Total pages in book: 49
Estimated words: 56149 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 281(@200wpm)___ 225(@250wpm)___ 187(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 56149 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 281(@200wpm)___ 225(@250wpm)___ 187(@300wpm)
A lot of our customers seem to like her. She’s actually better at being personable than I am. It’s one of the ways I wish I could be more like her. I had secretly hoped when she moved in that she could rub off on me a little, make me come out of my shell a little more. It isn’t that I don’t like talking to people, I just usually find myself at a loss for words. I think I’m not great at the social cues in a conversation. It’s hard for me to make the dialogue bounce back and forth.
“Yeah,” she mumbles sadly, not in her normal upbeat manner.
I don’t care for the tone of Harper's voice when she utters the word. She might be a giant bitch at times—and actually inspires me to use the same tone from time to time like with the breakfast burrito incident this morning—but I know how that feels, and I don’t want her to feel that way. I don’t want anyone to feel that way.
“Harper is great. You should see her handle the customers. I wish I could handle them like her. She’s a real pro.” She turns to look at me like she can’t believe what I just said.
My eyes flash back to the mirror, and Nick’s eyes are on me again. This time I can’t read them, but luckily he pulls them away and back on to the road.
We ride the rest of the way in awkward silence, and when we finally pull up to the bank, I realize I’ve never been so happy to be at work.
“You open this place?” Nick asks, turning to look at me as we start to get out of the car.
“Today I do,” I answer as I pull myself from the car, wanting out as quickly as possible. “Thanks for the ride,” I throw over my shoulder, making my way towards the bank, leaving Harper behind with him. She’ll probably want to slobber all over his face. Seeing it the first time was more than enough for me.
I open the bank four times a week, and today is one of my days. Sam and I switch it up. I’m opening today, which means I’ll get out early, and he’ll be closing up. I get a rare Saturday off this weekend, and I plan to spend it lying around in bed. My only plans include going out with Harper tonight.
It’s actually something I’ve never done. Twenty-two and I’ve never even seen the inside of a club. I have a feeling it won’t really be my thing, but I’m excited to do it anyways. Just to see. Stepping out of my normal routine and opening myself up to the possibility of new things.
I slip my key into the lock and enter the bank. I enter the codes to deactivate the alarms and get started on opening. Harper joins me about ten minutes later with a happy smile plastered across her face.
“Isn’t he hot?” She wiggles her eyebrows before she starts freshening up her lipstick. The first round, I’m guessing, she left behind on Nick.
“He’s cute.” I bite the inside of my cheek. Cute. I can’t imagine anyone in their life called that Nick guy cute.
Harper laughs at my choice of words, and I can’t help but join her.
“He’s coming with us tonight. Maybe he’ll bring a friend for you.”
“I’m not—”
“Come on. Don’t be such a prude,” she shouts back, cutting off my words.
“I can find a guy on my own.” Maybe. I keep the last word to myself.
“I’ve never seen you with a guy, like, ever. Do you even date?” She eyes me up and down before her blue eyes get big. “Are you a fucking virgin?”
“Hush!” I snap, my face turning red once again.
“Calm down! It’s just us right now. No one’s even here yet.”
Still, I feel embarrassed about the fact that I’m still a virgin at my age. Life’s been busy, and dating and men just haven’t been on my radar.
“Don’t worry, I’m sure we can find someone to pop that thing.” She says it like I’m some kind of charity case.
Great. The prospect of tonight just keeps getting better and better.
Chapter 4
Sean
I wait around the corner, parked in my Chevelle, watching as Nick pulls out of the bank parking lot. He sees me in the shadows and raises his chin in an indication to follow him. I put the car in drive and follow him a few blocks up before he pulls over. As soon as my wheels stop, I’m out of the car and at his door.
He’s standing when I reach him, and I shove him against his Eurotrash Audi.
“Mind telling me what the fuck that was about?” I push his shoulder, and he falls back against his car, raising his hands up.
“Whoa, whoa, whoa. Easy, Sparrow. I thought we were on the same team. No need to get your panties in a wad.” He’s got a stupid grin on his face, like he has no clue why I’m mad. He knows I was watching him earlier, and that’s why he loosened his grip on Tessa.
It takes everything in me to keep from beating the shit out of this asshole. “I thought Heavy said she was my target.” I need to play it cool, but after seeing him put his hands on my sweet angel, I’m holding on by a thin thread. No part of him should ever touch her. I hated that they were even close enough to breathe the same air. Too much darkness is seeping in on her, and I feel like I’m losing control. This isn't how this was supposed to go. “You trying to fuck that up by scaring off the mark? You saw how she reacted to you,” I press, wanting him to stay the fuck away from her.
“Calm down. I wasn’t scaring anyone. For your information, I’ve seen her roommate Harper down at Coco’s a few times. She’s been trying to climb my dick for a while, so I let her. Clingy bitch, though. I had to let her suck me off before I left the parking lot.” He reaches down, rubbing his crotch, and I make a mental note to leave some STD brochures where Harper can find them. “When I found out who she was living with, I thought we could kill two birds with one stone.”