Total pages in book: 112
Estimated words: 108846 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 544(@200wpm)___ 435(@250wpm)___ 363(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 108846 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 544(@200wpm)___ 435(@250wpm)___ 363(@300wpm)
“That’s right. You’re running out of time.” She waggles her eyebrows.
“No way.” I emphasize that with a head shake.
“Then why are you blushing?”
“Okay, go knit something.” I wave her off, my cheeks on fire.
“You don’t always have to be so sensible.” Jean slides off my desk. “It wouldn’t be the worst thing, you know, especially since he’s leaving. Easy break, no commitment …”
“I wouldn’t even know what to do with a guy like that,” I scoff. “It’s not happening.”
13. Ronan
It’s after ten when Ryan walks through the door, throwing her backpack onto the floor with a thud. She looks exhausted.
And miserable, like she’s fighting the urge to cry.
“You’re gonna have this place all to yourself for five months!” Connor bellows, oblivious to her mood. Or he’s trying to cheer her up. He’s not as obtuse as he plays at.
Ryan’s gaze drifts over the laptop on the coffee table, to the cans of beer in our hands, and finally to me. “I take it you got the job?”
“I did.” The welcome package arrived two hours ago. For whatever else Belinda might be, she’s definitely on top of things.
“We booked our flights. We leave next Saturday.” Connor throws up his arms in celebration.
“You two gonna share a bed up there too?” Ryan wanders over to the fridge. I expected more excitement from her than she’s showing. She hasn’t hidden the fact that she doesn’t want me here.
“Depends how many girls are in it with us,” Connor chimes in, earning my chuckle.
Her face contorts with a grimace. “Gross.”
He climbs off the couch and carries the empties over to the waiting case. Living with this guy is going to turn me into an alcoholic. “No, it’s not. You need to get back to your Greek roots.”
She flashes an incredulous look his way. “I have no Greek roots. Neither do you.”
“So?” He shrugs. “Live a little.”
“That’s your solution to every problem, isn’t it? Get laid?”
“Hasn’t failed me yet.” He belches. “I’m crashing. See you guys tomorrow.” With that, he vanishes into his bedroom.
I watch quietly as she rifles through her food, pulling out glass containers. Moving her things to the bottom shelf was brilliant on my part. It makes her bend over further, giving me a better view of that round ass, especially when she’s wearing leggings, and she wears those a lot. She’s got solid, muscular thighs. Not skinny but proportionate to the rest of her. The only part of her that isn’t proportionate is her waist, which is tiny. It works well on her, though, making her breasts—I’d put them at a C—stand out and her hips all the more provocative.
Abruptly, she turns and catches me ogling her.
I’m slow in averting my gaze, not really caring if she knows I’m checking her out. “So, how are you doing?”
“How do you think?” She tosses a bag of carrots onto the counter. “He sits two rows over and she comes in to visit him all the time. Walks right past my desk too. Doesn’t even bother to go another way. And then everyone notices. I can feel them watching me to see how I’m going to react. And I’m pretty sure he hooked up with her before we broke up.”
“That sucks. I’m sorry.” If I had to see Tasha and her new conquest every day, I think I’d have been arrested by now. As it is, I left my entire city to get away.
Her eyes glisten. “It really does.”
“I guess they have those office dating rules for a reason.”
“Those are for managers and subordinates. I don’t report to David.” She bites down hard on a raw carrot and the sound of her crunching is the only noise for a long moment.
“Still … it’d be a lot easier if he didn’t work in your office.”
“I’m never dating anyone from work again, ever,” she declares through a nervous laugh. “It’s like high school—people gossiping about how David cheated on me and wondering if I had a clue. Don’t they grow out of that?”
I ease off the couch. “No, a lot of them don’t. And they get worse as their lives get more boring. Sitting in those cubicles all day? Pretty fucking boring. They can’t keep their mouths shut.”
“Please. This coming from the guy who told everyone he messed around with three women last Friday night? Yeah, that’s right. I heard about it.” There’s no missing the disgust on her face.
“I didn’t tell anyone about anything. Thank your brother for that.”
“So, your big ego doesn’t need stroking like Connor’s?”
“My big ego is not what needs stroking.” Her jaw drops, and I smirk. She walked right into that. “But I never talked about it. It’s none of anyone’s business who I’m with or what I do with them.”
“Unless they’re unfortunate enough to share a wall with you,” she says dryly.