Total pages in book: 84
Estimated words: 79040 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 395(@200wpm)___ 316(@250wpm)___ 263(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 79040 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 395(@200wpm)___ 316(@250wpm)___ 263(@300wpm)
“Ah, I see. So this is a fact finding mission? You’re not trying to seduce me. You’re just trying to gather intel?”
“I never said I wouldn’t try to seduce you.”
She pauses, and I picture her biting her lip. Maybe her cheeks are even going red in that sexily innocent way of hers. “What would we do for this hypothetical date?”
“It would be the lady’s choice. I’m a rogue, not an asshole.”
“Do rogues eat ice cream?”
“I’ll eat anything you put in front of my mouth. Anything,” I add, because a very vivid image pops into my brain at that moment. An image I wish I could make reality.
“Okay, then,” she says, sounding breathless. I imagine her hand between her thighs and a warm tingle running to her belly. I imagine she wants it just as fucking badly as I do, and I like where my imagination goes. “Ice cream. Should I meet you there?”
“I wouldn’t let you roam the city all by yourself at this time of night. I can be outside your building in ten minutes. You just make yourself look nice, put on your favorite underwear, and meet me out front when you’re ready. I’ll wait.”
“I’m not changing my underwear for you.”
“Already happy with our choice? That’s even better. I can’t wait to see what you went with.”
“I’m hanging up,” she says, but I can hear the slightest touch of humor in her tone.
“And I’m on my way, sweet–” She ends the call before I could finish.
There’s a pep in my step as I make my way to her place. She lives in Manhattan, conveniently placing her near where I work. It’s just another reason we’re meant to be, I decide. And if we’re not meant to be soulmates, we’re at least meant to share a bed together a few dozen times. That much is certain.
Her building is in Murray Hill. It’s a huge, unremarkable thing in the middle of a busy area. I post up on the street in front of the building with my hands in my pockets. The door is locked behind an iron gate, so I’m stuck outside. It’s alright, though. It’s late October and the weather is pretty perfect this time of year. Chilly without being too chilly.
I wait, smelling the roses again because that’s apparently my thing these days. I watch the same things I see every day, but I actually notice them. People give the finger to honking cars as they move through crosswalks, people arguing over a cab, and a guy is playfully singing to a woman somewhere high up above on an apartment balcony and she’s laughing at how bad it is.
It feels like an eternity before the gate creaks and I turn to see Charli.
She is wearing a beige faux leather jacket, jeans, and a shirt that shows her midriff.
“Fuck,” I say aloud, eyes roaming her body.
Her cheeks go red in that way I’m already coming to love. “What?” Charli asks. She folds an arm across her stomach, so I step closer and take her by the elbow, gently pulling the arm away.
“You look incredible is what. Why are you hiding?”
She lowers her eyes, so I press the side of my index finger to her chin and lift her face so she’s meeting my gaze. “You. Look. Incredible. Shit. What did Vaughn pull to make a woman like you so self conscious?”
She stares at the ground, like it’s her fault.
Her smile is almost tragic, and it makes me want to invent a time machine so I can go into her past and punch every asshole responsible for making this woman think she has any reason to be self-conscious. “Thank you,” she says like she doesn’t believe me.
I throw my arm around her shoulder and start walking in no particular direction.
“Any word from your legal people yet?” she asks.
“Nothing conclusive.”
She just nods, as if she was expecting as much.
We make it a few blocks before I notice a place on the corner called Van Leeuwen ice cream. We both pick a root beer float and take them on a short walk to the nearby park, claiming a bench in front of an empty playground. There are a few joggers circling the track around the park, but no other activity.
“What’s on your mind?” I ask.
Charli looks down at her float, then takes a big sip. “I guess I’m just worried about what we’re doing.”
“How so?”
She spends a while thinking before she answers. I like that about her. She doesn’t always have to fill every moment. She doesn’t start talking until she knows what she wants to say. “You aren’t like any man I’ve dated. Not that we’re dating, but you know what I mean.”
“Which is a good thing…” I prompt.
She grins, but she’s still staring at her treat. “It’s a scary thing. I don’t know what the rules are with a guy like you. The expectations. I mean, is it all just a conquest for you? Get me in bed and then you move on to the next woman? Because I’ve never even had casual sex, so if you’re hoping for that kind of thing with me, it’s just not who I am or what I’m ready for.”