Total pages in book: 166
Estimated words: 160356 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 802(@200wpm)___ 641(@250wpm)___ 535(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 160356 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 802(@200wpm)___ 641(@250wpm)___ 535(@300wpm)
“Waiting for someone?” Julio asks.
“He’s late.” I smile timidly. “How rude.”
“He wasn’t late.”
“Sorry?”
Julio nods past me. “He’s been there for ten minutes watching you.”
I look over my shoulder, the butterflies flapping harder when I see Dec standing in the doorway, fully suited, his coat lying over the crook of his arm with his scarf. Have I ever set eyes on such a beautiful man? “Watching me,” I murmur as he slowly strides over. “What a creep.”
Julio laughs when I face him, the sound fading as he wanders out from behind the bar to serve a young couple who’ve settled in the far corner.
“Hello,” Dec says on an intentional whisper when he makes it to me, his eyes shining, sparkling so madly, like champagne bubbles popping in a glass.
“Hello,” I breathe, enamoured. So completely enamoured. I can do this. I can be vulnerable. I can allow the bricks to tumble and let him in.
A hardly-seen smile lifts one corner of his mouth, and he dips, slipping one hand onto my nape. The closeness, the contact, sets off a bomb in my chest, as he drops a featherlike kiss on my cheek. It’s light, it’s chaste, but God help me, it’s earthmoving. I close my eyes and soak up every wonderful bit of him. He smells outrageously wonderful. His bristles pressed against my cheek force me to concentrate on taking in air. I’m rendered breathless when he pulls away.
“Two martinis?” he asks, turning the stool toward me and sitting.
I slide one closer to him. “This one’s for you.”
He can’t hide his small, satisfied smile. “Tell me about your day.”
“My day?”
He sips, eyes on me. “Yes, your day.”
“Okay,” I say, unsure. “Well, I ratted out the boss’s son.”
“Oh?”
The corners of his eyes crease as he squints in interest, silently encouraging me to go on. To talk. “He paid for first-class flights and a luxury cruise on his business card and was going to try and pass it off as a business expense.”
“Risky,” Dec muses. “And very, very stupid.”
“Agreed.”
“So how did you snitching on him go down?”
“Like a cup of puke.”
He huffs an amused puff of laughter. These smiles I’m not used to, the light bouts of laughter, they’re like preludes to the main event, a breathtaking buildup to something that could rob me of the ability to breathe completely. To hear him laugh. I want that, and it’s an odd desire for me. To want distraction by someone’s aura, their beautiful glow, rather than physical, mindless distraction. I want that too. God, I want that too. But I’m also really fucking terrified it will seal the deal on my feelings for Dec. The chemistry is potent, a constant sizzle between our bodies. Our kisses have been like nothing I’ve experienced before. Healing.
“Sounds like you’ve had a day,” he says.
And now you’re here to take me away. “That’s not the half of it,” I go on, and Dec’s head tilts in question. “It was Christmas Jumper Day.”
He looks down my front, to my requisite black dress. “I can see you didn’t take part.”
“I did, actually. But wish I hadn’t.”
“Why?”
“It was all a bit of a rush,” I explain. “I dipped into a store this morning and grabbed the first jumper I found.” I lean down and pull the offending object from my bag, then place it on Dec’s lap. He puts his drink down and lifts it, and the words on the back glow, an encore of mortification creeping back up on me.
“What’s wrong with it?” he asks.
“The back.”
His face appears as he lowers the jumper, the most beautiful frown creasing his brow. He turns it around, and a few seconds silence linger. I cringe as Dec lowers the stupid jumper. “You’re the CFO of TF Shipping, and you wore this jumper to work?”
“Yes,” I breathe. “Yes, I did that.”
“You didn’t realise?”
I give him a tired look, like do I look like the kind of woman who would wear a jumper insinuating I’m a whore, whether playful or not? I wince to myself.
“All day?” he asks.
“Until my assistant kindly informed me why everyone had been laughing at me since I stepped off the elevator this morning.”
And my wish comes true.
He laughs, the sound so rich and natural, and the sight is quite possibly one of the most incredible things I’ve ever seen. And I know in this moment, without question . . .
Fucking hell, I’m falling.
“My God, Camryn.” Dec dumps the jumper on the bar and drops to his feet, gathering me up from my stool and pulling me into his chest, hugging me so hard, his body jerking from his persistent chuckles.
I’m a big girl. I don’t need him to hug me to ease my embarrassment, but I’ll take it. Every day, I’ll take one of these hugs. Every bit of me melts into his chest, my arms circling his back, clinging to him. The warmth inside intensifies. I’ve missed hugs. Deep, enfolding, and warm. Like my mum’s.