Total pages in book: 97
Estimated words: 96046 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 480(@200wpm)___ 384(@250wpm)___ 320(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 96046 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 480(@200wpm)___ 384(@250wpm)___ 320(@300wpm)
As I waited for the bartender to pour Dorian’s wine, I thought about how silly my damn crush on him was. Why was I thinking this way about a man who clearly went for women who were the complete opposite of me? Not only had both of his last two dates been tall blondes, they were both stuck-up. I was a petite brunette who didn’t have a prissy bone in my body. Clearly, Dorian wasn’t interested in women like me.
I walked the wine over to Dorian and placed it carefully in front of him. “Here you go.”
“Thank you.”
“I feel bad deserting you when your date left, but I have to get back to work.”
“Well, because of you, I’m not living alone, right? I think I can handle half an hour in a restaurant.”
“Flag me down if you need anything.”
“Will do.”
But he never asked for a single thing more. My attention diverted to him from time to time, and once I caught him watching me, but I tried to tell myself not to make anything of it.
After he seemed finished, I returned to Dorian’s table. “Can I get you some dessert?”
“How about we have dessert together back at the house after your shift?”
A zap of excitement ran down my spine. “Okay.” But I once again warned myself not to read into anything.
“Up for a movie, too?” he asked.
“Yeah. That’d be great,” I answered.
You could at least not seem so damn eager to hang out with him.
“When do you get off?”
Get off, you say? “Ten thirty.”
“You need a ride home?”
“No. I have a car.”
“That little sky blue Beetle I see parked in the driveway is yours, right?”
“Yeah. It gets the job done.”
“You look like you drive a Beetle.”
My mouth dropped open. “I’ll choose to take that as a compliment.”
“You should.” He laughed.
“You want me to pick up dessert on my way home?” I offered.
“I’ll handle it. Anything you can’t eat?”
“I’m vegan, gluten-free, and allergic to air.”
“Liar. You ate the Cheetos.”
“Good catch.” I chuckled. “No food restrictions.”
“Okay. See you tonight.”
“Yep.” I exhaled. “See you then.”
I almost said, “It’s a date.” But that would’ve been stupidly presumptuous. Dorian was my roommate. I had no evidence that he was interested in anything aside from some very light flirting. I needed to calm my tits.
After he left, I checked the bill and noticed he’d left me a massive tip along with a note:
Neither blue, nor green. Aquamarine.
I stared at it for several seconds.
Hmm…
CHAPTER 7
* * *
That night, I entered the house to the most amazing smell. Apples and cinnamon, maybe? What the heck was going on?
I went straight to the kitchen to find Dorian standing near the oven.
I cleared my throat to announce my presence.
He turned and smiled. “Oh, hey.”
“Have I just walked into The Billionaire Bakeoff?”
“It would seem that way, wouldn’t it?”
I sniffed the air. “Apple pie?”
“Apple crisp.”
My mouth went agape. “Dorian Vanderbilt baking apple crisp was certainly not on my bingo card this week.”
“Don’t get too excited. It’s the one thing I actually know how to make. My mother’s recipe. When I was little, she used to have me help her make it after we went apple picking. I never forgot the steps.”
“Well, if you’re only gonna know how to make one thing, apple crisp is a pretty damn good choice.”
“I can agree with that,” he said as he rummaged through the drawers.
“When you said dessert, I was expecting you to maybe pick up some Krispy Kreme donuts. I’m impressed that you took the time to make something.”
“Well, consider it my official apology for putting you through the wrath of my miserable date.”
“What was her name? You never introduced me,” I teased. “How rude.”
“That’s because I knew from the moment I met her that I wouldn’t be seeing her again. But her name was Eve.”
“You said baking apple crisp was an apology for her. But, um, wasn’t that enormous tip you left me enough?”
“No, it wasn’t.” Dorian grabbed a mitt and opened the oven to pull out the baking dish. The bubbling crisp looked just as amazing as it smelled. “It’s going to have to cool off for a bit. Maybe we go pick out a movie and come back for it.”
“Actually, I’d like to go upstairs and change real quick. Why don’t you pick the movie while I do that? You seem to know my taste.”
He removed the oven mitt. “Okay.”
As I headed upstairs, butterflies swarmed in my stomach. I had no evidence that this was anything more than two roommates hanging out, yet I couldn’t help how I felt. An attractive man with whom I felt intense chemistry had just baked for me, and we were getting ready to watch a movie together. I couldn’t remember the last time anything had made me feel so giddy. It was pretty pathetic that some of the best “dates” I’d ever had were spur-of-the-moment encounters with Dorian Vanderbilt.