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)
“No, never,” he says. “The gentleman act just gets you to let your guard down. Trust me. My true intentions are entirely rogue-like.”
“The zoo, eh?” the driver asks loudly. He turns halfway in his seat, paying concerningly little attention to the merging maneuver he’s attempting.
“That’s right,” Jameson’s voice is tight. He gestures toward the road. “Ideally, we wanted to arrive in one piece.”
“Hah!” The driver laughs and cranes his neck all the way around to try to share a smile with Jameson. “You want gum? Either of yous? I charge less than the gas station. I got a guy who hooks me up with gum in bulk. Whole pack for two bucks, one piece for a quarter. But if you take any, you gotta give me five stars, see?”
“Um, no thanks,” I say.
“He’s got a little deal with a guy who unloads the palettes down at the dock. One or twos go missing and nobody is too upset, you understand? He still has to find transportation for them and handle distribution, so it’s not like he can give the gum away or nothin. But if you want any, I can get it to you cheap. Call it three packs for two bucks. One time offer.”
“If I buy your gum, will you watch the road?” Jameson asks.
“Five stars and I’ll watch the road, sure.”
Jameson stuffs a twenty-dollar-bill in the cup holder and gives me an exasperated look. “Keep the gum. Just get us there alive.”
I smile at him. For some reason, I think he’s only so worried about this guy’s driving because I’m in the car. I’m used to protectiveness from my brother, but Jameson’s flavor of protection is different. I love my brother, but it usually feels like his protectiveness comes from a place of pride. Like he sees a sleight against me as a sleight against his own honor. Jameson seems to genuinely care about me.
It’s probably sad that the way Jameson acts towards me feels so new and exciting. Having a guy be decent shouldn’t be such a novelty.
Our driver nearly crashes several times. Once was because he craned his neck to look at some young woman on the street, then he tried to make eye contact with Jameson, and a few more were because he was laughing with his eyes closed at something on his radio show.
By the time we get out at the zoo, I feel like I just had a near-death experience. “Holy crap,” I say a little shakily. “Maybe we can just walk next time.”
“No kidding.” Jameson looks after the driver.
“Did you just give him five stars?”
“We had a deal,” he says, shrugging. “I’m a man of my word, after all.”
I roll my eyes. “Rogue’s code?”
“Something like that.”
I take in the scene once we’re safely out of the car. The zoo is strung up with Halloween themed lights in orange, purple, and green. There are spooky inflatables positioned by the ticketing area of a big skeleton cat and a goat wearing a witch hat. Little mummy-wrapped cat paws cut from cardboard are sticking out in a line along the grass leading to the entrance.
“This is cute,” I say.
Jameson puts his arm around me and pulls me to his side. He’s taking it in with me, and God, I can’t stop feeling like there’s nothing at all “pretend” or “practice” about this. It feels silly to even call it that. But I guess that silliness is my fault, isn’t it? I’m the one who isn’t ready to admit any of this is real. I’m the one who’s too scared.
“Ready?” he asks.
I nod, but my stomach sinks when I notice the line out front for the first time. On one hand, it’s chillier than I expected and I don’t think my coat is going to be warm enough for standing in a long line. On the other hand, I’m not even sure they’ll let us in with how many people are waiting. “Do you think we’ll get in?”
He taps his temple. “I already have tickets. Got them ages ago.”
“Ages? We only met a few weeks ago.”
“And as much as I would love to pretend I reserved these the moment we met, the truth is I love the zoo. I’ve got connections. And I was planning to bring Nolan to see the Halloween decorations. You’re way cuter, though, so plans changed and you get his ticket.”
I laugh. For some reason, I can’t picture two moguls of the publishing world chumming around at the zoo together, enjoying Halloween vibes. “You and Nolan like to come to the zoo together? That’s super cute.”
The way he tries not to smile too wide is adorable and sexy. He’s close with his friend and also a little embarrassed to admit it. “We’ve been friends a long time. Halloween used to be our thing. You know, prank some kids, haul in the candy, wear the best costumes. I usually drag him to one or two Halloween related things each season. Of course, he’s harder to get out of the office lately, but I still try.”