Total pages in book: 117
Estimated words: 115683 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 578(@200wpm)___ 463(@250wpm)___ 386(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 115683 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 578(@200wpm)___ 463(@250wpm)___ 386(@300wpm)
Next thing I know, I’m stuffing myself back inside my sweats and saying, “Friday. I’ll get a sitter. The Rattler. Sally’s band.”
Who am I?
What is happening?
Why don’t I want it to stop?
Lainey’s lips part. “Colton?”
“Yes.” I slip my hands underneath her arms and help her up, rising to my feet too. I glide my hands down the length of her forearms, curling my fingertips so that they catch on hers.
“Are you asking me out on a date?”
“Honey.” I step forward, melting my hips into hers. “I haven’t been on a date in so long I couldn’t tell you the answer to that question. But I’d like to take you out. Show you around town.”
She’s looking up at me, her brow scrunched. “If I say no?”
“You’ll be missin’ out.”
I shouldn’t tangle our fingers. I shouldn’t be touching her at all. We both got what we needed.
Except I haven’t gotten my fill of Lainey apparently, because I can’t stop touching her. Our fingers twine, and I hook mine through hers so that our palms are flush.
“Going on a date with my almost boss would not be very professional of me.”
“How dare you not be perfect for five seconds.”
She gives my hand a squeeze. “Hey. Did I not just…er, get very messy with you?”
“You did.” I squeeze back. “I liked it. The Rattler is the best spot in town to get messy if you wanna do it again.”
“Okay.” Her eyes dance.
Scoffing, I tilt my head. “Don’t sound too excited.”
“Don’t want you getting a big head again.”
She looks at me, lips twitching. I look back. Something…soft and lovely passes between us.
“Do we have inside jokes now?” I ask.
Her teeth come down on her plump bottom lip. “That happened fast.”
“No shit,” I manage.
I can’t ask her to stay over tonight for a hundred reasons. But that doesn’t mean I don’t want to.
My system is flooded with her. The way she smells and how her hair falls in her face and the sound of her throaty, unguarded laugh.
More.
More of this openness. This connection.
“Pick you up at six?” I’m overly aware of my lips. How I’d like to press them to hers. “Frisky Whiskey comes on at eight, but figure we could grab a bite beforehand. Maybe take a drive.”
But seriously, I don’t know who the fuck this man is. The one making a solid plan for a solid night out with an incredible woman.
A woman I’m still determined to hate during the workday, by the way. Gotta pump the brakes somehow. Once she’s finished her job, she’s going back to Fort Worth or whatever other fancy place she wants to end up in. A woman as smart and ambitious as she is wouldn’t be caught dead in a small town like Hartsville.
Hating her is an act of self-preservation. I already lost someone who meant a lot to me. I’m not sure I could survive that again.
I figure Lainey and I can date and still keep things casual. Why not have a little fun while we can? Surely she’ll be gone long before I’ll have time to do something as stupid as fall for her.
Surely.
“I’d like that.” Then Lainey surprises the shit out of me and presses a kiss to my cheek. “Promise me one thing.”
“Name it.”
“No cigars. Or dip.”
“Dip?”
“I saw that ring in your back pocket.”
“You mean my nicotine patches?”
She blinks. “That’s what that was?”
“Dip is gross. That’s one bad habit I never got into.”
“Thank God for that, because I’m one more you just added to the list.”
I realize we’re still holding hands. My heart beats thickly inside my chest.
“You’re not bad. You’re real. And clearly that turns me on in a big fucking way.”
The expression on her face changes. Not in a negative way. She just looks emotional.
Show me.
Tell me.
I want to know everything.
“Thanks for saying that,” she says at last. “And thanks too for tonight.”
“Welcome anytime.”
She finally drops my hands, then moves to grab her bag. I follow her down the steps to the driveway, where her Volkswagen is parked.
I feel sick to my stomach watching her climb inside the car and start the engine. She can’t fucking stay, but it still feels wrong to let her go.
She rolls down the window. I put a hand on the car’s roof and lean in a little. “But seriously, text me when you get home?”
“I will.” She looks up at me, the half-moon reflecting in her eyes. Another pause.
It hits me that maybe she don’t wanna leave either.
“I’m glad you came,” I murmur. “Pun intended.”
She grins. “I’m glad too.”
“For the record, honey, I really wanna kiss you right now.”
Her gaze flickers. “You keep saying that.”
“I mean it. Will you let me? On Friday? If I behave?”
Scoffing, she puts the car in gear. “I make no guarantees. Who knows? Maybe I’ll be totally turned off seeing you dance.”