Total pages in book: 160
Estimated words: 153268 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 766(@200wpm)___ 613(@250wpm)___ 511(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 153268 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 766(@200wpm)___ 613(@250wpm)___ 511(@300wpm)
“Sexual favors?” His gaze swung to mine, one eyebrow quirked up. “You did say we’re inevitable.”
“Ugh. You and your one-track mind.” I shook my head. “I’m going to ask questions, you’re going to answer them. Question number one: Why are you helping me run?”
“Because I like you despite my better judgment. Next question.”
I was somewhere between deliriously flattered and completely crushed. “Well, nothing can happen between us.”
“Why?”
Because I like you, too, and I can’t put my heart on the line. I have been hurt before. I cannot afford another public demise.
“Because of Dylan.” This wasn’t a lie. This was my first reason. I still wasn’t positive she’d be cool with us. My idiot heart came a close second. “Question number two: Why didn’t you tell me you were going to London?” I couldn’t keep the hurt from my voice. I had been off the entire drive to Moxie Falls, after Dylan had casually mentioned Row was away when I’d visited her to drop off more secret cupcakes.
Row looked puzzled. “Didn’t think you’d give a shit.”
“I do. I am. I…I care,” I admitted chokingly. “It’s also basic courtesy.”
“Duly noted. I’ll work on my manners. Anything else?” he asked, patiently impatient, eyeing the donut.
“What are you going to do about your stalker?”
“Kill them, once I catch them.”
“Be seri—”
“Nope. Earned at least one pastry.” He snuck his hand into the box and grabbed a donut, taking a big bite. He grinned at me, his straight, white teeth covered in green and red Christmas sprinkles. “You were saying?”
The green reminded me of something. “Did you ever send me a broccoli cake for my birthday?”
“No.” His cheekbones pinkened, and he dropped the donut back into the box.
“Row.”
“It was the culinary challenge, okay?” He trained his gaze on the ships anchored by the harbor, releasing a quick breath. “I was in New York for a conference and remembered your stupid birthday wish. Marcus, the executive chef of the restaurant you worked for, is an old friend. He told me you’d have a shift.”
“Dude, it was actually delicious. Do you have, like, a secret sauce?”
His eyes traveled down to his groin, and I laughed, pushing his muscular arm playfully. Row grabbed another pastry, shoving it past his lips. “My turn to ask questions—why red?” Sugar-powdered fingertips reached to tuck a tendril of my flame-hued hair behind my ear.
Because that’s the color I’ve been seeing ever since you left without saying goodbye.
“It’s that time of the month,” I lied. I wondered if we were ever going to stop lying to each other. If we were capable of simply saying the truth when it came to us.
He narrowed his eyes. “You’re bullshitting me.”
“Wanna check?” I snorted.
“Yes.”
The laughter that fizzed out of my mouth sounded like two whales trying to communicate from different oceans. He stared at me stoically. The idea of him giving me a physical exam made my heart race and my insides clench with need. “I have another question,” I announced.
“Yay,” he said flatly, his eyes on me. “Hit me.”
“Why did you really cut out my head from all of my pictures with Dylan when we were kids? My seventeen-year-old self was deeply offended.” Not to mention creeped out. I had never, for one moment, believed that it was Dylan. She had no motivation to do so.
“Tell her my twenty-two-year-old self cut your face out, not your head.” He paused. “Because I wanted a reminder of you, and taking a whole-ass album was out of the question. I could only afford the one suitcase.”
“You could’ve taken two or three pictures.”
Headshake. “One thing you should know, Dot, is that I’m greedy when it comes to you.”
We stared at each other silently for a beat, an entire ocean of words raging between us.
Oh crap. He was right. He was going to screw me at some point.
“One last question.” I wanted to grab the drawstrings of his black hoodie. To loop them around my fingers. To tug him to me and kiss him until we were both out of breath.
“Shoot.”
“Do you think I’ll be able to complete the 10K for Kiddies?”
And there it was. The smile that made my heart melt. “Dot, you are going to kill it.”
CAL
oBITCHuary: Are you okay?
McMonster: Clearly not. When have I ever been?
oBITCHuary: LOL.
oBITCHuary: I mean mentally. Bc of the restaurant.
McMonster: Hanging in there.
oBITCHuary: You might need a bodyguard after what happened.
McMonster: The position is vacant.
oBITCHuary: Hmm. I do need a job…
McMonster: My bodyguard will need to be naked at all times.
oBITCHuary: Hmm, what? WHY?
McMonster: It’s my process as an artist. Don’t question it.
oBITCHuary: What if it gets cold?
McMonster: Why would it get cold, silly? We’ll never leave the bed.
CAL
“Human Nature”—Madonna
“Know what you should do?”
“Don’t say find a serious job. Being a server is a perfectly good occup—”
“Get laid.” Dylan’s eyes were covered with sliced cucumbers.