Total pages in book: 88
Estimated words: 83718 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 419(@200wpm)___ 335(@250wpm)___ 279(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 83718 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 419(@200wpm)___ 335(@250wpm)___ 279(@300wpm)
He turns up his palms. “So you’re not allowed to date?”
“Dating is negotiable, but I’m not interested in a relationship that would lead to a meet-the-kid moment. Not yet, at least.” I shrug. “That doesn’t mean that I don’t like you or that I wouldn’t enjoy spending time with you, but my son is my priority.”
“You’re sure this isn’t about Brayden?”
I blink. “No. Not at all.” Why would he think that? “He’s my boss and my friend.”
He arches a brow. “I heard you moved in with him.”
I fold my arms across my chest. “He offered Noah and me a place to stay temporarily. But it’s a completely platonic arrangement.” He just gives me massages, offers to get me off any time I want, and lets me sleep in his bed. Maybe we’re not dating, but I’d definitely categorize our relationship as complicated. “We aren’t involved romantically.”
He grunts. “Does Brayden know that?”
“Saturday wasn’t about him.” The words slip out before I recognize them for what they are: a lie. Saturday was too much about Brayden. My mood. The tequila. Trying to lose myself in Jason. It was about my past and my identity, and how I’ll never be the kind of woman I’d need to be to belong with Brayden Jackson. It was about hearing from his own mouth that he thinks I’m broken. Even knowing he didn’t quite mean what I first thought doesn’t change how much that word hurt. Broken. I shake my head. I don’t want a relationship anyway—not with anyone, and especially not with my boss. So why does it hurt so damn much to know I can’t have it? “Brayden is just a friend. He can be protective, but there’s nothing more between us.”
“Does that mean you’ll go out with me this weekend? Casual. No expectations.” He smiles slowly and gives me a once-over that should make my toes curl. Instead, it makes me think of Brayden and the way he watches me at home when he thinks I don’t notice. The way he sets my body on fire. The way it shouldn’t.
Maybe that’s why I say, “My son’s staying with his nana tomorrow night.”
He grins. “It’s a date.”
Brayden
The giggly blonde picks up the darkest beer of The Jackson 5 flight and swishes it in the glass. “So this one’s the IPA?”
I try not to wince, but it’s the third time I’ve been through the list—which is also written on the board in front of the glasses. “That’s the porter.” I’ve been stuck at this table with three giggling college girls for ten minutes, and while I don’t mind answering questions about our beers, I get the distinct impression they’re all playing the ditz to keep my attention. Does that actually work? Are there guys out there who prefer women who hide their brains?
She tosses her hair and dips her chin so she can look at me through her long lashes. “How do you know so much about beer?”
I clear my throat and try not to sound like a dick when I say, “It’s my job.”
Behind the bar, I catch Levi biting back a laugh, but the asshole doesn’t do a damn thing to save me from these handsy girls who pulled me over the second I walked out of the back.
Her two friends lean closer, and one says, “You’re, like, so smart.”
“Older guys are so sexy,” the brunette says.
Ouch. I try not to wince. I don’t think of myself as the older guy, but compared to a bunch of college girls, I guess I am. Hell, compared to Molly, I kind of am.
She fell asleep in my bed last night, drifted off as I rubbed the knots out of her tight muscles. I couldn’t bring myself to wake her up. I know she doesn’t sleep enough, so I pulled the blankets over her and went to the guest bathroom to take a hot shower. I closed my eyes under the spray and let myself think about her as I took my cock in my hand. I thought about the heat in her eyes when I told her I’d be happy to get her off. Thought about the way her breath hitched as I toyed with the sensitive spots on her hand. But as my orgasm came closer and I gripped myself harder, my mind slid to the night in my hotel room when her body was mine to explore and my ears filled with the soft moans slipping from those perfect pink lips.
The release in the shower didn’t feel like much of a release, not with the knowledge that she was still in my bed. Between thoughts of her and sleeping in an unfamiliar bed, it took me longer than usual to fall asleep.
“What are you doing tonight?” the brunette says, pulling my thoughts away from Molly—not that they’ve strayed far from her all day. “Maybe you should come to our place.”