Total pages in book: 25
Estimated words: 23241 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 116(@200wpm)___ 93(@250wpm)___ 77(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 23241 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 116(@200wpm)___ 93(@250wpm)___ 77(@300wpm)
The waitress returns with our drinks before I’m able to respond, and I take the opportunity to get control of myself before I fuck this up. I down half of my drink in one gulp, hoping the smooth alcohol will cool my jets some.
“Why don’t we get out of here and go somewhere private and quiet to finish getting to know each other? Then we won’t be strangers anymore.” What the fuck is coming out of my mouth? Have I lost my goddamn mind?
As her shocked ice-blue eyes stare into mine, I fight the urge to backpedal. She studies me intently for a few minutes, and I’m preparing myself for the brush-off when she shocks the fuck out of me.
“Why don’t we get to know each other a little better here, and then we’ll see if there’s any reason for us to go somewhere private?”
I can see I’m going to spend the rest of my life playing catch-up with my girl. She’s fucking ten steps ahead of me at all times. And I goddamn love it.
“That sounds like a plan to me.” I reach across the table and reach for her soft hand. To my surprise, she doesn’t pull it back from my grasp, so I rub slow circles along her knuckles. “Are you from around here?”
“No.” She takes a sip of her drink. “Are you?”
Her answer frustrates me, and I find myself answering just as vaguely. “I’m from a small town an hour or so from here. I had a meeting in Houston this morning.” Enough about me. I want to know everything there is about my girl. “What about you? Are you from Houston?”
“Nope.” There she goes with those goddamn frustrating one-word answers.
“Care to elaborate on why you’re here?” Getting anything from her is like pulling teeth.
“I had a meeting in Houston, too.” She shrugs and continues to sip her drink. “I flew all this way, and the asshole I was supposed to meet didn’t show up.”
“I’m sorry to hear that. I’ll be happy to go kick his ass for you if it would make you feel better.” Have I lost my goddamn mind? I haven’t fought anyone since the last time Fletch decided to blow off curfew and stumbled in blind-ass drunk and ready for a fight.
“I’ll take a raincheck on the ass-kicking.” I watch as she runs a finger around the rim of her empty glass.
She still hasn’t told me where she lives. “Where are you from?”
She glances up and stares into my eyes, and I feel that melting sensation in my chest again. “LA.” Fucking hell. That’s a long goddamn way from Texas, but I know I won’t let distance hold me back. It took me forty-four years to find a woman who actually interests me, and I won’t let a few miles stand in our way.
Two assholes at the table next to us start arguing loudly, interrupting our conversation. Out of nowhere, one of the drunks throws a punch at the other one and all hell breaks loose around us.
A pair of scuffed cowboy boots attached to flailing legs flies past our table as one of the assholes is knocked clean off his feet. “Fuck,” I mutter under my breath before leaning over the table to yell, “Do you want to find someplace quiet, now?”
“That sounds great.” Her response shocks the fuck out of me. I expected to grovel a whole lot more.
I have to think fast on my feet since I made the offer without having a concrete plan in mind.
When I arranged for the midmorning meeting, I thought it would end early enough for me to return to Silver Spoon Falls, but the fucking meeting went late, and I decided to get a drink before making the drive. Long story, short: I don’t have a hotel room in Houston. Fuck me.
I quickly come up with a plan and tell my girl, “Let me pay the bill and we’ll get out of here.” Instead of waiting for the waitress to return, I make my way over to the bar and pay the bill. While the bartender is running my card, I search through the hotels in the area and book one close by.
I head back to the table and take her soft hand in mine. “Still with me?” I ask while silently begging the universe not to let her change her mind.
“Lead the way.”
CHAPTER TWO
owen
We walk the half-block to the hotel in silence, and I can sense the tension running through her short, curvy body.
Once we step into the lobby, she steps up to the reception desk with me. “I have a reservation,” I tell the night clerk before handing her my driver’s license and credit card.
I glance at my girl out of the corner of my eye, making sure she doesn’t run out on me while the clerk processes my reservation.