Total pages in book: 73
Estimated words: 69413 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 347(@200wpm)___ 278(@250wpm)___ 231(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 69413 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 347(@200wpm)___ 278(@250wpm)___ 231(@300wpm)
You know you always end up wanting more than something casual.
You’re only going to get hurt.
But maybe being a fake boyfriend could be as fun as being a real one.
As Landry turned his head to the side to kiss me more, along my temple, my cheek, then down to my neck, every warm little kiss was like a beacon, unraveling something inside me that I hadn’t felt in so long.
It was like I was finally exhaling for the first time in years. Maybe I’d been missing out, not letting myself have any time for flings or fun like this.
And even though Landry and I were from different worlds, somehow right here, right now, we were in our own little snowglobe.
4
LANDRY
Hot water pounded against my shoulders as I stepped into the shower in my hotel room. It was early in the morning and the temperature was nearly scalding, but it was exactly what I’d been looking for. Instantly I started to relax.
I’d gotten up at dawn today. After last night, when Jamie and I had kissed under the stars, I wanted to drag him back to my room more than anything.
But I’d been a gentleman.
I’d kept my cock in my pants.
And then I’d come back to my room and slept deeply and dreamlessly.
It was when I got up that the problems had started. When I padded over to the bathroom and caught my reflection in the mirror. Sunlight was streaming into the bathroom after the sun had just come up over the mountains, and I saw that there was a telltale mark on the bottom of my neck. I ran my fingers across it, feeling a little bit of heat.
Jamie had kissed me in that spot a little too long, and now I had a hickey.
A freaking hickey. I couldn’t even remember the last time I’d had one, but I was sure it wasn’t since I was a stupid teenager who got all of my action in the back sections of movie theaters.
I hopped into the shower to try to clear my head, but instead, the memories of last night kept coursing through my thoughts. Regret started coiling through my insides like a snake.
In reality, I knew Jamie and I shouldn’t have kissed, no matter how badly I’d wanted it. It had felt incredible, and what I’d really wanted was to go much, much further with him. But he’d made it abundantly clear that he was looking for… a deeper connection.
And a deeper connection just wasn’t something I could offer anymore.
Parker and his boyfriend—no, his fiance—had just waltzed in and put a big, stinking damper on my night, and I hadn’t been able to get that stain off of me. When Jamie had kissed me, it was like the perfect antidote to the mountain of shit that was my ex-boyfriend.
I got out of the shower and my phone buzzed, jerking me out of my thoughts. For a split second I found myself wishing it would be Jamie calling, even though I knew he had no reason to do that.
But it was Emmett’s name on the screen.
“Morning,” I answered. “I should have known you’d be the only one up at dawn like me.”
“We’ve been friends for years now. You should know this about me. You up and ready to rock?”
“Depends what you mean by ready to rock,” I told him.
“Early bird gets the powder,” Emmett said, and I could hear the smile in his voice. “Meet me at the top of the slope in twenty minutes?”
“Can’t a guy get some breakfast first?” I let out a breath, stretching my neck.
“Come on,” Emmett protested. “We’ll be having lavish breakfasts and brunches all week. Grab an energy bar in the cafe and come hit the snow with me.”
“All right, all right, you win. But only because nothing sounds better than skiing right now.”
“Meet you there.”
As was often the case, Emmett had been totally right. When we hit the slopes, I was finally able to clear my head, get my muscles working, and feel like myself again. The sun was dappling beautifully through the pine trees, and Emmett and I got to spend a good couple of hours out there. Finally I wasn’t thinking about my failed proposal or the fact that Parker had turned around and gotten engaged within a year.
Or that even my best friend didn’t know about it.
I rinsed off again after skiing and then headed to the lounge and made some phone calls to other investors in California.
It was nice to have the lounge act as my office for the day, with its towering, floor-to-ceiling glass windows that looked out over the snowy, tree-spotted mountains. I pulled out my laptop, ready for an hour or two of quick work. I’d been shrewd and gotten lucky a few years back with some of my investments, and ever since, I’d had enough money to retire, even though I wasn’t even close to ready yet.