Total pages in book: 127
Estimated words: 123435 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 617(@200wpm)___ 494(@250wpm)___ 411(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 123435 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 617(@200wpm)___ 494(@250wpm)___ 411(@300wpm)
A pro at following orders, Cassie intercepts the trajectory of my tongue by touching my cheek. My pulse kicks up a notch from the feel of her soft fingertips stroking the stubble on my jaw.
Her eyes slowly meet mine. Those bottomless brown depths glimmer with desire. Our faces are inches apart, her sweet breath tickling my chin.
“You have the sexiest lips,” she whispers, brushing the pad of her thumb over my bottom lip. “I’m obsessed with them.”
Our gazes remain locked. This late at night, the breeze traveling along the water tends to be cooler, but I’m burning up. My dick is hard and my skin is on fire. Her touch feels like heaven along my flesh, and I instinctively sag into it, forgetting I’m supposed to be playacting. That I’m simply helping her shore up her boundaries so they’re nice and firm the next time she sees that Aaron kid. The next time she makes out with someone else.
I abruptly straighten out. “That was smooth. Nice job.”
Her answering smile is so relaxed and careless I have to wonder if I imagined what just happened. If I was the only one to feel the surge of raw need that traveled between us.
“When are you seeing him again?” I ask lightly.
“Saturday night. I would’ve invited him to be my date for that charity gala on Friday, but I’m already going with Joy and my grandmother. This year’s charity is Habitat for Humanity, Grandma’s pet cause, so she’s giving me five grand to spend on the auctions. Can you believe that? Five grand.”
“Oh shit,” I say, feeling my face go pale. “I forgot that was this weekend. I’m in the auction.”
She grins at me. “Of course you are.”
“Not by choice,” I growl. “It’s a job requirement. My boss at the club forces all the sailing guys to volunteer. I fucking hate it.”
“Uh-huh. I’m sure it’s such a chore to stand on a stage while women literally throw money at your feet for a chance to date you.”
An idea strikes. I look over hopefully. “Will you bid on me?”
“I’d rather not,” she replies in amusement.
“Please? I can’t go on a date with another cougar, Cass. I just can’t.”
She snickers. “How many years have you done it?”
“This will be my third. Last year I went on a sunset cruise with a fifty-something-year-old broad who offered me my own boat and a weekly allowance if I came over every Sunday when her husband was playing golf.”
“You turned down a sugar mama? Oh, Tate.”
I glower at her. “I’m not for sale.”
“You’re literally putting yourself up for sale in an auction!”
“And I’m trying to rig it by asking my friend to bid on me.” I give her my best puppy-dog eyes. “Come on, you just said your grandmother is giving you money to bid.”
“Yeah, and I wanted to bid on the Charleston Sanctuary package for me and Joy,” Cassie whines. “It’s literally the best spa in the country.”
“What’s more important? The spa or my dignity?”
“The spa.”
I flip up my middle finger. “Asshole. Come on, do me a solid. I think last year I only went for a couple grand.”
Her mouth falls open. “You’re asking me to spend two thousand dollars on you? On this?” She vaguely waves a hand at my body.
“Like you don’t want to be all up in this business.”
“For two grand I don’t.”
“You think I could twist Lydia’s arm into bidding on me?”
“Doubtful. She’s too classy to participate in what’s basically the equivalent of Magic Mike for rich people.”
“Hey, is your dad going to be there too this weekend? Both my folks are coming.”
Cassie shakes her head. “I don’t think so. The country club is a Tanner family thing. The Souls are much more laid-back.”
“He does seem like a super laid-back dude,” I remark, remembering Clayton Soul’s relaxed demeanor and quick laughter. “You two are close?”
“Sometimes.”
I chuckle. “What does that mean?”
“I don’t know. I just don’t see or talk to him as often as I’d like.” She gazes up at the dark sky, and her hair falls down her back in waves. “It sucks, because we were practically inseparable when I was a kid. I was much closer to him than my mother.”
“How’d that happen anyway? Your parents, I mean. Your mom’s a clone and your dad’s a local—how’d they get together in the first place?” I lean back on my elbows and make myself comfortable. Despite the fact it’s nearly 1 A.M., it doesn’t seem like Cassie’s in any hurry to head inside. Neither am I. The stars are out and the water’s calm. And I like talking to her. A lot.
She brings her legs up and sits cross-legged, arranging her dress so it covers her thighs. “They met when Mom was a junior in college. Before my grandparents decided to live in the Bay year-round, they’d split their time between here and Boston, but summers were always spent in the Bay, no exceptions. Mom was visiting and they met at a party, I think. Somehow they fell in love, despite being so different in every conceivable way.” She shrugs. “Opposites really do attract, I guess. And she had to have loved him, right? Because she came to live here full-time after college, which would’ve been a major sacrifice for her.”