Total pages in book: 85
Estimated words: 82453 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 412(@200wpm)___ 330(@250wpm)___ 275(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 82453 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 412(@200wpm)___ 330(@250wpm)___ 275(@300wpm)
Carrie: That works for me. I’ll meet you there.
I’m tempted to close out this text conversation by tapping out, ‘It’s a date,’ but I don’t. I don’t want to scare her off, so I end it in a way I hope will put a smile on her beautiful face.
Rook: I’ll be the tall guy in the good suit.
I pass Kirby’s room on the way to mine so I can shower before I sit down in my home office to devote a couple of hours to work that I didn’t get to today.
I hold in a chuckle when I read the response to my last text.
Carrie: I’ll be the one in the green dress. You can’t miss me.
She’s wrong about that. Since I left her at the bar this afternoon, I have missed her. I don’t know how the fuck to explain it, but I like being around her. Tomorrow night can’t come soon enough.
CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX
Carrie
I seriously considered wearing the green dress to this dinner. That would be the green dress I wore to my sister’s wedding, but it seemed like overkill so I opted for another green dress that has been living in the back of my closet for the past few years.
It sports a modest neckline, and the bottom hem hits right above my knees. What I absolutely love about this dress is the thin black leather belt that sits at just the right spot on my waist. The entire look shows off my hourglass figure. I may not have loved my curves when I was younger, but I adore them now.
I went to Brooklyn after work to grab the dress before going to Abby’s to get ready. I’m stepping into Atlas 22 at fifteen minutes to eight. I’m early. That’s almost always the case with me. It’s another of my character traits that I treasure.
It seems that I share an inclination for promptness with Rook. I spot him sitting at the bar, wearing a dark gray suit.
I take a moment to study his profile.
I first saw him in a photo on the Thorsen & Associates website. That was shortly after Abby started working there. Once I saw how drop-dead gorgeous he was, I went on a hunt on social media to track down every tidbit of information I could find about him.
It didn’t take long for me to realize that he was in a relationship with Chesca Mills, and they shared a daughter. I admit I was disappointed, but as the months passed, I’d check out his socials occasionally, and always see the joy in his face when he was with his daughter.
His gaze wanders to the entrance to the restaurant, and I know the instant he spots me.
His left eyebrow cocks, and his lips glide into an easy smile.
Damn. He’s a gorgeous man.
He leaves his half-filled tumbler of what looks like whiskey behind on the bar as he stalks toward me.
Heads turn because how can anyone not look at him?
“Carrie,” he greets me with an open-mouthed smile as soon as he’s near enough that I can hear him. “You look beautiful.”
I’d say the same to him, but I revise it a touch. “Thank you. You look good, too.”
That widens his smile even more.
A woman working the front counter approaches us. “Mr. Thorsen, your table is ready.”
Rook motions for me to lead the way, so I do that. I resist the urge to glance over my shoulder at him. I’ll eat slowly so I have at least the next two hours to stare at him.
Before I can take a seat on the chair that the woman points at, Rook is around me, tugging the chair back before offering his hand to me.
I swear I hear a little gasp leave the lips of the woman seating us. Whoever said chivalry was dead in this town never spent any time with the good-looking lawyer I’m about to have dinner with.
“I’ll have your server bring you another glass of whiskey, Mr. Thorsen,” she tells Rook after he sits across from me at the small circular table.
His gaze doesn’t leave my face as he answers, “I think we’d prefer two glasses of sparkling water with lemon.”
I like that he remembers what I ordered yesterday at the bar.
“Very well,” she says with a bright smile aimed at him.
He misses it entirely because he can’t take his eyes off of me.
“I’ll have those waters brought right over,” she tries again to catch his eye, but it’s another fail, so she leaves with only a glance in my direction.
“You don’t have to abstain because of me,” I tell him.
A smile ghosts his full lips. “Correct me if I’m wrong, but didn’t we agree to meet to discuss not abstaining?”
Well, then. It looks like we’re jumping headfirst into sex talk.
I take his cue and expand on it. “We need to talk about the rules before we settle on a day and time to have sex.”