Total pages in book: 125
Estimated words: 117201 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 586(@200wpm)___ 469(@250wpm)___ 391(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 117201 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 586(@200wpm)___ 469(@250wpm)___ 391(@300wpm)
She blinked. “Hockey players are built different, aren’t they?”
“You have no idea.”
Tallulah picked up her smoothie and sipped from the straw. He did the same. They considered each other across the table like debaters preparing for the next question.
“I’m just going to come right out and say something, Tallulah, because it feels like it needs to be said.” This could be a huge risk, but the verbal reassurance wouldn’t stay locked inside. He’d always been blunt and direct, often to his own detriment, but Tallulah was too smart to buy any bullshit and he didn’t want to sell her any, either. “I’ve never laid a hand on a woman in my fucking life and I never will.”
Her chest sank all the way down and fired back up, her fingers twitching around her smoothie cup. She started to say something, but no words came out. That telling reaction caused Burgess to dig his fingertips into his thigh hard enough to cause pain, his pulse pumping loudly in his ears. Name the dead man who hurt you.
His throat burned with the effort of keeping that inquiry to himself, because it would be too far. Too fast. He might have spent the last few months replaying the afternoon they’d spent together, but there was no reason to think she’d done the same. He was just a potential employer to her. Not a friend. Not someone to whom she’d be interested in spilling her guts.
Definitely not a romantic prospect.
“Maybe I could come to dinner,” she said slowly, as if measuring her words.
Burgess held his breath, a weird sensation—was it hope?—giving him pins and needles at the top of his scalp. Whoa. What was happening here? “Yeah?”
“Yes, I mean, I’ll stay in the hotel for now, of course, but I didn’t get a long enough visit with Lissa this morning and . . .” She cocked her head. “Are you picking up on the mean girl vibes?”
“I . . . what? What the hell is that?”
“Like maybe the girls at school aren’t being very kind to her.”
“Yeah.” Relief almost had his giant ass sliding off the chair. “You think so, too?”
She gave a reluctant nod.
He prodded at the discomfort in the chest. “Oh God, I don’t like knowing that. At all.”
Tallulah followed the motions of his hand, looking almost curious. “I don’t want to overstep—it’s probably a job for Mom. But as a former brownnosing science freak, I do have some experience with mean girls.”
Yesterday, he’d been prepared to let Tallulah pass on the au pair job, because the last thing he wanted was to force her into a situation that made her uncomfortable. However, now that there was a chance she could change her mind, he was determined to show her that his home was the safest place for her in Boston, possibly the world.
Starting with dinner.
There was just one problem.
“Tallulah, I can’t cook for shit. I’m on a high-protein, low-carb diet, so I basically eat meat and steamed vegetables. Fish twice a week. I was planning on ordering takeout for Lissa tonight.”
She pouted. “Oh, Burgess, you need help, don’t you?”
“Help me,” he said, hoarsely. “I can’t do what you did this morning. You made straight, white lines in her hair. While talking. I can’t do either one of those things with her. Not even one at a time.”
“I’m . . . thinking about it.” They continued to stare at one another so long, his body started to respond to her prolonged interest and he had to shift in his seat. Focus hard on keeping his breathing even. God, this woman ruled his dick and she had absolutely no idea. Maybe allowing her to move in was unethical. The need to be around her won, though. It drowned out everything else, including his conscience, apparently. “In the meantime, I have a meeting with my counselor about my course schedule. I guess I’ll see you tonight?”
“Tonight sounds amazing,” he said, adding, “We’ll take it slow. See how it feels. Okay?”
She exhaled, relaxing another degree. “Okay.”
Tallulah pushed back from the table and stood. Burgess did the same. He had no idea what to do with his hands, so he put the right one out for a handshake. Tallulah rolled her lips inward, seemingly to hide a smile, and slipped her fingers into his grip, the contact sending a slow sizzle down to the soles of his feet. Soft. Strong. Perfect.
He watched as she shouldered her purse and picked up her smoothie, obviously preparing to bring it with her. Before she could breeze past him to the exit, she stopped, hesitated, then lifted the straw of her drink to his mouth. “I dare you to try this and tell me it isn’t amazing.”
Burgess grimaced. “I don’t drink caffeine.”
Briefly, she pretended to choke. “One sip isn’t going to kill you, protein pants.”