Total pages in book: 27
Estimated words: 25031 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 125(@200wpm)___ 100(@250wpm)___ 83(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 25031 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 125(@200wpm)___ 100(@250wpm)___ 83(@300wpm)
“Sure thing.” She rang up the drink, and I paid for it. Then I handed her the tip.
“Excellent service, Nina, thank you. Oh, and please add her last name to the label so she doesn’t think it’s a mix up when her name is called.”
Nina smiled brightly and tucked the extra money into her pocket.
I stepped away from the counter and spotted Skye sitting at a table by the window, staring outside. When I approached, her head lifted, and she smiled.
“Wow,” she breathed as she looked me up and down. “You clean up good.”
I laughed and took a seat. “We had some PR interviews before practice this morning, so I just happened to have my suit with me.”
She eyed my clothes once more, then shook her head as she pushed a drink across the table to me. “I don’t want to know how much that suit is worth, I’m just going to thank my lucky stars that’s not what you were wearing when I spilled coffee all over you.”
“Skye Baird!”
Skye’s head whipped toward the sound of her name being called, and her eyebrows shot up. “That’s weird. My name isn’t exactly common.”
“Probably because that drink wasn’t meant for anyone else,” I responded dryly.
“But…” Her eyes narrowed on me. “Why would you buy me a drink?”
“Well, you spilled yours as well,” I explained as I picked up my cup and took a sip of my coffee with a splash of oat milk. In season, I tried to eat healthy, but I needed something to cut the bitter taste of the brew.
“Yeah, but I bumped into you.”
“Which is why I agreed to the dry cleaning.” Although, I had no intention of actually letting her pay for it. “Now, why don’t I go and get your coffee for you, and then we can discuss the elephant in the room?”
“The elephant?” she echoed, her brows drawing together as a cute wrinkle popped up in the middle of her forehead.
“Yes. Our wedding date. I’m still waiting for a yes, but we can hammer out the details and get back to that part later.”
Skye’s smile lit up her face when she laughed, and my already aching cock twitched. So fucking gorgeous.
I went over to retrieve her beverage and held it in front of her when I returned. She reached up to take the cup, and I made sure that my fingers brushed along hers during the exchange. Her little shiver sent a streak of satisfaction through me at the knowledge that the attraction was mutual.
“Now, I realize that most women dream of a fairy-tale wedding, and while I’m perfectly happy to do that, it will have to be a renewal of vows because I’m not waiting a year to marry you.”
Skye cocked her head to the side and grinned. “Wow, you’re really committing to this. Well, for your information, I’ve never really thought about my wedding. I guess I was more focused on it being with the right person, so when and where don’t matter as much to me.”
“You become more and more perfect every fucking second, you know that?” I complimented, enjoying the pink stain it brought to her cheeks.
“If you say so,” she chuckled.
I observed her in silence for a moment, then decided it was time to be serious and find out where we stood so I knew where to go from there. “You really don’t believe I’m serious, do you?”
Skye laughed and took a sip of her drink. “A professional football player gets coffee spilled on him and immediately falls for the clumsy woman, sweeping her off her feet and whisking her away for their happily ever after.” She shook her head, but there was a wistful quality in her eyes that gave me hope. “Life isn’t a romantic comedy. But you’ve turned my crappy day around, so for that I sincerely thank you.”
It was time to fall back and regroup. Figure out my next play.
“Hmmm, well, we’ll see about that. In the meantime, how about you give me your contact information and we can coordinate on the dry cleaning?”
That flash of worry passed over her eyes again, and I gritted my teeth to keep from telling her to forget it. I didn’t like her worrying, but I also wasn’t going to give up my only surefire excuse to see her again.
We exchanged numbers, and I escorted her outside. It took everything I had to watch her walk away, but I comforted myself with the promise that very soon, she would be mine, in every way possible.
4
Skye
Dempsey didn’t waste any time when it came to getting his ruined clothes cleaned. Only a few hours after we parted ways at the coffee shop, he texted me with the address of the dry cleaners he’d dropped them off at and let me know they’d be ready the next morning. I agreed to meet him here at ten o’clock, but I showed up early in case the cost was more than I was expecting, and I had to split the bill between my debit and credit cards. Since I only had about twenty dollars in my bank account until I got paid for a catering gig I did last week, that was a very real risk.