our places after work.
“Of course.”
He surprised me by driving to Voodoo Doughnut. “Craving something sweet, huh? But then, you could just eat me…”
He laughed, and I loved Dane’s laugh. “Shut it,” he replied, wrapping an arm around me.
I got one with marshmallows and M&M’s on it, and Dane got powdered-sugar cake. “Oh my God, you’re so boring,” I teased him. “Next time I’m picking yours.”
“As long as it doesn’t have gummy bears on it. I’m still not over that ice cream.” We got a coffee too, and when we stepped outside, he asked, “Are you too cold to walk?”
I frowned, surprised by his question. “No, I’m fine.” But my head was like…Oh my God, he’s going to tell me he’s not really my boyfriend!
We were quiet as we walked with our donuts and coffee the short distance to Tom McCall Waterfront Park. My feet were killing me after the set tonight. Dane led us to a bench, and we sat down and ate and drank, the fog rolling off the water in front of us. With each moment that went by, I was getting a little more nervous, so I just word-vomited the first thing that came to mind. “Have you ever worn heels all night? I seriously thought my feet were gonna fall off. I mean, I’m great in them, but my toes don’t like to be all scrunched up like that.”
“Fuck, I didn’t even think of that before having you walk here. You should have said something,” Dane replied.
“It’s okay.”
He set his drink down, his donut already finished, and lifted my legs and put my feet in his lap. “Are your feet going to freeze if I take your shoes off?”
“It depends on why. Is that a fetish I didn’t know about?” I teased.
Dane chuckled, pulled my shoes off, and began massaging my sock-covered feet. “I used to come here a lot. I don’t know what I love about it so much, but it’s just soothing. When I used to fight with Steve, I’d come here to clear my head. The first time I came here was with my mom. She loved it too.”
Oh…wow. Dane never really said much about his parents. “That’s probably why you like it. Because your mom did.”
“Yeah, probably,” he said without looking at me. “We were raised by my mom and grandma, and I had a happy childhood even though we were always stretched for money and Mom had to work two jobs. She passed away from breast cancer when I was a teenager, and my grandma from a stroke after Hailey was born. So it’s just me and Bree now. And Hailey and Mark, of course.”