Total pages in book: 93
Estimated words: 87067 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 435(@200wpm)___ 348(@250wpm)___ 290(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 87067 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 435(@200wpm)___ 348(@250wpm)___ 290(@300wpm)
“JB, I’m straight. Sorry,” Cole said flatly, his shoulders slumped.
“What? No! You don’t have anything to apologize for.”
“Yeah, I know. It’s just I’m kind of wondering if I said or did anything that led you on at any point. And I’m sorry if I did. I didn’t mean to. I thought maybe I caught you looking or…something, and it’s always nice to be noticed. Especially if that person’s hot.” Fantastic. Now he was babbling. “I wanted to apologize and come clean with you. I think you’re a great guy—”
JB gasped loudly and pressed both of his hands to his chest as if he’d been shot. “No! Don’t say it. It’s fucking painful. Even from a straight guy.”
A smile teased Cole’s lips at JB’s dramatics. “What?”
“I think you’re a great guy and have a wonderful personality, but I think we should just be friends.” More loud gasping and choking noises slipped up JB’s throat as he sprawled in his chair. “Kiss of death.”
“You’re an idiot,” Cole snickered, but he was so fucking relieved that JB was joking around. Things were still good between them.
JB dropped his hands to the arms of the chair and grinned at Cole. “Yeah. But we’re good. I appreciate you telling me. I hope I didn’t do anything to make you feel uncomfortable.”
“Nope. Not at all,” Cole said easily.
“Good.” JB rubbed his thumb and index finger together, his grin growing sheepish. “You’re a really easy guy to be around. Sometimes I come on a little strong. Drive some people up a wall.”
“You’re fine. It’s nothing compared to all the lunatics that I work with.”
JB nodded. “You got a girlfriend in Cincinnati?”
Cole scratched his jaw. “No. I haven’t had time for dating, and I don’t always have the patience for it. That whole ‘getting to know you’ stage is usually pretty awkward for me. I did have one kind of serious girlfriend a few years ago, but it didn’t work out.”
A dismissive noise left JB, and he slouched in his chair. “You sound like me. Too busy to find someone.”
Cole smiled. “Pretty much.” He crossed his legs at the ankle and eyed JB. “You don’t hit up the bars or anything like that? Seems to me you wouldn’t have trouble picking up.”
“Are you saying I’m good-looking, Cole?” JB winked, leaning back in his chair and mimicking Cole’s pose.
“I’m straight. Not blind.”
JB’s laugh was warm and rumbly. “Nah, I don’t have trouble with hookups.” He sighed heavily. “But I’m getting to that age. I want something more now. I want what Noah has with Rowe. Something deeper and more meaningful. I’m tired of the random one-night stand. I know of very few instances where they turn into something long-term and meaningful.”
Sincerity filled JB’s words, and Cole had to admit that he wanted the same damn thing. It would be nice to have someone to wake up next to, but finding that person was the hard part. His quietness put a lot of women off, and the ones it didn’t, well, he didn’t seem to connect to them on a level that warranted more. A real connection would be welcome, but he hadn’t felt anything like that in years.
“Guess we’re a pair, then.”
“It would seem so. Bachelors for life.”
Cole snorted. “Speak for yourself. I haven’t given up all hope yet. I’ll meet someone eventually. I always hear that it has to happen when you least expect it.”
JB laughed again. “You could be right about that. I’d also have to find someone willing to move out here with me, because I’m going nowhere. With my parents planning to truly retire, this will all be mine. And I love it too much to leave again.”
Cole could definitely understand why. He watched another bird dive-bomb the lake, closer this time so he could hear a faint splash. A hint of hay drifted on the air along with a deep green scent. He could even pick up a hint of Bel’s spring flowers on the breeze. He lifted his beer to his mouth and took a long pull. Then he grinned. “Jack Brody?”
“Nope.” JB rolled his head to give Cole a wicked smile.
“Joshua Bradley.”
“Not even close. Like I said, taking it to my grave.”
Cole pointed his beer at JB. “I’ll get it. You just wait.”
JB clinked their bottles together with another low chuckle. “Go for it.”
They were quiet for a few moments; then JB snorted. “You missed Melissa’s joke earlier when you went to the restroom. She was giggling so hard, she couldn’t even get the punchline out. Why did Tigger jump into the toilet?”
Cole could easily guess, and he was sorry he missed the little girl’s laughter. “Why?”
“He was looking for Pooh.” JB laughed harder than the joke warranted, and Cole guessed he was more amused over Melissa’s reaction, but he’d also picked up on JB’s weird sense of humor here and there, so the man probably found the joke funny.