Series: The Laws of Opposite Attract Series by Vi Keeland
Total pages in book: 101
Estimated words: 98878 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 494(@200wpm)___ 396(@250wpm)___ 330(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 98878 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 494(@200wpm)___ 396(@250wpm)___ 330(@300wpm)
“That’s incredible.”
I sipped my drink. “How about you? Are you just volunteering, or is there a story behind why you picked Ryan’s House to donate your time?”
Alexandria smiled sadly. “I lost my husband a few years ago to leukemia.”
“I’m sorry.”
“Thank you. He was older than me, but still way too young.”
“Is this your first time volunteering, or did you work on another of the houses?”
“It’s my first time. To be honest, I’m kind of nervous about it.”
“What’s there to be nervous about?” I asked.
“I don’t have too much construction experience.”
“I’ll tell you what, I’ll make sure you’re on the good team then.”
“I didn’t realize there was a good team and a bad team.”
“Usually there isn’t. But we split the volunteers into two crews, each with a team leader who coordinates who does what and makes sure we have the supplies and stuff. One of the team leaders is a real pain in the ass, a know it all. He wants to change everything that’s been planned before we even start. He’s definitely going to micromanage his crew.”
“Oh, wow. Okay. Thank you.”
“We usually just count off the volunteers who show up to give each team an equal number. But I’ll make sure you’re in Jason’s group and not Alex’s.”
“Oh. So Alex is the pain in the ass?”
“Giant pain in the ass.”
The bartender walked over with our food. It looked as delicious as it had sounded on the menu. Conversation slowed as we dug in, but I enjoyed the quiet with the company sitting next to me. After we finished eating, I turned to ask Alexandria something, but I lost track of what I was saying three words in. Her eyes were that mesmerizing.
“What?” She wiped at her cheek. “Do I have sauce on my face?”
I shook my head. “Sorry, no. I hope you don’t mind me saying so, but you are absolutely beautiful. I’m relieved I got to sit next to you because I couldn’t stop myself from staring when I was sitting over there.”
Her cheeks pinked. “Thank you.”
Both our drinks were almost empty again, so I motioned to the glasses. “You want another one?”
“I think I’m going to call it a night.”
Disappointment flooded through me. I hoped I hadn’t upset her with my compliment.
Alexandria motioned to the bartender. “Could I close out my tab, please?”
“Sure thing.”
He walked away and came back a minute later. I was still trying to decide if I should apologize. Maybe I’d been too forward?
She signed the check and hopped down from the stool.
“Listen, Alexandria. I didn’t mean to upset you by saying how beautiful I think you are. I apologize if that came off creepy.”
“No, that wasn’t what insulted me.”
“That wasn’t? So something else I said insulted you?”
She looked at me a moment. “Such a shame. Because I find you attractive, too.”
“I’m confused. Why is that a shame?”
She shook her head. “Goodnight, Brayden. I’ll see you in the morning. Oh, and you don’t have to worry about which team I’m on. I’m happy on Alexandria’s team.”
“Alexandria’s team?”
“Oh. Did I say Alexandria’s team? I meant Alex’s team. I go by both names. Alexandria is my given name, after my grandmother. Alex for short.”
CHAPTER 2
Alex
“Hey. Could I talk to you a minute?”
The next afternoon, Brayden came into the upstairs bedroom as I was finishing taking measurements. I pressed the button to retract the measuring tape, plucked the pencil out from behind my ear, and lifted my notepad off the floor.
“Sure,” I told him. “I’m almost finished. Just let me write this number down so I don’t forget it.”
It was the first time the two of us had been alone together since I’d left the bar last night. When I’d arrived at the house this morning, the other team leader was already here. The three of us had talked for a while, and then Brayden had run out to pick up a long list of supplies. Twenty volunteers were scheduled to arrive at eight AM tomorrow morning, so each of us had a lot to do to prepare.
It was no surprise that Brayden had mistaken me for a man in our email exchanges, and I’d managed to avoid any conversation about last night until now. I wasn’t really upset with him for calling me a pain in the ass, especially not after I’d gone back to my room and looked through our messages back and forth. I had suggested a lot of changes, but it was only because I wanted the house to come out perfect. Plus, I’d been called particular and extremely detail-oriented by people before, including my business partner, which was just the polite way of saying pain in the ass. So it wasn’t news to me that I was picky. I was more upset with myself than Brayden—for allowing myself to feel tingly over a man. I hadn’t done that since my husband died three years ago, and guilt weighed on me, even though I knew I had nothing to be guilty about. Besides, Brayden was too young for me anyway.