Total pages in book: 103
Estimated words: 99921 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 500(@200wpm)___ 400(@250wpm)___ 333(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 99921 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 500(@200wpm)___ 400(@250wpm)___ 333(@300wpm)
I might be thanking my mother instead of killing her after all… I swallowed. “You look gorgeous.”
“Thank you.” Josie smoothed the hem of her sparkly dress with a shy smile. “You look very handsome yourself. I’m sorry I was underdressed. There aren’t too many fancy places in town so I just figured…”
“My fault.”
She looked over at the flowers. “They’re really pretty. Thank you.”
I nodded.
Josie smirked. “I have to admit, I pegged you all wrong. I never would’ve guessed you’d show up for our date in a suit with flowers.”
“How did you think I would show up?”
“In a pair of jeans, maybe a button up. To be honest, I was expecting more like us going to the diner and you mauling me in the car when we got there.”
My face fell. “Wait. Hang on—is that an option?”
Josie laughed. She grabbed my arm and tugged me toward the door. “Come on. I don’t know where we’re going, but you look too handsome to be late.”
Across the street, Yvonne Craddox was dragging her garbage pails out to the curb. She stopped when she saw me and Josie walking down the driveway. I ignored her and kept my head down, trying to minimize the damage, but she was still gawking when I opened the passenger door for Josie and chanced a look back. The phone lines in this town would undoubtedly be burning up in thirty seconds.
“So where are we going that’s so fancy?” Josie asked as I backed out of the driveway.
“French place two towns over.”
She nodded. “Are all your first dates so formal?”
I glanced over at her. “We don’t have to go, if you don’t want to.”
“Oh no. I’m excited. I haven’t had a reason to get dressed up in a long time.” She shrugged. “I was just curious, I guess.”
She waited for a response to her question. But it wasn’t an easy thing to answer.
I kept my eyes on the road. “It’s been a while since I had a date, so I don’t really remember where I went last time.”
Through my peripheral vision, I saw Josie’s brows dip down. “How long is a while?”
“I don’t know. Three years?”
Her eyes bulged. “You haven’t had sex in three years?”
“Didn’t say that. Said I haven’t dated in that long.”
“Oh.”
She went quiet for a while.
“What’s going on in that wacky head of yours?” I asked.
“You know, it’s not polite to call my head wacky. Most people get offended when you make light of mental-health struggles.”
I looked over at her. “Do you?”
“No, but that’s not the point.”
“Then I’m not sure what the point is. Because I’m not talking to most people. I’m talking to you.”
“So…what? You just round up women and have sex then?”
I felt my brows knit, confused at the sudden topic change. I guess we were back to my dating history. “I usually only round up one.”
Josie shifted in her seat to face me. “So is it a one-night thing then?”
“What are we discussing here?” I asked. “My dating history or us?”
“Well, both, I suppose. Were the women you’ve been with one-night stands?”
This was a dicey conversation. In my experience, when a woman brings up you having sex with another woman, it generally doesn’t end well.
“Does it matter if it was once or four times?” I asked.
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“Because I’d like to know what to expect. You’re right next door. I’d rather things not be awkward between us.”
“They won’t be.”
“How do you know that? Wasn’t it ever awkward to run into a woman you’ve slept with once?”
“Yes.”
“Okay, so that’s what I’m trying to avoid here. If we set expectations now, there’ll be less disappointment.”
“It’s not the same, Josie.”
“Why not?”
We came to a red light, so I turned to look at her. “Because I don’t want to just fuck you once.”
“How do you know that? We haven’t even done it yet.”
My eyes dropped to her body, to that skimpy little dress and her shapely legs. “Trust me. I know.”
“How?”
“Because I didn’t come looking for you to help me work something out of my system. Just the opposite. I tried to steer clear of you, keep as much distance as I could.”
“Why would you do that?”
My eyes locked with hers, and I tapped my chest. “Because I felt you in here, not in my dick.”
Josie blinked a few times. When what I’d said seeped in, a goofy-ass smile spread across her face.
“What the hell are you grinning at?” I said.
“You like me.”
I rolled my eyes. “Oh, Jesus. Let’s not let it go to your head.”
“And here I thought you just wanted to have sex with me.”
“If we’re setting expectations, let’s get something straight, doc. I am going to fuck you. And I’m hoping that happens tonight—maybe as a reward for wearing this dumb suit. All I’m saying is that it’s going to happen more than once.”
“More than once tonight or more than once total?”