Total pages in book: 92
Estimated words: 85565 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 428(@200wpm)___ 342(@250wpm)___ 285(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 85565 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 428(@200wpm)___ 342(@250wpm)___ 285(@300wpm)
He leaned in until we were nose to nose. “Stop. This isn’t me trying to talk you away from your plans. I’m trying to get to know you.”
I clenched my teeth, trying to decide whether to believe him.
He lifted an eyebrow, as if knowing what I was thinking. “Don’t be stubborn.”
It was such a reversal of where we’d been before, with me on top calling the shots. I liked that part of James, but I liked this part of him too. I liked the contradiction between his confidence and awkwardness, between the man who took charge and the one who craved to be taken charge of. I couldn’t help but run my palm over the stubbled side of his face. He was sexy as fuck. I wondered why the person he’d been with in his previous relationship had ever let him go.
I thought about his question before answering. “I love this life,” I admitted. “I always envisioned staying here and running this place. I like working with my hands and fixing things. My grandfather used to let me follow him around when he did off-season repairs until I started doing more of the work than he did. By the time I graduated from high school, I knew basic carpentry, electrical work, and plumbing.” I smiled, letting out a laugh. “Hell, the only reason we call in Uncle Mark is because his ego is too big to accept the fact another Gilley knows his way around these old pipes.”
James moved off me and sat cross-legged next to me, pulling the sheet over to cover his junk. That was a shame.
He tilted his head, studying me as he considered his next question. “Didn’t you ever want to live in the city and… I don’t know… party or live a big life of some kind?”
I’d always hated the implication that city life was somehow better. “Not really,” I told him truthfully. “Don’t get me wrong, I enjoy weekends in Boston with friends from time to time. I like going out drinking and having a nice meal, especially when it’s something I can’t get around here.” I shrugged. “But I also love knowing my neighbors. I get a kick out of reconnecting with returning guests and meeting new ones.”
I sat up, crossing my own legs and facing him on the bed. “Do you know that almost sixty percent of our reservations are by returning guests? We have families and couples who’ve been coming here for decades. I get to see how their kids have grown and how their lives have changed from summer to summer. And during the winter, I get to focus more on me. Reading books, playing in a hockey league. I even earn extra money doing simple construction jobs on the side.”
James’s eyes lit up. “You play hockey?”
I let out a chuckle. “Yeah. Right wing. Do you play?”
He shook his head. “No, but I love watching it. I always wanted to play, but I was pretty scrawny as a kid. Got knocked down a lot.”
There was something in his expression that made me think there was more to the story, but I wasn’t sure I knew him well enough to press. It was always strange to me, this dance of intimacy. We’d just fucked each other which most people would consider being pretty damned intimate, and yet he was still a stranger to me in so many ways.
To me true intimacy wasn’t just in someone’s body, it was in their mind as well. And if this was supposed to be just sex between us, I didn’t need to go probing too deeply into what made him tick. Even though I wanted to.
“I love it,” I told him. “And it’s kind of like a forced social life now. If I didn’t have my work at the bar and my hockey league, I’d probably never see my friends.”
A look of concern crossed his face. “You work too hard.”
It was a statement, not a question, and he was right. This man who’d only known me two days already knew I was a workaholic.
I shrugged. “Might as well work when I’m young,” I said with a somewhat forced laugh. “If I get the Sea Sprite turned around the way I want it to, I actually think we could expand the brand and renovate other properties similarly. Make it into a retro chain of sorts.”
His eyebrow lifted in surprise. “Really? You’d want to move around and work on other properties?”
“Not sure,” I admitted. “I guess I’d want to wait and see how this one goes.”
James studied me for a minute before reaching for my hand. “Don’t get mad at me for asking this, but what would you do with the money if this deal went through instead?”
I felt my nostrils flare and my jaw tighten. “It doesn’t matter because it’s not going to happen.”