Total pages in book: 103
Estimated words: 96752 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 484(@200wpm)___ 387(@250wpm)___ 323(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 96752 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 484(@200wpm)___ 387(@250wpm)___ 323(@300wpm)
And yet I let my lips brush over his.
A long sigh comes from the end of the table. “I thought I wanted my brother to find a nice girl, but it’s kind of icky, isn’t it?”
“Only a little,” Ivy says. “But I do admit I’m not the most romantic sister.”
Anika gently slaps at Ivy’s arm. “Don’t you make her feel bad about this. Jeremiah is jealous because Patrick is not moving.”
Oooo, gossip. I sit up, and Reid sends his brother a stare. I look at him because he’s got to have the goods. I’ve been ignoring everything except work, and now I wonder why. Life has become such a ritual because I’m holding myself apart. That stops now. If I’m in, I’m in. “He hasn’t cracked that code yet?”
Reid’s lips curl up. “He has not. I’ll be honest. I took one look at that grumpy asshole and knew my brother was going to lose it over him.”
“I have lost nothing,” Jeremiah insists, but he’s pouting a bit. It looks super cute on him. “We spent some time together, but he says I’m not being my authentic self. What is that supposed to mean? How do I be anything else?”
Reid turns thoughtful. “He said that?”
Jeremiah sips on his coffee. He and Reid both skipped the mimosas, as did I since I work with power tools. But Ani and Ivy are making up for it. “Yes, and it’s ridiculous. We even had the hottest make-out session of my life, and let me tell you it did not happen on an air mattress. What were you two thinking? So it’s obvious the man is attracted to me. I catch him looking all the time, but he’s playing hard to get. I don’t understand. This is not the way of my people. Emotionally hard to get, yes. But physically? I’m at a loss and I would simply move on to the next cutie patootie, but I really want this patootie.”
Ivy’s eyes go wide. “Maybe you need a therapist.”
Anika huffs. “Patrick is not that bad.”
“He’s grumpy, but I kind of like him,” I admit. “I’ve come to appreciate his honesty. I did look like a ghost the first couple of days. Now I make sure I have blush on even though it’s weird to put on a bunch of makeup when I’m installing drywall.”
“You look cute installing drywall,” Reid says, and I feel his hand on the back of my neck.
Jeremiah is staring at us like he’s never seen his brother with a woman before. Though I know he has. I’ve seen tons of pictures of him out with Britta and Reid.
Britta. I am not letting her ruin this. Reid told me they aren’t together, and he doesn’t have a reason to lie to me. I’m going with the flow, and the idea of her is not going to get in my way.
“Well, it’s going to be his loss,” Anika says, giving Jeremiah a supportive smile. “I thought the two of you would hit it off.”
“I’m intrigued by the use of the word authentic,” Reid says as his fingers move over the nape of my neck like he can’t make himself stop touching me. “My brother is generally the person he presents to the world.”
“I don’t know. I think I have my secrets like anyone else,” Jeremiah replies.
Reid’s gaze softens. “Your secrets are your own. You don’t owe them to anyone, brother. You don’t lie to the world. You don’t pretend to be someone you’re not.”
Jeremiah suddenly seems to find his plate interesting. “I don’t know about that.” He takes a long breath and seems to shrug off whatever emotion he was experiencing and he’s back to peppy. “But we should talk about the ballroom because splitting it up will cause as many issues as keeping it. What would that space be for?”
Reid sits up. “This is supposed to be for a mom and her daughters. We’ve been treating this like a normal property. When we do that, we have to consider things like the resell value of the space and if we’re creating a design that will speak to the most buyers we can find. But what if instead we consider this a multigenerational home?”
I’m not sure what he’s talking about, but it causes Jeremiah to sit straight up and a gleam to come into his eyes.
“I like that,” he says. “It opens up a world of possibilities.”
Anika looks my way. Ivy just keeps drinking. “Any idea why they’re so excited?”
Reid moves to the opposite end of the table, pulling a chair around, and suddenly Jeremiah has a pen in his hand and they’re jotting things on one of the notepads Reid always seems to have.
I shake my head. “I don’t know. I make things structurally sound and they make them pretty.”
Anika moves down to take Reid’s seat. “You’re taking this better than I thought you would. Unless you’re hiding it and you’re going to have a meltdown later.”