Series: The Laws of Opposite Attract Series by Vi Keeland
Total pages in book: 107
Estimated words: 105253 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 526(@200wpm)___ 421(@250wpm)___ 351(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 105253 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 526(@200wpm)___ 421(@250wpm)___ 351(@300wpm)
Knowing that he was going to be right next door made me nervous, but I wouldn’t have wanted it any other way.
“Anything in particular you want to eat?” he asked.
I shrugged. “Surprise me.”
“Seriously? No requests? The world is your oyster, Devyn.” He smiled. “The North End isn’t too far from here. They have great Italian.”
“No requests. I’m feeling indecisive, but I have no food allergies or anything. So anything will be great. Literally the only thing I don’t like is ginger. You know, the pickled kind they put on the side of sushi? That makes me want to vomit.”
He laughed. “Okay, I’ll steer clear of pickled ginger.”
After he left to go pick up food, I called to talk to Heath and Hannah for a minute before taking a long, hot shower. I needed it after this day. I felt spoiled having this alone time in a beautiful hotel room while an even more beautiful man went out and bought me dinner. It made me realize just how crappily men had treated me in the past. This feeling should not have been so foreign.
After my shower, I lay in bed, wearing the pajamas I’d bought at Target and feeling grateful. I turned on the TV, wondering how pathetic it would be if Owen came back to find me totally asleep—I was that tired.
As I started to doze off in the comfy bed, my phone rang.
Robert.
I picked up. “Hi.”
“Hey, babe. What’s going on? I haven’t heard from you. I thought you might’ve changed your mind about coming out here by now.”
I sat up against the headboard. “Sorry to burst your bubble, but no. Nothing has changed. I won’t be able to make it out there.”
“What are you up to tonight?” he asked.
“I’m in Boston, actually.”
“What are you doing there? I thought you couldn’t travel,” he pointed out, his tone bitter.
“It’s not a trip for fun. I’m here because I got a lead that my deadbeat mother might be here with her boyfriend, and I’m trying to locate her before CPS takes my brother and sister away. Heath and Hannah are staying with my neighbors.”
“Oh, damn. Okay. Are you alone there?”
“No. My friend is here helping me. We think we found where her boyfriend works. But we have to wait until morning to confront him.”
“What friend is this?”
“His name is Owen.”
He paused. “Owen, huh?”
“Yeah.”
“Does this Owen have anything to do with why you’re not out here in my bed right now?”
“No.” I swallowed. “We’re just friends.”
“Are you at a hotel?”
“Yes.”
“Is he sleeping in the same room as you?”
“No, we have separate rooms.”
“And this guy helping you has no ulterior motive?”
“Believe it or not, Robert, there are some men in this world who don’t just want sex from me.” I rolled my eyes.
“I don’t just want sex from you. I can get sex anywhere.”
“Classy,” I muttered.
“Sorry. I didn’t mean it to come out that way.” He sighed. “Anyway, I don’t know if I buy that this guy has pure intentions, no matter what you say.”
“What if he was more? You and I are not exclusive anyway. Lord knows you certainly haven’t been monogamous.”
“You don’t trust me to be, remember? I wanted you to be my girlfriend. You’ve said no every time I asked you.”
“That would be a recipe for disaster. You know you wouldn’t be able to be faithful with all the traveling you do. And you’re right. I don’t trust you. Because you’ve never given me a reason to.”
“I can’t believe I’m gonna go to Italy without seeing you first.”
“Well, you claim you’re too busy to fly out to see me, so it can’t mean that much to you.”
“I told you, I have press every single day out here.”
“People can always change plans and make time for the things that matter to them.”
“Exactly. Which is why I’d hoped you’d come out here—for even a day.” He let out a long breath. “Look, you do matter to me, Devyn. I know I have a strange way of showing it sometimes. But you’re one of the rare people I trust. You knew the real me before I blew up. Why do you think I haven’t been able to let you go, no matter how much has changed? The one constant in my life is that I want you in it.”
My body tightened as I fought against being manipulated. “You only want me on your terms, Robert. That will never work. We won’t ever work.”
“You say that, and yet you always come back to me, even if I only get you for a week of amazing sex… You always come back, Devyn. What does that say?”
“That I’m not very smart and perhaps need to work on myself to avoid such bad decisions.” I ran a hand through my hair. “That’s clearly gotten me nowhere.”
He was silent for a moment. “I’ll let you go. You don’t sound too happy to hear from me anyway. Good luck trying to find your mother. I mean that. I hope you locate her so you come back before I have to leave. That would be amazing.”