Total pages in book: 26
Estimated words: 24462 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 122(@200wpm)___ 98(@250wpm)___ 82(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 24462 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 122(@200wpm)___ 98(@250wpm)___ 82(@300wpm)
“I got a case of them. We’ll have more back at my place,” he says absently. As if it’s a foregone conclusion I’m going to his place after we leave here. I’m about to correct him when he presents me with a shiny black card. “Got you this.” He shows me the back, and it’s got my picture on it.
“How did you do that?” It explains where he disappeared to.
“I talked them into using a picture I had.” He shrugs. I’m sure he did. The man is a freaking smooth talker and is charming when it’s coming my way but annoying to think about him using it on someone else.
“Wait. That’s the sweater I’m wearing.”
“I took a picture of you where we ate together.”
“Seriously?” It’s actually not a bad picture.
“You can’t be mad at me. I put you on my Costco account, and it’s a black card.” I try to fight the laugh but lose out.
“As much as I love this place, Costco might not be functional for me unless I want to cruise the samples for a free lunch.” Still, I slip the card into my back packet. “This place is for people with a giant family.”
“Do you want one of those?” Asher drapes his arm over my shoulder as I push the cart, and anything my eyes linger on, he tosses into the cart.
“A big family?” I ask. Or is he talking about that giant thing of cheese balls we passed? He grabs the container and drops it into the cart.
“Yeah. A family.”
“I…” I pause for a long moment. I’ve never given having a family of my own a thought. At least in the sense of creating those people myself. Growing up, it was always about if I would get chosen by one. Not making one of my own. “Yeah. I do,” I finally say. “Just not sure it’s in the cards for me.” I’m barely scraping by as it is, and I’m seconds away from selling pictures of my feet to stay in college.
“It’s just you?”
“I grew up in the foster system.” His arm on my shoulder tightens, and he pulls me more into his side. Warmth blooms through my chest at the small possessive act. I’m not sure if he realizes he even did it.
“You and Parker are really close,” he points out.
“She’s like a sister to me. When I first met her, I was worried about how we’d get along with all her fancy clothes and such. I thought she was snotty too, but she was just shy. It didn’t take me long to see who she is. And she’s always trying to do things for me on the sly.”
“On the sly?” he asks. I run my fingers across a pair of fuzzy socks, and he grabs them. “They’re nice and it’s a pack of six. We can split them.”
“Just like that,” I laugh. That’s the same kind of thing Parker would do. Always having extra things or saying she’s not going to use this or that so I could have it.
“No clue what you mean.” He plays dumb, but he’s terrible at it. Asher is far from dumb.
“You want purple fuzzy socks?” I lift a brow at him.
“There’s nothing wrong with the color purple.” I shake my head but let it go.
“Is all this going to fit in your car?” I ask when we check out. I’m disappointed that our little excursion is over because I’ve actually had a lot of fun, and I’m not excited to get back to reality.
“Make a deal with me,” he says as he puts items up on the checkout counter. The first place my mind goes is somewhere dirty. “Mind out of the gutter,” he teases me, and I roll my eyes but my face starts to warm.
“Are you saying you don’t have your mind in the gutter about us?” I tease him back.
“I wouldn’t call it the gutter. More like my comfy bed.” He gives me a charming smile that has me wondering what his bed looks like.
Why does he have to be so damn handsome? He's sweet too. If not for him being my best friend's brother-in-law, I think I might have actually entertained the idea of going on a date with him. Now that I’ve gotten to know him better.
I might have gotten the whole playboy thing wrong. I really need to stop judging before I get to know people, but it’s damn hard when you grow up the way I did. It’s one of the ways I’ve learned to protect myself.
“What’s your deal?” I circle back.
My mind flashes to another deal I made. For someone who’d been so pushy about getting my number earlier today, they haven't used it yet.
“Help me unload all this at my place and you can have the cheese balls and the socks.” I snort a laugh at his offer. “I’ll cook some more of those pigs in a blanket in my new fancy air fryer.” He taps the top of the box, and I chew on my bottom lip.