Total pages in book: 14
Estimated words: 12956 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 65(@200wpm)___ 52(@250wpm)___ 43(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 12956 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 65(@200wpm)___ 52(@250wpm)___ 43(@300wpm)
This was meant for me. It was mine.
And if BJ and I didn’t work out, I sure as heck didn’t want it to happen because I’d been trying to hold back and be reasonable.
I reached out to clasp BJ’s jaw, and whatever he saw on my face made his pulse race and his Adam’s apple bob beneath my fingers.
“I’m keeping you,” I told him firmly. “I don’t want to scare you off, and I don’t want you to feel pressured, but… I think you’re the guy I’ve been looking for since… forever. It’s real for me. And I want a shot to convince you that I can be that guy for you, too.”
I pulled out my phone and showed him the text I’d sent my mom.
BJ’s eyes shone with happy tears, and his face widened in an adorable grin. “Yeah?”
I leaned over and pressed a soft kiss to his lips. “Yeah,” I said before kissing him again, more thoroughly. We kissed for a long time before it turned hot enough for us to scramble for each other’s cocks and stroke each other off in a dirty handie exchange on the sofa.
Cosi was not amused.
The next day I got BJ settled in the mid-mountain restaurant before starting my shift on the slopes. I’d left him talking to Tiller about the possibility of offering sunrise yoga classes on the mountain, and when I came back inside for my lunch break, BJ was busily typing in his laptop.
My heart jumped at the sight of him. “Hey,” I said, leaning over to kiss him. “I can’t tell you how incredible it is to see you here during my break.”
He shot a beaming smile up at me. “This place is amazing. I’m so full of ideas, and I’ve met so many people. Tiller introduced me to a woman named Nan, who teaches water aerobics at the gym in town. She gave me the name of the woman who hires fitness teachers.”
I slid into the booth across from him. “I thought you wanted to do your SocialAdrenaline classes full-time?”
He nodded. “I do, but this would be a great way to get to know people in town. And if they like my classes, they might go find me on SocialAdrenaline, too.”
After placing our order for lunch, we talked through more of his morning. I gradually realized there’d been a shift in his language from if to when. He talked about how he’d organize his schedule when he moved to Aster Valley and whether or not he would need to change his health insurance coverage when he moved from Wyoming to Colorado.
I bit my tongue to keep from pointing out the change and asking him what he meant by it. Did he mean he was moving here, or did it mean he was moving here to be with me?
We had a great time at lunch, talking and flirting as usual. Two of my coworkers came up to say hello, and my friend Robin asked where BJ was visiting from. BJ reached across the table for my hand. His was clammy and trembling a little.
He swallowed. “Actually, I’m going to be moving here to Aster Valley. With Dallas. Probably sometime soon.”
His eyes flicked to me as if worried I’d distance myself from claiming him publicly. Instead, I pulled his hand up to my lips and pressed a kiss to it, just like I had that first night he’d stayed with me. “And thank god for that. I can’t freaking wait. Can’t happen soon enough.”
Robin smiled and happily invited BJ to join us the next time we went to trivia night. By the time we were left alone, it was almost time for my break to be over.
“You want to take the truck home, or are you happy to stay?” I asked, standing up. “I can probably catch a ride back with one of these guys.”
“Happy to stay,” he said, but he had an odd tone in his voice. I moved closer and squatted down so I could meet his eyes. I caressed his cheek with my thumb.
“Hey, what’s up?”
“This is too good to be true,” he whispered. BJ looked so vulnerable, I’d do anything to reassure him.
“What part?”
“All of it. This town. The people. The opportunity to run my own business.” His chin looked a little wobbly. “You. You most of all.”
“I feel the same way,” I admitted. “But I don’t want to miss out on whatever time I have with you by worrying it’s going to end any minute. Make sense?”
BJ nodded and gave me a sheepish smile. “You make it sound so easy.”
“No. I know it’s not. But I want it so badly, and you do, too.”
“Yeah. I really do.”
I nudged him over in the booth and slid in next to him so we could face each other properly. Then I took his hands in mine and held them to my chest. “I am working for the next five days, and then I have three days off. By then, your knee should be much better. I think we should drive my truck up to Jackson, pack up your stuff, and bring it back here. What do you say?”