Total pages in book: 122
Estimated words: 116031 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 580(@200wpm)___ 464(@250wpm)___ 387(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 116031 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 580(@200wpm)___ 464(@250wpm)___ 387(@300wpm)
“I can believe it. Gardening relaxes me. It’s work, but something peaceful can be found in its simplicity.”
“And a reward in the results.” It’s strange how different we are but can still manage to find something to relate to. He says, “I’m sorry about the house. How much money did you lose?” He sits forward, his words rushing out, “I shouldn’t have asked something so personal. You don’t have to answer that.”
“It’s nothing in the scheme of your life, but it was years of sacrifice for me.” I shouldn’t feel defensive. He’s done nothing wrong and so much good to help me. “I’m sorry for . . . that.”
“Money is a tricky topic probably best left untouched among friends.”
Friends. A kind reminder slipping back into my heart.
“Well,” I start, remembering how it played out a few months ago. “My agent advised me to bid higher if I really wanted the house. Someone already had a thirty-five-thousand-dollar earnest money offer on the table. I took a chance and won the house but lost in the end.”
“The sellers won’t give it back?”
“Legally, they don’t have to since the issue was on my side.” I crisscross my legs and pluck at a loose thread on the cushion. I glance over, trying not to stare even though he beats the view of the city hands down every time. “That was my signature on the license, and I can only reason that it was yours since it’s from before your signature went to the highest bidder.”
“Odd, right?”
“It makes no sense and leaves us no choice but to file for divorce.” I watch his face to see if I can detect how he feels, but I’ve discovered he’s good at keeping his expression shifted in neutral when he wants to. “It might go public.”
Dropping his sunglasses over his eyes, he angles away from me, redirecting his gaze beyond the hills. “I have people who can control it if given a heads-up.”
“So secretive.”
“Best you’re not involved.” The scrunch of his nose is a nice touch and draws me right in, making me want to be a part of any plan he’s concocting.
“I’m already pretty damn involved.” Speaking of rewards, I’m given a quirk of his lips that wins hearts all over the world. And now I see why. Not that I didn’t know already. That charming smile hasn’t changed so much since high school.
He sits forward suddenly, angling my way. “The timing will be everything. We’ll need to plan this carefully.”
His energy is contagious. “I love to plan. It’s my specialty.”
The dropping of his mouth isn’t necessary. “Planning is your specialty?”
If I hadn’t already hit my quota of eye rolls for the day, he’d be gifted with my most epic version. “You know what?” I fail to keep a straight face. “Not all of us need the limelight to get off.”
He doesn’t bother with polite. Shane practically laughs in my face. “Nothing like spending a Friday night with a good planner. You know, the kind with the grids and the extra numbered spaces to check off your accomplishments that day.”
I push up, but before I stand, he’s coming around the table with his hands up in surrender. “I’m kidding, Cat. Just giving you a hard time.” He drops into the chair next to me, kicking his legs out and crossing them at the ankle, looking more like a movie star than ever.
I finally relax again, bending my legs at the knee just in case I need to duck out quickly. “Not funny.”
“Kind of funny?” Holding up his fingers just an inch apart, he asks, “Just a little?”
Going for a half inch myself, I hold up my fingers. “Microscopically entertaining.”
It’s not like he stopped grinning, but it cracks his expression wide open. “I’ll take microscopic unless it’s referring to—”
“Nope,” I say, stopping him with my hand between us before he finishes that sentence. “I’ve made a grave mistake by joking with you.”
He chuckles and lifts his sunglasses back to the top of his head. “What is it about sex that makes you so uncomfortable?”
“You sure do make a lot of assumptions about me.”
“I’ll assume you do the same.”
“See?” I swerve out my hand like a server’s tray. “There’s a prime example.”
If someone had asked me even a week ago if I would be hanging out with Shane Faris, a guy I had a crush on in high school, I wouldn’t have believed them. Yet here we are.
Though he embodies the rock star in the sexy bad boy way, he’s also just Shane from the bonfire having a good time. He sure is making it hard to remember we’re just friends at best or still acquaintances getting to know each other.
“You have me all figured out, Cat Farin.”
“I don’t think I’ve scratched the surface, Shane Faris.”
“Is scratching something you’re into?”